Analyzing the best and worst Minnesota Timberwolves performers in the latest edition of the weekly power rankings.
After a back-to-back set, a five-day break and a couple of game against the league’s heavyweights (thanks NBA…), we finally return with the weekly Timberwolves power rankings.
The week didn’t go as planned, with the Wolves finishing a underwhelming 2-3 over the stretch, boosting their overall record to 40-29 in a Western Conference playoff race that changes each and every night.
Minnesota started it off with a 108-99 loss to the surging Portland Trailblazers, a game where the Butler-less pups hit just four of their 20 3-point attempts. The next day was another West tilt, this time against the Utah Jazz. Minnesota hung around after both Karl-Anthony Towns and Jeff Teague were ejected, but came up short in a disappointing 116-108 road loss.
Here is Teague’s ejection, at the expense of former Wolf Ricky Rubio:
Teague should be ejected pic.twitter.com/Rb7gXMtgYa
— Adam Abramson (@Adam_Abramson1) March 3, 2018
Rest assured that didn’t go down well with faithful Rubio lovers.
As metioned, the Timberwolves had five days to mull over their two failures but it was always going to be a tall task when they returned to the court against the Boston Celtics. Boston managed to hold down Towns and Andrew Wiggins, resulting in a fairly comfortable 117-109 victory.
That win marked the first time Minnesota has lost three consecutive games for the entire season, an impressive feat indeed.
They made sure the skid didn’t linger around much longer, producing one of the finest efforts of the season in a 109-103 win over the reigning champion Golden State Warriors. The Warriors were sans Stephen Curry, but overcoming a 39-point showing by Kevin Durant while bogging down Klay Thompson and Draymond Green should be commended.
Next up was another huge game in Washington against the Wizards, a game where the Timberwolves Eastern Conference woes seemed to rear their ugly head again before a fourth quarter showcase led to a 116-111 victory.
With this inconsistent four games in mind, let’s put each player under the microscope and see how they did…
*All players must play 15 total minutes. Weekly and season stats provided by NBA.com*