Game Recap: Wolves lose in a tight one against the Nets

The Minnesota Timberwolves have been hot as of late, winning seven of their previous eight games before tonight’s loss to the Brooklyn Nets.

This game was rather slow for both teams, and for the Minnesota Timberwolves’ case, they just looked flat out poor to start out the game. For some odd reason this squad let’s a team that is considered “bad”, to push them around and jump out to an early lead.

Minnesota trailed the majority of this first half, mostly because they could not find their shot early. They didn’t crack 40 points until the one minute mark of the second quarter. Luckily, they were able to cut the lead down going into the first half – only trailing by five.

There was at least three to five layups that rolled around the rim and just found a way to roll out. Going into halftime the Wolves field goal percentage was only 39.5 percent. They did force the Nets to turn the ball over 11 time in the first half. But, they really couldn’t capitalize on any of those, scoring just two points off turnovers.

It appeared that the third quarter was just going to be more of what we saw in the first half, however, Minnesota kicked into gear and found their stride. Losing by 12 only minutes into the third quarter, Minnesota was able to cut the lead down – outscoring Brooklyn 30-23.

Brooklyn hung around with the Wolves throughout the fourth quarter, but Minnesota couldn’t hang on. Brooklyn won this game with a barrage of three’s – shooting 14/30. Back and forth it went throughout the fourth quarter, but Spencer Dinwiddie had the final answer.

Tweets of the Night

Key Takeaways

• Wolves were very slow to start out the game.
• Minnesota created 11 turnovers in the first half, but only came away with two points off of those.
• Brooklyn shot 50 percent from the field in the first half.
• Coming out of the gates, Brooklyn jumped out to a 12 point lead to start the third quarter.
• Tyus Jones dunked tonight… yes you read that right.
• Minnesota finally regained the lead midway through the third quarter.
• This game was back and forth throughout the fourth quarter. Minnesota fell short tonight after some late game heroics from Dinwiddie.

Player of the Game

Spencer Dinwiddie: 26 points, 9-14 field goals, 4-7 3-pointers, 1 rebound, 9 assists, 1 steal

It’s not hard to see why Dinwiddie is the player of the game here. Not only did he hit the game winner that sent Minnesota home with a loss, but he was phenomenal throughout the game. He couldn’t miss from the floor, as you can see he shot 9-14.

When he wasn’t hitting the game winner, or any other shot for that matter, he was getting his teammates involved. his nine assists was a game high for both teams.

Notable Box Scores

• Jimmy Butler: 30 points, 7-17 field goals, 0-2 3-pointers, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 1 block3
• Andrew Wiggins: 17 points, 8-17 field goals, 1-3 3-pointers, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals
• Karl-Anthony Towns: 16 points, 8-16 field goals, 0-1 3-pointers, 10 rebounds
• Taj Gibson: 5 points, 1-5 field goals, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks
• Tyus Jones: 11 points, 4-9 field goals, 0-1 3-pointers, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals

Next: 5 issues the Minnesota Timberwolves need to address in 2018

What’s Next?

The next game will be against the Boston Celtics at the Garden. This game will not be an easy matchup by all means, as they currently hold the best record in the East with a 30-10 record. This will be a huge win if Minnesota is able to come away with a win. Boston has the best defense in the league to this point, so it will be interesting to see an offensive team faceoff against a great defensive team.