The Minnesota Timberwolves have performed above expectations in their first four preseason games. Unfortunately, reality hauled off and gave the Timberwolves a cold slap in the face in their final preseason game, and their only preseason play at home at Target Center.
If you believe as I do that preseason is simply an ideal time to try various rotations and see what works, then wrap everything back up and redesign the team back at the lab and at practice. The Brooklyn Nets have done just about everything that they wanted to do on the basketball court, and the Timberwolves truly struggled to execute in the first half of this game.
It was not one thing, but rather an aggregate of failures across the roster. The Timberwolves as a team shot 44.4 percent from the floor, just 15.4 percent from the perimeter, and 75 percent from the foul line. Meanwhile, the Brooklyn Nets were shooting 48.1 percent from the floor, 42.9 percent from three-point range, and 75 percent from the foul line.
Adding insult to injury, the Timberwolves committed nine turnovers in the first half to just five turnovers by the Nets.
The Nets were led by 34 points from the combined efforts of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. The Timberwolves were led by Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert, who combined to score 22 points.
Even the Timberwolves bench is unable to make up any ground against the Nets bench. Tauren Prince leads the bench by scoring six points. No other player off the Timberwolves’ bench has scored more than two points in the first half. The Nets have gotten six points from Day’Ron Sharpe, followed by five points from both Cam Thomas and Markieff Morris.
The only bright spot for the Timberwolves is the fact that Nets Simmons is in foul trouble in this one, with five personal fouls in one half.
The Timberwolves have been outscored by six points in the first quarter, but outscored by ten points in the second quarter.