In what was one of the most frustrating Wolves games you will ever watch, the Minnesota Timberwolves thankfully snatched a victory away from a injury-laden Golden State Warriors squad.
Early on, Golden State was getting easy looks from all over the floor and found themselves at the line time and time again in the first half. D’Angelo Russell got off to a scintillating 7-of-8 start from the floor in the first quarter, but thankfully cooled off at least a little bit, which allowed Minnesota to hang around.
To make matters worse, Karl-Anthony Towns picked up his third foul at the 8:45 mark in the second quarter and was sent to the bench for the rest of the half. But Minnesota got some great minutes from Gorgui Dieng over the final 4:30 of the second, which included an acrobatic and-one on his first offensive possession and a huge block on a dunk attempt on the other end.
What was most frustrating early was the Wolves’ inability to defend without fouling. The Dubs went a whopping 20-for-20 from the free throw line in the first half, making Minnesota pay for their porous defensive energy and effort. As a result, Steve Kerr‘s squad held a 61-60 lead at the break.
KAT came out of the break looking like his dominant, energy-infusing self, dominating both backboards and in the paint for the first half of the third quarter. The Wolves’ offense then frustratingly turned away from their superstar center in favor of chucking any 3 they could take, all while D-Lo was stoking what would become a five-alarm fire on the other end of the floor.
To get the offense back on track, Saunders turned to Canada’s finest to handle the point guard duties in the fourth quarter.
Coaching without his two point guards as Jeff Teague (illness) and Shabazz Napier each missed their second game in a row, Ryan Saunders struggled to put together competent rotations for the first 15 minutes of the second half, and it almost cost his squad the game.
The NBA’s youngest coach also failed to make adjustments defensively down the stretch in the fourth quarter. Russell consistently shot pull-up jumpers above Towns in the pick-and-roll, who was dropping too far on almost every Warriors PnR action. D-Lo made six shots off of pick-and-roll plays in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter alone, much to the agony of every Wolves fan watching the game.
But after taking a timid and passive Jarrett Culver out of the game in favor of resident energizer bunny Josh Okogie with 4:18 left to play in the fourth quarter, Saunders’ team came alive offensively.
Wiggins was unstoppable in the clutch (I’m still getting used to typing stuff like this) and willed the Wolves back from what seemed like an unsurmountable offensive explosion Russell, culminating with Wig’s game-tying layup with 5.6 seconds left.
In addition to Andrew’s timely scoring, Minnesota got some big-time defensive plays in the fourth quarter and OT from Okogie and Robert Covington to help will the Wolves to victory, despite a career-high 52 points from Russell.
The icing on the cake? A money step-back three from Wiggins.
WIGGINS PUTTING THE T-WOLVES ON HIS BACK. pic.twitter.com/v45gxM4We4
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) November 9, 2019
Player grades from tonight’s victory
https://twitter.com/NBATV/status/1193016443773677569?s=20
In the second half, his defensive play kept him on the floor and forced the offense through D’Angelo Russell. Layman also added back-to-back huge transition buckets with 1:54 and 59.7 seconds left in regulation to cut the Golden State lead to four and two, respectively. He finished with 14 points on 6-13 shooting (2-5 3PT), five rebounds, and a block.
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B+
While he disappeared later on in the second half, Layman was terrific in the first half. He supplied all eight points of his first quarter points after KAT exited with his second foul at the 5:32 mark, which helped keep the Warriors at bay. Jake was active on the glass early on as well, leading to a couple of offensive boards that kept possessions alive.
In the second half, his defensive play kept him on the floor and forced the offense through D’Angelo Russell. Layman also added back-to-back huge transition buckets with 1:54 and 59.7 seconds left in regulation to cut the Golden State lead to four and two, respectively. He finished with 14 points on 6-13 shooting (2-5 3PT), five rebounds, and a block.
Other Players
Wolves’ two-way point guard Jordan McLaughlin saw 15 minutes of playing time off the bench, but was unplayable the entire night.
He was a team-worst minus-nine tonight and it stuck out while he was on the floor. McLaughlin had two turnovers via bad passes after leaving his feet and was just 1-of-4 from the floor for three points. With Jeff Teague likely returning from injury on Sunday vs Denver, McLaughlin is probably headed back to Iowa to re-join the G-League Wolves team along with Jaylen Nowell.
Gorgui Dieng saw eight minutes of action in effectively stealing Noah Vonleh’s second-half minutes and provided a spark during the latter portion of the second quarter. He immediately completed a 3-point play and followed it up with a swat on the other end. Dieng registered three points on 1-3 shooting, one board, one assist and one block.
Before the game, Gorgui was presented with the NBA Community Assist Award for his offseason charity work centered on fighting hunger as well as upgrading hospitals and healthcare centers back home in his native Senegal.
Up Next
After a big win tonight, the Wolves will host the 6-2 Denver Nuggets at Target Center on Sunday afternoon in a huge divisional matchup.
In his postgame presser, head coach Ryan Saunders alluded to Jeff Teague likely returning from an illness that has kept him out of the last two games. It’s unclear if Shabazz Napier will return from a hamstring strain, but getting Jeff Teague back will give the Wolves some much-needed offensive organization and an additional scoring option.