Minnesota Timberwolves: Rose dominates, Wolves lose to Lakers

The Minnesota Timberwolves dropped their fourth straight game on Wednesday night, losing to the Los Angeles Lakers by a score of 114-110 despite 31 points from Derrick Rose.

One might think that in a game in which Jimmy Butler played, Andrew Wiggins had 17 points by halftime, and Derrick Rose dropped 31 points on just 17 shots with seven (!) made 3-pointers, the Minnesota Timberwolves would win handily.

Alas, their defense was atrocious throughout, Karl-Anthony Towns had a bad night, and the execution was poor on both ends of the floor down the stretch of a close game.

The Timberwolves had defeated LeBron James and the Lakers at Target Center just nine days prior, but came into Staples Center on a four-game losing streak. Things weren’t much better in Laker Land, either, after an ugly loss to a Kawhi Leonard-less Raptors team.

But leave it to the traveling disaster that is the Timberwolves, now 0-7 on the road, to right the Laker’s ship for them.

And it wasn’t really even James doing the majority damage. Despite a near triple-double (24 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists) it took him 21 shots to get his team-high 24 points and wasn’t a major factor until the last few minutes of the fourth quarter.

Instead, it was the steady diet of open 3-point attempts offered to Josh Hart and Kyle Kuzma, who combined to shoot a marvelous 9-of-14 (64.3 percent) from beyond the arc on the night.

There were a couple of opportunities in the first half that appeared to be primed for the Wolves to break the game open, but every time they went on a mini-run, the Lakers countered with made threes as the Wolves lazily waved their hand at the shooter.

Of course, complaining about 3-point shots by the opponent seems a bit trite when the Wolves themselves were ultra-efficient, making 20 of their 40 3-point attempts, led by Rose’s 7-of-9 and Butler’s 5-of-8.

But it was defense that did the Wolves in, as well as the inefficient looks that Towns had at the basket. Despite being guarded by Kyle Kuzma for stretches early in the game, Towns rarely had the ball in the post. The only time he was assertive on the low block was when he had Tyson Chandler, an outstanding defender despite his 36 years, who was playing in his first game with the Lakers.

Towns couldn’t score on Chandler down low, and then settled for long two-point jumpers when checked by James down the stretch in the fourth quarter.

The Wolves managed to trail by seven points with 1:51 remaining in the fourth quarter, but Rose came down the court and hit a three. Then, a defensive stop and another 3-pointer from Rose on a difficult step-back on the wing, bringing Minnesota within a single point.

And then, with 1:06 remaining, the Wolves got three consecutive stops on defense but allowed three consecutive offensive rebounds to the Lakers on tap-backs by Chandler. Ultimately, the Wolves were forced to foul Kuzma with 9.2 remaining. He missed one free throw, and the Wolves had plenty of time to either tie or win the game.

The sideline out-of-bounds play got the ball to Rose at the top of the key with Chandler switched onto him. He launched a long three that looked true but hit the back rim and bounced away. A foul could have been called, as Chandler hit Rose’s hand on the follow-through, but it wasn’t quite egregious.

It’s hard to criticize the playcall, as Rose was a remarkable 7-of-8 on threes to that point int he game and kept the Wolves in it singlehandedly down the stretch. It was simply an unfortunate bounds and a disappointing end to a game that was all offense and zero defense and rebounding for the Wolves.

Video of the Night

Player of the Game

Derrick Rose: 31 points (11-17 FG, 7-9 3P, 2-2 FT), 5 assists, 3 rebounds

It’s hard to understate just how weird it was to see Rose draining 3-pointers with ease. This is a player who was shooting a tick under 30 percent on 3-point attempts for his career, and his crazy night was enough to boost his career mark to 30.1 percent.

Rose was efficient and kept the Wolves in the game. LeBron James was the best all-around player on the court, but Rose’s crazy performance gets him the nod here.

Notable Timberwolves Box Score Lines

• Jimmy Butler: 24 points (9-18 FG, 5-8 3P, 1-1 FT), 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, one block
• Andrew Wiggins: 19 points (8-14 FG, 3-7 3P), 5 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 steals, one block
• Karl-Anthony Towns: 13 points (5-16 FG, 1-6 3P, 2-2 FT), 9 rebounds, 3 blocks, one assist, one steal
• Taj Gibson: 16 points (6-14 FG, 3-5 3P, 1-2 FT), 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals

Butler was solid throughout and hit some big 3-pointers in the second half. Wiggins was huge early and had 17 points at halftime but disappeared after halftime.

After a quick start, Towns had an awful night on both ends of the floor. Gibson outscored and out-rebounded Towns, including a career-high in made threes with three.

What’s Next?

The Wolves head north to Sacramento for a winnable game against a surprising 6-5 Kings team on Friday night. The game tips off at 9 p.m. CT.