Timberwolves Wrap: Wolves overcome deficit, beat Mavs

The Timberwolves trailed by 12 points at halftime on Friday night in Dallas but ultimately ran away with the game in the fourth quarter in what turned into a dominant victory.

It was just six days ago that the Timberwolves played a flat 48 minutes in Phoenix and dropped a deflating game to the Suns, a team that was outscored by a historic margin over it’s first three games this season and had lost five games in a row coming into the game against Minnesota.

If you switched off your television in anger after the first quarter, or perhaps at halftime, well, you may have assumed that Friday night’s tilt would deliver a similar result.

The Wolves were awful in the early stages of the game, after all. And after the starters came out flat, the bench didn’t exactly come out on fire, either. You’d be forgiven for thinking that this was Bad Road Loss: The Sequel. But, it wasn’t.

As good, solid playoff teams do, the Timberwolves came out with a vengeance in the second half. The cold shooting that plagued the offense in the second frame was left in the locker room at the break, and the Wolves outscored the Mavericks by a 31-17 margin in the third quarter.

The starters turned the 12-point deficit into a seven-point lead, but right when Tom Thibodeau would typically turn to his bench, the Mavs hit back-to-back 3-pointers and trimmed things back to just a single point. Thibs left Jimmy Butler, Taj Gibson, and Andrew Wiggins on the court through the end of the quarter in an effort to expand his team’s lead, but Minnesota only managed to lead by a score of 74-72 heading into the final frame.

Karl-Anthony Towns only received a brief rest of about two minutes late in the third and was on the floor to start the fourth quarter. Thibs shortened his rotation (shocking, I know), and the Wolves suddenly began to knock down long-range jumpers at will after peppering the rim with misses earlier in the game.

Jeff Teague and Jimmy Butler played extremely well in the second half, stretching the floor while Towns and Gibson clogged the paint. Jamal Crawford provided a much-needed offensive lift early in the fourth quarter, and Nemanja Bjelica’s continued strong play was key, too.

The Wolves’ lead quickly ballooned to 20 points midway through the fourth quarter behind a barrage of 3-pointers, and things were completely out of hand with about four minutes left on the clock.

All things considered, this was simply a tale of two halves. The Wolves are the better team, and at some point, their open jumpers were going to start to fall. Now, here’s hoping they don’t fall behind by double-digits again next time out…

Tweets of the Night

Key Takeaways

• The Timberwolves offense was anemic early in this one, but it was primarily due to missed shots that normally fall. They weren’t able to get the pick-and-roll moving towards the rim as well as they did in Wednesday’s win over the Spurs, but that’s partly due to the Mavs’ obvious commitment to slow Towns and Gibson down on the roll.
• The Wolves were actually pretty solid on defense, save for some slow rotations early in the game. But each time the offense began to click, it was obvious that the intensity picked up on the other end of the floor as well. Eventually, they’ll need to understand that they need to lead with defense to ignite their offense, but this order of activities was good enough against a terrible Mavs team.
• Towns had a third-consecutive impressive game. Sure, the final numbers (below) weren’t gaudy by any means, but he made big plays when they mattered and was solid on defense.
• This was one of Butler’s better all-around games this season. It was good to see his jumper falling.

Player of the Game

Jimmy Butler: 21 points (8-19 FG, 3-5 3P, 2-2 FT), 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, one turnover

As mentioned, Butler was solid throughout. He still missed a couple of bunnies in the lane and only got to the free throw line once, but he knocked down open shots and hit a couple of tough contested jumpers, including a four-point play during the Wolves’ third quarter surge.

If Butler starts to find his shot in the flow of this new-look Timberwolves offense (and yes, it will happen eventually), well…look out.

Notable Box Score Lines

• Jeff Teague: 15 points (6-11 FG, 3-6 3P), 10 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 turnovers
• Jamal Crawford: 12 points (4-6 FG, 2-3 3P, 2-2 FT), one turnover
• Taj Gibson: 10 points (2-5 FG, 6-6 FT), 11 rebounds, 2 assists, one turnover
• Andrew Wiggins: 19 points (7-15 FG, 2-5 3P, 3-4 FT), 5 rebounds, 3 steals, one assist, one turnover
• Karl-Anthony Towns: 15 points (5-10 FG, 1-4 3P, 4-5 FT), 11 rebounds, 2 assists, one steal, 2 turnovers

Teague and Crawford had notably solid games, as mentioned above. Gibson had a typical Gibson double-double and continues to be a vital cog on both ends of the floor.

Wiggins had a shockingly quiet 19 points, but contributing five rebounds and three steals was key. And Towns, for his part, somehow only attempted 10 shots on the night but was absolutely productive.

Also notable: Bjelica only played 12 minutes in this one. And yes, they were productive: seven points on four shots to go along with three rebounds and an assists with zero turnovers.

What’s Next?

The Timberwolves have now won three in a row after their brief, two-game losing streak late last week. Next up, they’ll return to Target Center to take on the Detroit Pistons, who blew a huge lead against Indiana on Friday night. Don’t forget, the Pistons beat the Wolves easily in Detroit earlier this year, but also don’t forget that the Wolves were on the second night of a back-to-back and missing Jimmy Butler.

Next: Is Jimmy Butler being too unselfish?

We’ll have Wolves coverage throughout the weekend, including leading up to, during, and after Sunday night’s contest.