Timberwolves Wrap: Wolves nearly pull off upset in Game One

The Timberwolves had a chance to defeat the top-seeded Houston Rockets in Game One, but ultimately fell short in the closing seconds.

If the Timberwolves were told that they’d be within three points with eight seconds to play and have the ball in their possession, they would surely have taken that scenario. Ultimately, however, the Wolves didn’t even get a 3-point shot away, and what easily could have been a shocking upset was instead exactly that: a what-could-have-been situation.;

The Wolves fell behind early and trailed by as many as 11 points in the first half. The bench struggled, and after a quick run from Minnesota in the second quarter, the Rockets surged once again at the end of the frame and pulled ahead by seven points at halftime.

The third quarter saw Minnesota come back and even take a brief lead of their own, despite exceedingly quiet games from their two All-Stars. But once again, the Rockets closed a quarter with a big run, pulling back ahead by four at the start of the fourth quarter.

The final frame saw the Rockets find their stride from beyond the arc, and James Harden simply took over. The Wolves fell behind by seven points with 1:30 remaining, but managed to pull within three points on a Karl-Anthony Towns‘ tip-in with 14.9 seconds left before forcing a Chris Paul turnover.

Minnesota had 8.7 seconds to go the length of the court and attempt to tie the game, but Jimmy Butler attempted a tough, spinning shot with P.J. Tucker draped all over him. It was an air-ball, and as it turned out, his foot was on the line anyway.

It was a disappointing end to a game that saw the Timberwolves show an impressive amount of fight down the stretch. All things considered, a 3-point road loss to the best team in the league is far from the worst possible outcome.

Tweets of the Night

On the Timberwolves’ post passing:

Game Takeaways

• Karl-Anthony Towns played a team-high 40 minutes but scored just eight points on nine shot attempts. The Wolves inexplicably pulled the ball back out to try and take advantage of switches instead of finding Towns in the post nearly every single time. Towns didn’t exactly demand the ball, but at some point, the Wolves need to figure out how to take advantage of KAT in the post with much smaller players guarding him.
• Derrick Rose played 24 minutes, with most of them coming in the second and third quarters. After helping keep the Wolves in the game midway through the second frame, Rose began forcing long two-point jumpers and became less effective as the game wore on. Then, he was barely on the court in the fourth quarter. Overall, it was easily his best game of the season — in Cleveland or Minnesota — but it was strange to see him taking away Tyus Jones‘ backup minutes.
• Chris Paul was awful, scoring 14 points on 14 shots and turning the ball over six times with only four assists. He also threw the ball away with just 8.7 seconds left, giving the Wolves a chance to tie the game on the final possession.
• The Rockets were an uncharacteristic 10-for-37 (27 percent) from beyond the arc. Take out Harden, and they were just 3-for-25 (12 percent) from 3-point range.
• Read those last two bullet points again. Does anyone think that non-Harden Rockets players will shoot 12 percent from outside the arc, or that Paul will have a 14-point, six-turnover game again this series? It definitely feels like a missed opportunity for Minnesota.
• Jimmy Butler has some sort of an injury to his right wrist, which was wrapped for the game. He is clearly nowhere near 100 percent healthy, turning down shots left and right and struggling in the paint. He shot just 4-of-11 and scored 13 points in 36 minutes.
• Andrew Wiggins was great early in the first and third quarters but was otherwise extremely quiet. He still ended up leading the Wolves in scoring as Towns and Butler combined to score just 21 points on 20 shots.

Notable Timberwolves Box Score Lines

• Andrew Wiggins: 18 points (7-15 FG, 1-3 3P, 3-4 FT), 6 rebounds, one assist
• Jimmy Butler: 13 points (4-11 FG, 2-5 3P, 2-2 FT), 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals
• Karl-Anthony Towns: 8 points (3-9 FG, 0-2 3P, 2-4 FT), 12 rebounds, 2 assists, one block
• Derrick Rose: 16 points (7-14 FG, 1-2 3P, 1-1 FT), 4 assists, 2 rebounds, 2 turnovers
• Jamal Crawford: 15 points (4-11 FG, 3-7 3P, 4-4 FT), 2 rebounds, 2 assists
• Jeff Teague: 15 points (4-9 FG, 1-4 3P, 6-7 FT), 9 rebounds, 8 assists, one steal, one block

Next: The Top 5 playoff games in Timberwolves history

What’s Next?

The Wolves will have two days off before Game Two in Houston on Wednesday night at 8:30 p.m. CT. Hopefully, Game One gives the Wolves the confidence that they can hang with the Rockets and we’ll be able to enjoy another nail-biter in just under 72 hours.