The Timberwolves led the Rockets by 12 points with two minutes remaining but allowed Houston to tie the game before losing in overtime in what was likely the worst loss of the season.
The Timberwolves played an impressive game — for about 46 minutes. And then, it all fell apart.
Remember the weird comeback and win on the road in overtime in Charlotte, on the second half of a back-to-back? Well, this was that, only in reverse.
There was really no indication that this game was in danger of being lost by the Wolves, but it happened in an hurry. A couple of sloppy possessions and wasted offensive rebounds, plus some timely shots by Mike D’Antoni‘s Rockets, and suddenly, the game was in overtime.
It’s tough to explain just how out-of-left-field this loss was. Since trailing early in the second quarter, the Wolves controlled the game. They won the second quarter, 33-16, and played the third quarter to a 23-23 tie. The fourth quarter was even going well enough until the final moments.
The lead was 13 after an Andrew Wiggins make at the 2:59 mark, 12 at the 2:00 mark, and stayed at nine until Eric Gordon strolled past Zach LaVine for an easy layup with 56 seconds showing on the clock.
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That’s right — nine points with a minute left. Then, a Karl-Anthony Towns turnover on an attempted hand-off to Ricky Rubio, Trevor Ariza banged in a corner three-pointer.
Karl-Anthony Towns made a pair of free throws on the ensuing possession, however, and the lead was back to six points 36 seconds left. But then, a three from Ryan Anderson to cut the lead to three.
The Wolves ran the clock down before LaVine missed a shot in the lane, but Wiggins grabbed the rebound and missed a put-back of his own. After a Houston timeout, Ariza made a game-tying three, and the game went to overtime.
The Rockets largely controlled overtime, although the Wolves were within two with under four seconds left and no timeouts and a chance to go the length of the court to tie or win the game. On the inbounds play, however, LaVine stepped out of bounds near half court while trying to get around James Harden, and the game was over.
Tweets of the Night
Even for this team, this is hard to believe.
— Kent Youngblood (@BloodStrib) December 18, 2016
Minnesota's Karl-Anthony Towns scored 21 points in the 1st half. Timberwolves are 0-4 when he scores at least 20 in a half this year
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) December 18, 2016
Star of the Game
Eric Gordon: 20 points (7-15 FG, 4-10 3P, 2-2 FT), 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, one turnover
Gordon played 36 minutes off the bench, at least in part due to an injury to Clint Capela.
While Anderson and James Harden tied for the team lead with 28 points on the night, Gordon was much more efficient and did his damage off the bench. The Rockets attempted an astonishing 51 three-pointers on the night, making just 17 (33.3 percent), but Gordon was 4-for-10 and facilitated when the situation called for it.
Notable Timberwolves Lines
- Karl-Anthony Towns: 41 points (15-28 FG, 1-4 3P, 10-12 FT), 15 rebounds, 5 assists, one block, 6 turnovers
- Zach LaVine: 24 points (9-18 FG, 3-7 3P, 3-5 FT), 6 assists, 2 rebounds, one steal, 8 turnovers
- Andrew Wiggins: 13 points (5-17 FG, 0-2 FG, 3-4 FT), 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, one block, one turnover
- Ricky Rubio: 7 points (2-7 FG, 1-2 3P, 2-2 FT), 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 4 steals, 3 turnovers
Towns was great, but turned the ball over too much and allowed his intensity to wane at the worst times late in the game. (It’s fair to say that Tom Thibodeau is at least partially to blame for playing his starters such heavy minutes in a game that ultimately went to overtime, as it became obvious when the Wolves began dragging in the second half.)
Wiggins was nearly invisible, although his non-scoring box score numbers were much higher than usual. LaVine was fantastic early but bricked a number of shots late and turnve the ball over a shocking eight times in 45 minutes as he handled the rock a lot with the second unit.
Next: Could Zach LaVine Win NBA's Most Improved Player?
Who’s Up Next?
The Timberwolves will host the Phoenix Suns on Monday night. Minnesota defeated the Suns on the road back on Thanksgiving week and will have a real shot at going up 2-0 in the season series against an 8-19 Phoenix squad.