Timberwolves Wrap: Wolves dominate Bucks

The Timberwolves led wire-to-wire and defeated the Milwaukee Bucks at Target Center on Thursday night behind big games from Karl-Anthony Towns and Jimmy Butler.

Once again, the Timberwolves needed to get a win to avoid their first three-game losing streak of the season. And once again, they managed to get a victory.

This one was never close, as the Wolves led wire-to-wire and built a double-digit lead that they never relinquished early in the first half. The Bucks got within 12 after a couple of runs in the third quarter, but Minnesota boosted their lead back up north of 20 with a run of their own.

After a string of quiet offensive performances, Karl-Anthony Towns posted 17 points and eight rebounds in the first half, scoring most of his points off of put-backs and simply being active in corralling loose balls.

Jimmy Butler, on the other hand, had a quiet first half but came alive as the Wolves were trying to stave off the Bucks’ second half runs. He made a series of mid-range jumpers and continued to draw fouls in the paint ending up with a very Butler-like 28 points on 15 field goal attempts after starting the game just 3-for-10 from the field.

The Timberwolves did a good job defending the Bucks’ best players, too. Giannis Antetokounmpo had just 17 points on 6-of-14 shooting while Khris Middleton had 21 points but it took him a 7-of-20 shooting night to get there. Butler and Taj Gibson did the most work defensively, but the Wolves’ defensive rotations were fantastic all the way around for the entire night.

The game was never in question after a solid first half, and Minnesota did a good enough job answering the Bucks’ second half runs that they were able to empty the bench with a few minutes remaining in the game.

Tweets of the Night

Key Takeaways

• While it’s certainly true that defending against what was essentially a point guard-less team is far easier than against a traditional lineup, it’s difficult to overstate how much better the Wolves defense looked on this night compared to many of their recent losses. The urgency was constant, and even when there was scrambling needed, there seemed to be multiple Wolves running Bucks shooters off the 3-point line on each and every possession.
• This defense and the impressively crisp offense helped the Wolves out-shoot their opponent from beyond the arc — a rare occurrence, to be sure. On this night, the Wolves shot 7-for-19 (36.8 percent) from 3-point range while Milwaukee was just 6-for-29 (20.7 percent).
• Andrew Wiggins is an impressive scorer, and the complaint about his game, at least here at Dunking With Wolves (or, perhaps more accurately, from yours truly), tends to be related to empty box score lines and generally poor defense. On this night, however, Wiggins played solid one-on-one defense and outstanding team defense, which far outweighed his 3-of-10 shooting night.
• Strangely, Towns (24 points) and Butler (28 points) were the only Timberwolves players to score in double-digits. A total of five players scored either eight or nine points apiece.
• Jeff Teague had a solid bounce-back game, shooting the ball efficiently and dishing out eight assists.

Player of the Game

Karl-Anthony Towns: 24 points (10-13 FG, 1-2 3P, 3-3 FT), 11 rebounds, 3 assists

This award could easily have gone to Butler, as his hot second half helped the Wolves put the game away. But it was Towns’ monster first half that allowed Minnesota to jump out to what turned out to be an insurmountable lead, all while Butler started the game shooting just 3-of-10 from the floor.

Butler did make his last five field goal attempts of the game, but it was KAT that was active on the glass and seemingly all over the floor that propelled the Wolves to a big early lead that they never relinquished.

Notable Box Score Lines

• Jimmy Butler: 28 points (8-15 FG, 2-5 3P, 10-11 FT), 6 assists, 4 rebounds, one steal
• Andrew Wiggins: 7 points (3-10 FG, 0-2 FG, 1-2 FT), 6 rebounds, 3 steals, one block
• Jeff Teague: 9 points (4-7 FG, 1-2 3P), 8 assists, one rebound, one block, one steal
• Taj Gibson: 9 points (4-7 FG, 1-1 FT), 6 rebounds, 2 blocks

Next: Wolves' road struggles are starting to add up

What’s Next?

The Timberwolves will host the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday night at 8 p.m. CT. It will be the fourth and final meeting between the two squads, as the Wolves will look to sweep the season series.