
Ricky Rubio and D'Angelo Russell of the Minnesota Timberwolves. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
Player grades from Minnesota Timberwolves’ win over San Antonio Spurs
The Minnesota Timberwolves snapped their seven-game losing streak with a win over the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday evening.


The Minnesota Timberwolves played well on Saturday night and had a chance to top the San Antonio Spurs in overtime.
Instead, the losing streak ballooned to seven. To make matters worse prior to Sunday’s re-match, Karl-Anthony Towns was ruled out as the Wolves try to ease him back into action.
On the other side of the ledger, the Wolves got Josh Okogie back on Sunday, and the Spurs were without DeMar DeRozan due to personal reasons.
As it turned out, the Wolves played well enough defensively to slow down a punchless San Antonio offense.
After a massive first half from Lonnie Walker, he went cold in the second half and the Spurs relied almost exclusively on Patty Mills and LaMarcus Aldridge, who combined to shoot just 16-of-40 from the field and 4-for-16 from beyond the arc.
The Wolves had an inconsistent night offensively. D’Angelo Russell carried them through the first quarter while Malik Beasley took over the offense during the middle stages of the game. Down the stretch, the Wolves used a balanced attack with both Russell and Ricky Rubio on the floor.
The Spurs continued to struggle offensively, and the Wolves did just enough defensively and on the glass to put the game away late.
Okogie and Jarred Vanderbilt were vital to Minnesota’s defensive success in crunch-time. Combined with Rubio and Towns, the Wolves have the makings of a strong defensive unit for late-game situations.