Player grades from Minnesota Timberwolves’ loss to the New York Knicks
By Ben Beecken
The Minnesota Timberwolves dropped their fifth consecutive game, once again coming back from a large deficit only to lose in the final minute.
103. 27. Final. 99. 86
Say what you want, but the Minnesota Timberwolves have been remarkably consistent. This game fits both categories of painful losses that Wolves fans have endured in the first half of the season.
Yes, this fits the criteria of trailing by 20 or more points but making a furious comeback only to still lose, and it is also the Wolves’ 12th loss in 19 games in which they’ve held a fourth-quarter lead.
That’s right. Remarkably, the Wolves are 7-12 when leading a game in the fourth quarter.
In this one, the New York Knicks dominated the first quarter, much of the second, and the first part of the third frame. Then, the Wolves went on a sustained 29-9 run that bled into the fourth quarter with the bench leading the initial charge and Karl-Anthony Towns coming to life in a big way in the fourth.
Towns dominated the glass, knocked down threes, scored in the post, and caused Nerlens Noel to foul out while leading the Wolves all the way back. Minnesota led multiple times in a see-saw battle over the final minutes and had a chance down one with 32 seconds left.
Towns got the ball in the post on the right baseline, guarded by former teammate Taj Gibson. After bringing help on Towns in the post for most of the night, the Knicks stayed home and left Taj on an island.
Towns backed him down to about eight feet and fired up a mini jump-hook, a decent look while fading towards the baseline. The shot rattled in and then out, and the Wolves were forced to foul.
After the Knicks made a pair of free throws, the Wolves still had a chance to tie. Towns was pestered in the corner on the inbound and got the ball to a cutting Ricky Rubio, who launched a mid-range jumper when he felt contact, sending him to the line.
The plan, obviously, was to make both freebies and then play the foul game, giving them likely more than 10 seconds to get a good look at a 3-pointer to tie the game. Alas, the second free throw hung on the rim and rolled off, and that was it.
Curiously, the Wolves had Towns all the way back on defense, not even lined up to rebound a potential missed free throw. Even if the Knicks had gotten a runout, Towns had five personal fouls. What was the point?
The late-game execution was once again a mixed bag for the Wolves, and a furious fourth-quarter comeback once again fell short.
Minnesota Timberwolves Player Grades vs. Indiana Pacers
Minnesota Timberwolves. KARL-ANTHONY TOWNS. A-. Karl-Anthony Towns was solid in the first half, had a mini-meltdown in the third quarter, and was as dominant as ever in the final frame. He had nine points, five rebounds, and a pair of assists at halftime. Then, he picked up three quick personal fouls and a technical in the third as the Wolves fell behind by 21. But he took over in the fourth quarter, and outside of missing the potential game-winner, Towns was utterly dominant. He finished with 27 points (9-18 FG, 3-7 3P, 6-6 FT), 15 rebounds, four assists, three blocks, and a steal.. Center
D. This was a weirdly quiet game from Malik Beasley. He had three shot attempts in the first half, and … three in the second half. Beas finished the game with just six points on 2-of-6 shooting. He simply didn’t get many opportunities and was a complete afterthought. Which is crazy, of course, since the man was averaging north of 20 points per game coming into this one. But this game was centered around KAT, and Beasley never got involved.. Wing. Minnesota Timberwolves. MALIK BEASLEY
Wing. Minnesota Timberwolves. ANTHONY EDWARDS. C-. It was another poor shooting night for the rookie. Anthony Edwards shot only 3-for-11 from the field, and all three of his makes were from 3-point range. He was 0-for-5 inside the arc and otherwise had four assists, three rebounds, and three turnovers. Both Edwards and Beasley need to figure out how to play off of Towns, and the Wolves coaching staff has to find a way to keep the Wolves’ most dynamic wings involved in the offense.
Ricky Rubio was the entirety of the Wolves’ first-half offense; he had 15 at the break while nobody else had more than nine. Rubio finished with 18 points, six assists, and a steal with only one turnover. Other than a rushed jumper in the final minutes and the critical missed free throw late in the game, he was really good, although there was definitely an argument to made once again for Jordan McLaughlin to get some run down the stretch.. Point Guard. Minnesota Timberwolves. RICKY RUBIO. B
D. Jarred Vanderbilt started again and had another quiet night. He struggled with Julius Randle and didn’t look like himself defensively or on the glass. Compounding matters were his issues catching the ball; Vando continues to look like an unnatural pass-catcher. He fumbled the ball on what would have been a wide-open dunk attempt in the third quarter, left the game shortly afterward, and wasn’t heard from again.. Big. Minnesota Timberwolves. JARRED VANDERBILT
C+. Jaden McDaniels had a rough go of things. Along with Vanderbilt, the Wolves’ young frontcourt simply could not find an answer for Randle, Nerlens Noel, and Taj Gibson. The rookie finished the game with just six points and four assists in 22 minutes and didn’t quite look like himself defensively.. Forward. Minnesota Timberwolves. JADEN MCDANIELS
A-. Naz Reid competed in this game, helping to key the Wolves’ first mini-comeback early in the second quarter and the beginning stages of the prolonged comeback late in the third quarter. He finished with 11 points and eight rebounds and bounced back nicely from a tough game against Toronto on Friday night. He struggled a bit with the Knicks frontcourt at times, but given the context of the issues that Vanderbilt and McDaniels had, Reid more than held his own.. Center. Minnesota Timberwolves. NAZ REID
Point Guard. Minnesota Timberwolves. JORDAN MCLAUGHILN. B+. Jordan McLaughlin was good enough that it wouldn’t have been a complete shock to see him get some run in crunch-time in Rubio’s stead. Then again, it hasn’t happened to this point, so it would have been surprising on some level. He ended the game with eight points and six assists with only one turnover and a plus-minus of +5.
Other Minnesota Timberwolves Players
Jaylen Nowell had another disappointing showing and received limited playing time in the second half. He finished with zero points on 0-of-6 shooting and didn’t have any assists or rebounds.
Josh Okogie only played eight minutes and was 1-of-3 from the field. Jake Layman got third-quarter run as head coach Ryan Saunders was throwing things against the wall to try and get his team back into the game and was scoreless but turned in a +5.
It was a similar outcome for Juancho Hernangomez, who saw 11 minutes and had seven points and a rebound but knocked down a pair of threes and was also a +5.
Next. Beasley is having an all-time Wolves season. dark
Up next for the Minnesota Timberwolves
The Wolves are in Milwaukee for a 7 p.m. tip on Tuesday night. While the Bucks are a relatively disappointing 17-13 on the season, they still have the reigning back-to-back MVP award-winner and will be a difficult matchup, to say the least.