Dunking With Wolves
Fansided

Minnesota Timberwolves pick up preseason win over the Pacers

By Andrew Ites

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 10: Karl-Anthony Towns #32 of the Minnesota Timberwolves stands during the National Anthem prior to playing the Golden State Warriors in an NBA basketball game at Chase Center on October 10, 2019 in San Francisco, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 10: Karl-Anthony Towns #32 of the Minnesota Timberwolves stands during the National Anthem prior to playing the Golden State Warriors in an NBA basketball game at Chase Center on October 10, 2019 in San Francisco, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /
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The Minnesota Timberwolves put in their best performance of the preseason thus far in a 119-111 victory over the Pacers in Indiana.

The Minnesota Timberwolves got off to a rocky 2-0 start this preseason, but they’ve followed it up with a nice home victory Maccabi Tel-Aviv and their first road victory of the preseason against a solid Pacers squad.

Karl-Anthony Towns was in midseason form as he put up 33 points on 13-for-20 shooting with 10 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 blocks.

KAT set the tone early with a savage swat on Domantas Sabonis, and his teammates fed off of that energy by not letting Indiana get many easy buckets at the rim all night long.

Towns’ most impressive sequence of the game was a series of three possessions where he threw down a monster dunk over two Pacers, drove to the hoop from the three-point line and finished with a nice layup, and finished it off by draining a stepback three that looked like a move he learned from Steph Curry.

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Ryan Saunders decided he saw all he needed to see from KAT pulling him shortly after as Towns reached 26 minutes on the night.

Another standout from tonight’s game was rookie Jarrett Culver who was the Wolves’ second-leading scorer with 15 efficient points going 7-for-14 from the floor. The sixth overall pick also tacked on 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 steal to fill out the stat sheet.

Culver excelled in transition with a couple of nice layups including a pretty up-and-under finish.

The former Texas Tech Red Raider did all of that in just 20 minutes as it looks like he’ll start the season as a super-sub for the Wolves.

Robert Covington was extremely active in the win as it looks like he’s pretty close to 100% healthy after missing most of last season with a knee injury.

RoCo grabbed an insane 19 rebounds to go along with 10 points and 3 assists, and he was all over the floor on defense with 3 blocks and a steal to go along with multiple deflections.

If Minnesota wants to exceed expectations this year, they’re going to need Covington to return to form and it looks like he’s well on his way this preseason.

The Wolves’ two most frustrating players continued to be just that as Jeff Teague and Andrew Wiggins combined to go 7-for-30 from the floor. Teague was able to contribute 7 assists, but Wiggins was invisible for most of the night as he is want to do.

Wiggins continues to take too many long two’s after saying that he was trying to eliminate those from his game this year.

Teague may need some time to get into a rhythm after being injured for most of last season, but it’s possible that this is the new normal for the 31-year-old point guard.

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Overall, the positives far outweighed the negatives in this one as Minnesota looks to be hitting their stride with their regular season opener just around the corner.

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