Minnesota Timberwolves: Andrew Wiggins goes missing down the stretch

Andrew Wiggins wasn’t in the game down the stretch in Saturday’s win over the Bulls or Monday’s win against the Cavaliers. What does this mean for the former Rookie of the Year?

In the Minnesota Timberwolves‘ last two wins, Andrew Wiggins wasn’t in the game down the stretch during the fourth quarter.

That’s not something that is typically seen from a max player. Usually, when someone is getting that kind of money, it’s expected that they’re playing down the stretch during a tightly contested game.

Wiggins hasn’t played all that well on offense, of course, and is currently averaging 15.2 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.5 steals per game. He hasn’t shot well from the field, and while remains improved overall at 36 percent, he’s shot just 4-for-21 (19 percent) over his last five games.

In those five games, he’s only averaging 9.4 points and shooting 28.6 percent from the field in addition to his aforementioned struggles from beyond the ark. In the two games preceding his skid, Wiggins looked like a revitalized player following the Jimmy Butler trade.

Every player goes through rough patches, but this is bad. For the first time in his career he was shutout entirely, scoring zero points on an 0-for-12 shooting night against Chicago. In Monday’s game against the Cavaliers, he was nowhere to be seen on the floor in the fourth quarter.

Looking at the last handful of games, it would be assumed that his poor performances were a result in him not seeing the court as time trickled down in the fourth.

However, Chris Hine of the Star Tribune reported what Tom Thibodeau had to say about it.

"“It’s just [the Cavaliers] were playing zone and I wanted more dribble penetration and so I actually was thinking about putting him in at the 4 [power forward position], but it was just the way the game was unfolding. Wig will finish most games.”"

It all makes sense, but it does seem weird that a max player was unable to find time on the court.

Derrick Rose was in the game alongside Teague to finish the game out, and Rose did finish quite nicely when the Timberwolves needed him most, scoring 10 of his 12 points in the final frame.

Wiggins will have to show that he can score effectively, or at least contribute in other areas, in order to play down the stretch — and especially with Rose playing so well on offense.

The area in which Wiggins appears to have improved somewhat this year is his willingness to play defense, as he’s averaging a career-high 1.5 steals per game and 0.6 blocks per contest. Most of his defensive metrics are up through the 17 games that he’s played in thus far.

Wolves fans have seen Wiggins play better on-ball defense. While the off-ball defense is something that still needs work, it’s worth noting that he’s improved there, too. If he can play good offense and continue to show strides on defense, Wiggins should find his way back on the court in crunchtime.

If what Thibodeau said is true, there shouldn’t be any reason that he won’t be on the court if the game is tightly contested. But we’ll just have to wait and see if that’s the case.