Player grades from the Minnesota Timberwolves’ win over the Warriors
By Jack Borman
86. Final/OT. 119. 41. 125
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
Wing. Minnesota Timberwolves. ANDREW WIGGINS. A+. I wish there was an A+++ option. <p> </p> <p>The sun has set on what might have been the greatest day the residents of Wiggins Island have ever experienced. Maple Jordan (yeah, I went there) poured in 40 points on 17-33 shooting, seven assists, five rebounds, three blocks and <em>zero</em> turnovers on a night where he spent most of the game handling the ball. He spent the entire game in #DownhillWiggins mode, which had defenders on their heels all night long. As a result, he was able to keep his head up and consistently find teammates for open shots and set up good ball reversals and driving lanes for teammates. Andrew scored 18 (!) points in the fourth quarter and OT, continuing his unbelievable play in the clutch (less than five minutes left in the game with the score within five points) this season.</p> <p>His layup with 5.6 seconds left sent the game to OT and his step-back 3 with 23.5 seconds left in OT put the game on ice. Wiggins has begun the transformation into the player we all hoped to see over the past few seasons and boy has it been fun to take in. Tonight was the best game of Wiggins’ NBA career.</p>
https://twitter.com/NBATV/status/1193016443773677569?s=20
A. After a very poor first quarter, RoCo came alive in the final four periods. His defensive energy was absolutely tremendous and resulted in five steals and three blocks, many of which came in big moments down the stretch. His off-ball disruption, rotating genius, and ability to deflect the ball in the second half was a work of art and something that can’t go unnoticed. <p> </p> <p>Despite an off-shooting night (5-15 FG, 2-10 3PT), Covington found ways to be the hyper-impactful player Wolves fans saw last season upon his arrival in Minneapolis, which played a monumental role in tonight’s big win. He ended the night with 17 points and 11 rebounds, and had the game-clinching steal to put a bow on his performance.</p>. Forward. Minnesota Timberwolves. ROBERT COVINGTON
C+. This C+ might be a little hard for a guy that had 20 points, 14 rebounds, and four assists, but KAT took himself out of the game early with two quick fouls and his defensive awareness was terrible down the stretch. Towns sat the final 8:45 of the second quarter after picking up his third foul, and had just seven points at the break. He came out pissed off and aggressive on offense, re-asserting his dominance with 8 points and a bevy of rebounds in the first five minutes of the third quarter. <p> </p> <p>KAT disappeared in the fourth quarter offensively, and was terrible on defense. He refused to step up after Russell got around screens in the PnR and it nearly cost the Wolves a much-needed win. Towns will learn from it on film and hopefully fix that, but he needs to know that when a guy is as hot as D-Lo got in the fourth quarter, you need to make someone else beat you.</p>. Center. Minnesota Timberwolves. KARL-ANTHONY TOWNS
A-. While there were enough mistakes to warrant a B+ or even a B grade tonight from <a href=. Wing. Minnesota Timberwolves. JOSH OKOGIE
D. It’s never a good sign when you forget a guy is on the floor for minutes on end. Unfortunately, after an awesome showing in Memphis on Wednesday night, Jarrett Culver was pretty awful tonight. On a night where Ryan Saunders was without his two point guards, the Wolves needed impactful minutes from the wing-turned-point-guard, but didn’t get them. He was passive all night offensively and didn’t make enough plays on defense to warrant minutes on the floor. <p> </p> <p>Culver found himself playing hot potato at times and looked nervous when he had opportunities to create. The Wolves rookie was 0-5 from the floor and had just two points, but did turn out a quiet four assists in what was otherwise a very forgettable night for Culver.</p>. Point Guard. Minnesota Timberwolves. JARRETT CULVER
Minnesota Timberwolves. JAKE LAYMAN. 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.<div class=. Wing
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.
" >
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.
NOAH VONLEH. C-. Vonleh’s services weren’t needed much tonight since the Warriors went small the whole night, but he didn’t provide a ton of value in his nine minutes tonight. He had an awesome put-back slam off a Wiggins miss in the first half and did pull six rebounds (four offensive) but his defense was sub-par and he had three bad turnovers that prompted a justified benching from Saunders. Noah would have a much easier time staying on the floor if he consistently boxed out and played solid defense.. Center. Minnesota Timberwolves
TREVEON GRAHAM. C+. Since Steve Kerr went small, Graham got the start tonight and turned in a very up-and-down performance. TG was both unplayable at times and an important defensive asset. He contributed eight points, three boards, two assists, and two steals in 33 minutes of action, playing in a variety of lineups. Offensively, he forced the issue off the dribble early on – leading to a couple of his three turnovers on the night – but eventually turned things around by letting Wiggins and Towns create offense. He had a couple of nice finishes down low amongst the trees, which he has shown the ability to do consistently early on this season. <p> </p> <p>Defensively, he got killed by Russell in the PnR for most of the night, ending up behind him on too many possessions. Graham’s motor stayed constant throughout and he made some big energy-boosting plays down the stretch in the fourth quarter that helped give the Wolves an extra possession or two in a game where every possession mattered.</p>. Wing. Minnesota Timberwolves
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.
Wolves' wing rotation shows promise. dark. Next
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.