Timberwolves Wrap: Butler leads Wolves over Pelicans

The Timberwolves overcame one of the worst nights of Karl-Anthony Towns‘ young career behind a clutch performance from Jimmy Butler to defeat the Pelicans in New Orleans.

What if I told you that Karl-Anthony Towns and Jeff Teague combined to score just eight points, and Andrew Wiggins and Jimmy Butler combined to shoot just 17-of-39 from the field, including 0-of-8 from beyond the arc, but the Timberwolves still won by six points?

You wouldn’t have believed me, and that would be okay. Even after watching that game, it certainly didn’t feel like a contest the Wolves deserved to win.

But Jimmy Butler’s late-game heroics, coming even after he’d had a rough game by his standards, propelled the visiting Timberwolves to a victory.

Towns was dominated early by Anthony Davis, picked up two quick fouls, and never recovered. Immediately after reentering the game in the second quarter, Towns was called for his third personal foul on a fluke play during a scramble for a loose ball, and he hadn’t even played 10 minutes by halftime.

Towns managed to play the entire fourth quarter, but had been held scoreless until a put-back dunk that came at an important time. For the game, he shot just 1-for-7 from the field and grabbed only five rebounds in just 23 minutes of play. He also turned the ball over four times and was bullied in alternating fashion by both Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins.

Wiggins had an extremely inefficient game, but scored a pair of buckets down the stretch that helped stem the tide after the Pelicans went on a run. Butler struggled shooting the ball once again as well, but also stepped up in a big way during crunch time.

Put simply, this was a weird game. It’s probably about what the Pelicans have to look forward to this year; Davis and Cousins combined for 59 of New Orleans’ 98 points, with only Jrue Holiday (14 points) and Tony Allen (10) reaching double digits in support of the superstar duo.

The Wolves defense is still struggling, although defending the Pelicans is a unique challenge.

Tweets of the Night

Key Takeaways

• Gorgui Dieng was awesome in stepping up to cover for Towns in this one. Forced into playing much of the first half, Dieng managed 12 points and eight rebounds as he finally looked comfortable. To this point in the season, Gorgui had failed to find any sort of real rhythm, and while the extended minutes appeared to get to him on a couple of shots he left short in the second half, he played a solid all-around game.
• Nemanja Bjelica was great as well. Really, the entire bench was key, once again, in slowing down an opponents third quarter run.
• The fact that the Wolves managed to win with Towns having a horrible night, Teague struggling, and Butler still not looking like the Chicago Bulls version of himself, is impressive. At some point, variance in close games will catch up, but there truly seems to be some improvement in the composure/confidence department.

Player of the Game

Jimmy Butler: 23 points (8-18 FG, 0-3 3P, 7-10 FT), 4 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists, 2 turnovers

Butler was more aggressive early than he had been in the first four games in which he’d appeared, but didn’t find an offensive rhythm. This game even included an air-ball and a couple of ugly misses from Jimmy G., but he made a couple of savvy passes and ultimately won the game for the Wolves down the stretch.

With less than a minute remaining, Butler drew a foul on former Bulls teammate E’Twaun Moore and knocked down a jumper from the right wing. He completed the 3-point play at the line, and then made three of his next four free throw attempts to close out the game.

Notable Box Score Lines

• Andrew Wiggins: 18 points (9-21 FG, 0-5 3P, 0-3 FT), 6 rebounds, one steal, 3 turnovers
• Taj Gibson: 11 points (5-8 FG, 1-1 3P), 12 rebounds, 2 steals, one assist, one turnover
• Karl-Anthony Towns: 2 points (1-7 FG), 5 rebounds, 2 blocks, one steal, 4 turnovers
• Jeff Teague: 6 points (2-6 FG, 0-3 3P, 1-3 FT), 9 assists, 2 rebounds, 4 turnovers
• Nemanja Bjelica: 12 points (5-6 FG, 2-3 3P), 4 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 turnovers
• Gorgui Dieng: 12 points (4-8 FG, 1-4 3P, 3-4 FT), 8 rebounds, 2 assists, one steal
• Jamal Crawford: 11 points (3-4 FG, 2-3 3P, 3-3 FT), 3 steals, 2 rebounds, one assist, 3 turnovers

As mentioned above, Towns and Teague had poor nights. Gibson was huge early on, and Bjelica and Dieng had a big first halves of their own.

Crawford had steal and a buzzer-beater from just inside the half-court line at the end of the first quarter and another big 3-pointer in the final frame.

What’s Next?

Just like that, the Timberwolves have won three straight games. That didn’t happen last season until Jan. 9-13 and it only happened one other time, from Jan. 19-24.

Next: The refreshing luxury of Timberwolves' lineup versatility

Next up, the Wolves will host the Dallas Mavericks, who dropped to 1-8 after a road loss to the Clippers on Wednesday night. That game won’t be until Saturday night, but will then be followed with a home matchup against the 5-3 Charlotte Hornets on Sunday evening.