Timberwolves Wrap: Wolves blow lead late, lose to Pistons

The Timberwolves led for much of the game on Sunday night against the Detroit Pistons, but after falling behind late missed a chance to tie the game in the final seconds on a missed free throw by Jimmy Butler.

The first time that the Timberwolves and Pistons matched up this season, the Wolves had traveled into Detroit after a bad home loss to the Indiana Pacers just 24 hours prior, and they were missing Jimmy Butler.

This time, the Wolves were at full strength and hadn’t played in nearly 48 hours. But in the end, it was still a loss.

Both teams entered the game with 10-5 records, but you wouldn’t have known it with how sloppy this contest was. The teams combined to turn the ball over 39 times and they shot a collective 13-for-47 (27.7 percent) from beyond the arc.

Coming into the game, if you’d have said that the Pistons would only make five 3-point shots, I’d tell you that the Wolves would win with ease. I would have been wrong, of course.

The Wolves outscored the visiting Pistons by two points in both the first and second quarters, and expanded their lead in the third quarter. They expanded their lead into double digits a couple of times in the second half, and had plenty of opportunities to put the game away midway through the final frame.

This game could have been an example of Tom Thibodeau overusing his starters, and what only made it more curious was that it’s on the front end of a back-to-back, with the Wolves tipping-off in Charlotte on Monday night. Indeed, four of Minnesota’s five starters played 38 minutes or more, and only Nemanja Bjelica (15 minutes) and Gorgui Dieng (10 minute) reached double-digits in minutes played off the bench.

The starters appeared gassed down the stretch, and had more than one long stretch of empty possessions. Finally, the Pistons were able to wear down what had largely been solid defense by the Wolves and string together a few successful possessions.

At the end of the day, Andre Drummond and the Pistons simply bullied Karl-Anthony Towns and the Timberwolves in the paint. Drummond notched 20 points and 16 rebounds, although he turned the ball over six times. Towns? Only 16 points and nine rebounds, and while his help defense continues to improve, he was caught just barely out of position enough times that the Pistons took advantage.

For the Wolves, Bjelica was once again the only bench player with a positive plus-minus, and as much as it made sense for Tobias Harris to be able to operate freely against Bjelly and struggle against Taj Gibson, it wasn’t really the case.

Down the stretch, the Pistons took a three-point lead with under 20 seconds on the clock. Butler was forced into a long, tough 3-point attempt and was hit on the arm. After draining the first two free throws, the third (and potentially game-tying) attempts rimmed out, and the Pistons grabbed the rebound and drained both freebies on the other end.

The Wolves ran a full-court play with less than four seconds left that allowed Butler a decent look at the rim on a runner from a few feet beyond the arc, but that also rimmed out after banking hard off the backboard.

This was a game that neither team deserved to win, and one that would have made more sense if it were the second game of a back-to-back for the Wolves, and not the front end of a set. Turnover issues won’t rear their ugly head each night, and overall, Butler was pretty obviously the best player on the court for the Wolves, which was good to see.

Tweets of the Night

Key Takeaways

• The Timberwolves continue to fail to get Towns enough touches. He does good work on the offensive glass and can knock down open threes, but he should be getting a handful of post catches each game, plus be involved in even more pick-and-rolls.
• The Wolves defense was good once again, although it wore down when it mattered most. That’s partly on Thibodeau for shortening his rotation so gradually, but the shot contests and defensive rebounding suddenly disappeared.
• It was great to see Butler dominating on both ends of the court, late game misses notwithstanding.
• Did I mention that Thibs overplayed his starters on the front end of a back-to-back? While I don’t think his rotations have been all bad this year, minutes distribution remains something to keep an eye on moving forward.

Player of the Game

Andre Drummond: 20 points (8-15 FG, 4-5 FT), 16 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks, one steal, 6 turnovers

For the record, this a reluctantly-given Player of the Game award. Drummond gets this, despite the six turnovers, simply because he bullied KAT just enough down low to get his team the win, and was single-handedly responsible for Gibson getting into quick foul trouble.

Jimmy Butler’s line (below) was sparkling, save for the five turnovers and the missed free throw in crunch time. He was the only other possible candidate to win our ‘award’.

Notable Box Score Lines

• Jimmy Butler: 26 points (10-15 FG, 2-5 3P, 4-6 FT), 10 rebounds, 5 steals, 4 assists, 5 turnovers
• Andrew Wiggins: 24 points (11-18 FG, 0-4 3P, 2-4 FT), 3 blocks, 2 rebounds, 2 steals, one assist, 3 turnovers
• Karl-Anthony Towns: 16 points (6-13 FG, 2-4 3P, 2-2 FT), 9 rebounds, 3 assists, one turnover
• Jeff Teague: 3 points (1-7 FG, 0-3 3P, 1-2 FT), 9 assists, one steal, 5 turnovers

Butler was great, as mentioned. Wiggins had an extremely quiet 24 points, and besides missing a couple of wide-open 3-pointers, was great in this one.

Towns was fine when he got the ball and just a little off on defense, but overall solid. The Wolves simply need to get him the ball earlier and more often. Teague, on the other hand, had his worst game in a while, scoring just three points and turning the ball over five times.

Next: Breaking down the Timberwolves pick-and-roll offense

What’s Next?

The Timberwolves are flying to Charlotte on Sunday night to take on the Hornets for the second time this season on Monday at 6:00 p.m. CT. They beat them relatively easily at Target Center, but since that win Nicolas Batum has returned from injury for the 6-9 Hornets.