Timberwolves Wrap: Impressive, shorthanded win over Raptors

Despite missing Jimmy Butler and Jamal Crawford and trailing by eight points at halftime, the Timberwolves came back to beat the Raptors.

The Timberwolves were missing their best player and their top minutes-getter off the bench, but still found a way to beat one of the top-four teams in the entire NBA on Saturday night at Target Center. And while the Raptors were on the second night of a back-to-back, a Jimmy Butler-less win — over this team in particular — is impressive nonetheless.

Butler sat out due to a sore knee, which meant that Nemanja Bjelica stepped into the starting lineup at the small forward spot. It also meant that Andrew Wiggins was suddenly the focal point of the Wolves offense.

To put even more pressure on Wiggins, Karl-Anthony Towns did not attempt a single shot in the first seven minutes of the game. Then, Tom Thibodeau didn’t reinsert Towns into the lineup at the start of the second quarter as usual, but waited a few minutes longer. After Towns picked up two quick personal fouls to bring his total on the night to three, KAT was back on the bench and finished the first half with a goose egg in the scoring column.

But Wiggins started the game on fire, dropping 20 points by halftime, including two massive dunks over poor Jakob Poeltl (see below for highlights). He was aggressive in the paint and made most of his mid-range attempts, too, and more or less single-handedly kept the Wolves in the game.

The Raptors built a double-digit lead in the second quarter but Minnesota got the deficit back down to eight at halftime. Then, in the third quarter, Towns asserted himself as Wiggins went cold and the Wolves managed to wrest the lead away from the Raptors, going up by four prior to the final frame.

The Wolves bench played extremely well late in the third quarter and started the fourth on the floor, led by an exceptional effort from Tyus Jones a valiant performance from Marcus Georges-Hunt (more on him later), and the first meaningful minutes that Shabazz Muhammad has played in weeks. When Minnesota’s starters began to reenter the game, they were able to build a double-digit lead of their own.

The Timberwolves were on top by 10 points with 6:50 showing on the game clock, but the Raptors used an 11-0 run to take a 103-102 lead with just under four minutes remaining. The offense reverted to Wiggins isolation sets that ended in bad shots and sloppy turnovers, and the Raptors finally started making tough shots. That meant that the lead disappeared in a hurry.

But perhaps the most impressive thing that happened on Saturday night was their own comeback after the Raptors re-took the lead. After a timeout, the much-maligned Jeff Teague drained a jumper to give the Wolves a one-point lead. DeMar DeRozan hit a 3-pointer on the other end, but Wiggins matched it with a three of his own.

Then, a 3-pointer from Towns. From that point on, the Wolves (and namely, Georges-Hunt) made enough free throws to stay more than a possession ahead, and the game was theirs.

Highlights of the Night

Tweets of the Night

Key Takeaways

• Marcus Georges-Hunt played really well. It started on defense, including two instances when he played up on his man and forced a travel as his opponent was trying to avoid a charge. In crunch time, he took a charge on DeRozan that all but sealed the win. And that doesn’t include his big third quarter 3-pointer or the fouls he drew and free throws he hit down the stretch. He should have earned himself a few more minutes moving forward, to say the least.
• Shabazz Muhammad also played well. And, hold onto your hats: he played well on both ends of the floor. Bazz was playing up on his man on the perimeter consistently, and the lapses were few and far between. He crashed the boards hard, too. This probably doesn’t change the fact that he’s out of the regular rotation, but it was good to see.
• There was a clear difference when the offense ran through Towns in the pick-and-roll, mostly when initiated by Teague, versus when Wiggins was ball-handling in pick-and-roll or isolation. After a zero-point first half, KAT finished with 22 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field. That’s right — he only attempted seven field goals.
• Teague struggled and Jones was good once again, but the Teague venom seemed to hit an unnecessary fever pitch on Wolves Twitter. The guy is a good player and happens to be having what is probably the worst season of his career, but he’s also been dinged up and is playing with more high-usage players than he’s used to playing with. Should the minutes be a bit more balanced between Jones and Teague? Sure, but let’s not pretend as though Teague is horrible and Tyus is a proven All-Star.

Player of the Game

Karl-Anthony Towns: 22 points (6-7 FG, 2-2 3P, 8-9 FT), 10 rebounds, 2 assists, one block, one turnover

An argument could be made for Wiggins here, but the four turnovers and sloppy play late was enough to push this one to Towns. (Side note: let’s not forget Wiggins’ huge 3-pointer to answer DeRozan’s three in the final minutes, either.)

Towns was awesome in the second half, and got his numbers despite playing just 28 minutes. He was good on defense again, and had a couple of key offensive rebounds when the Wolves’ offense was struggling late in the game. Without his second half scoring and efficient play, the Wolves don’t win this game.

Notable Box Score Lines

• Andrew Wiggins: 29 points (11-21 FG, 1-4 3P, 6-6 FT), 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 turnovers
• Taj Gibson: 14 points (5-8 FG, 4-6 FT), 8 rebounds, 2 blocks
• Nemanja Bjelica: 8 points (3-9 FG, 1-2 3P, 1-1 FT), 6 rebounds, 2 steals, one turnover
• Jeff Teague: 5 points (2-11 FG, 0-2 3P, 1-2 FT), 10 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 turnovers
• Gorgui Dieng: 9 points (4-6 FG, 1-2 3P), 3 rebounds, 2 steals, one turnover
• Tyus Jones: 9 points (3-5 FG, 1-1 3P, 2-2 FT), 4 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 turnovers
• Marcus Georges-Hunt: 12 points (3-10 FG, 1-3 3P, 5-8 FT), 3 rebounds, 2 assists

Next: Time to change the narrative on Wiggins and Towns

What’s Next?

The Timberwolves head back out on the road to take on the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night. The game will tip-off at 9:30 p.m. CT on NBATV.