Minnesota Timberwolves game preview: Oct. 22 at Oklahoma City Thunder

Major Key for Minnesota: Offensive Flow

When the Minnesota Timberwolves made their off-season acquisition of Jimmy Butler and signed players like Jeff Teague and Jamal Crawford, many assumed the offense would flourish veteran leadership and more floor spacing than previous teams.

However, in the Timberwolves first two games, the offense has looked disorganized and confused.  Minnesota shot just 43.5 percent against San Antonio and 44.4 percent against Utah in their first two games. The ball movement has been below average at best.

Minnesota Timberwolves

While Crawford certainly made himself known to Timberwolves fans Friday night, Jimmy Butler and Jeff Teague have yet to impress offensively.  Butler scored just 12 points in the opener and 13 on Friday, well below what’s come to be expected of the All-Star guard.

For Minnesota to keep up with Oklahoma City’s scoring punch, the Timberwolves will need better play on the offensive end.

While Andrew Wiggins has had no difficulty getting his shots so far, Butler and Karl-Anthony Towns need to establish their rhythm offensively early on.  Last season, Towns would punish teams from the onset with an array of jump shots and post moves, we’ve yet to see that kind of scoring impact from the young star.

Along with getting their stars going, the Timberwolves need to have better ball movement and then hit the shots when they’re open.  The bench, mainly Nemanja Bjelica and Crawford, have knocked down their fair share of open 3’s but Butler, Teague, Towns and others have the ability to do the same.

The Thunder aren’t the Jazz, and if Minnesota can’t get shots to fall early and often, it might be too high a hill to climb at the end of the game.