Timberwolves Wrap: Ejections lead to weird loss in Salt Lake City

The Timberwolves had two players, including Karl-Anthony Towns, ejected in a frustrating loss to the Utah Jazz on Friday night in Salt Lake City.

This game was never going to be easy.

We identified the difficulty that this back-to-back posed earlier on Friday; as it turns out, playing twice in 24 hours after losing an hour and playing a mile above sea level is a tough draw. And don’t forget that the Jazz had three days of rest and were on the 12th day in a 12-day homestand.

At any rate, the Timberwolves hung around for much of the night, despite being extremely shorthanded. They were without Jimmy Butler, of course. But things went from bad to worse.

In the final few minutes of what was a solid first half for Karl-Anthony Towns, Jae Crowder was called for a foul while trying to deny a post entry pass to KAT. Towns inadvertently contacted Crowder’s face with his elbow while trying to establish position, and the officials reviewed the play and, as it was technically a dead ball after the personal foul on Crowder, issued a technical to Towns.

Only moments later, Towns made a tough shot over Rudy Gobert and felt he was fouled. He turned and yelled what appeared to be a short, non-profanity-laced outburst at the official. A second technical foul followed, and KAT was ejected before halftime. (After the game, the official stated that Towns was ejected because of continuous complaining. But…come on, guys.)

In Towns’ absence, Andrew Wiggins and Jeff Teague started the second half aggressively. Wiggins had scored just four first half points but bumped his game total to 10 only minutes into the third quarter. Teague was great, scoring almost at will and competing defensively.

With the Wolves hanging around in the fourth quarter, the Jazz went on a quick burst to bump their lead to nine points. Teague missed a shot in the paint and felt that Ricky Rubio fouled him. There was no call, and on the way back down the court, Teague, for lack of a better term, hip-checked Rubio on the fast break.

Teague was assessed a flagrant-two foul and was ejected from the game. During Rubio’s free throws, Crowder and Tom Thibodeau began jawing and were each given technical fouls. In the final minute, Crowder received another technical and was ejected.

This was a game that was already exceedingly difficult for the Wolves to win. The KAT ejection late in the first half practically sealed it, and now the Wolves find themselves in a virtual four-way tie for the No. 3 through No. 6 seeds in the Western Conference.

Key Takeaways

• Towns and Teague were both great in this one prior to their respective ejections. Unfortunately, Gobert had his way on both ends of the court, and without KAT in the game, he racked up a season-high in points and protected the rim with ease.
• With Butler’s absence and Towns’ ejection, Nemanja Bjelica played a whopping 45 minutes. He was solid, scoring 12 points and grabbing four rebounds, but only attempted eight shots and was 2-of-4 on 3-pointers.
• Thibodeau still only played nine players, with Marcus Georges-Hunt only seeing the court for three minutes at the end of the third quarter.
• The Wolves will enjoy six days off before entering a brutal stretch of the schedule. They don’t play again until Thursday at home against Boston. Then, another two consecutive off-days before hosting Golden State.
• Wolves fans may recall that this is something like the third altercation of some kind between Teague and Rubio. A couple of years ago, when Rubio was on the Wolves and Teague was on the Hawks, there was a brief dust-up in a game. Then, early this season in Minneapolis, Teague and Rubio were tangled up before Butler and Teague roused the Target Center crowd.

Player of the Game

Rudy Gobert: 26 points (7-9 FG, 12-14 FT), 16 rebounds, 4 blocks, one assist, one steal

Gobert was great throughout the game. After an early goaltending call, Gobert controlled the paint, blocking a Bjelica dunk attempt and a shot attempt from Towns immediately following the goaltend. The Jazz center scored 26 points on nine shots in an extremely efficient outing.

Notable Box Score Lines

• Karl-Anthony Towns: 13 points (4-6 FG, 1-1 3P, 4-4 FT), 4 rebounds, one steal, 20 minutes
• Andrew Wiggins: 27 points (10-19 FG, 4-4 3P, 3-8 FT), 3 rebounds, one steal, one assist
• Jeff Teague: 25 points (9-15 FG, 2-4 3P, 5-8 FT), 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals

Next: Jeff Teague got his mojo back

What’s Next?

As mentioned, the Wolves will take the next six days off before hosting the Celtics and Warriors over the course of four days at Target Center.