It’s tough to be in any must-win scenario, but the Minnesota Timberwolves found themselves in just such a high-stakes confrontation. Worse yet, it was against the red-hot Golden State Warriors, the defending NBA Champions, and it was on the road too. And the Timberwolves have struggled to make any headway past the .500 mark this season.
The Minnesota Timberwolves (37-37) embarked on a critical three-game road trip after an emotionally charged victory over the Atlanta Hawks at Target Center extended their own winning streak to two games. It was a huge win for the Timberwolves, as not only did All-Star power forward Karl-Anthony Towns return after an absence of 52 games, but he drained the game-tying and game-winning points from the free throw line to seal the win.
To casually state that this has been a difficult NBA season for the Minnesota Timberwolves would be a gross understatement. The Timberwolves roster has been through a trial-by-fire, both from external as well as internal forces. The team has had to compete without key players, sometimes for months, and has seldom gotten any mention in NBA headlines of that adversity.
No retreat in Timberwolves this season
But the team would press on. Even as former Timberwolves PG D’Angelo Russell was openly critical and berating his new teammate C Rudy Gobert, the team pressed on. The initial hope was for the Timberwolves front office to act in the off-season, and simply let D’Lo test his value in the NBA Free Agency market. After the NBA Trade Deadline, reports confirmed that the Timberwolves did not intend to extend Russell.
The Timberwolves, desperate to get Gobert more involved in the offense, traded D’Angelo Russell at the trade deadline for three second-round NBA Draft picks, veteran PG Mike Conley, and young SG Nickeil Alexander-Walker. Conley has been a positive locker-room presence for the team, and he was quite effective in his first game playing alongside Karl-Anthony Towns.
But this would be an entirely different and more difficult challenge for the Timberwolves. The Golden State Warriors were riding the crest of a three-game winning streak, were at home where they were 30-7, and the Minnesota Timberwolves were just 16-20 on the road this season. Making matters worse, the Warriors would get an emotional boost from the return to action of veteran shooting guard Gary Payton II.
KAT and Ant-Man are back
But the Warriors were not the only team welcoming back a player after injury. While the Minnesota Timberwolves welcomed back Karl-Anthony Towns, the Timberwolves welcomed back All-Star shooting guard Anthony Edwards in this one. That was huge, because not only do the Timberwolves depend heavily upon Edwards to put points on the scoreboard, but the team has come to relish his defensive chops on the basketball court as well.
Edwards is both unique and quite common in the NBA. Common in that he has the toughness, the resolve, that has become legendary of the true masters of the game. He shares the same “I owe it to the fans to play,” mindset that was made famous by Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Allen Iverson, Larry Byrd, and Wilt Chamberlain. He is unique in that the same mindset is not common in the NBA any longer, and that many players have workload management that kicks them to the bench in back-to-backs or after a prescribed number of games have been played.
Ant-Man comes up big on D
Edwards can score points, lots and lots of points. But it was Edwards’ defense that was so vital in this one. The Warriors had not been held to less than 119 points in their past eight games, and this was a team that has been almost unbeatable at Chase Center. To win on the road against them, the Timberwolves had to score points, as well as get their best defensive effort of the season, and hope it was enough.
The time had come for the team to stop waiting for someone else on the team to show up, and begin to take command of every opportunity the game would allow. After all, the Warriors were making their NBA Playoffs push, and the Minnesota Timberwolves had to not only face that but outhustle them on each and every play.
3 Timberwolves game takeaways
The best course of action when facing a highly-talented and highly-motivated team like the Golden State Warriors is obviously to lead off the game with your best scorers and try to get the early lead. Well, that is exactly what the Minnesota Timberwolves did not do. After all, the key to winning against a championship fight is to hit them where they ain’t. What do I mean?
Timberwolves Game Takeaways III: Timberwolves relied on an early Conley rally
Instead, the Timberwolves rode the hot hand of long-range marksman Mike Conley Jr. In the first seven minutes of the game, Conley hit on four of four from beyond the arc, scoring 12 of the Timberwolves’ first 19 points. Not only was the strategy very clever, but it set the stage for the Timberwolves throughout the entire contest
Conley has been a huge ‘get,’ for the Timberwolves roster. While he has averaged fewer points than former PG D’Angelo Russell, he more than makes up for that with his on-court leadership and his ability to activate his teammates throughout a game. By becoming an early-scoring threat, Conley was able to draw defensive attention to himself, freeing up his teammates to score later in the game.
Timberwolves Game Takeaways II: Defense was jaw-droppingly good
The Minnesota Timberwolves shut down the Golden State Warriors’ offense. That’s right. We have not had much occasion to tout the Timberwolves’ defense, but this was a Herculean effort on everyone’s part. The Timberwolves outshot the Warriors from the floor, outrebounded the Warriors on the boards, out-thieved the Warriors on steals, and scored more points in the paint and more points on fast breaks.
But the coup de grace was the fact that the Timberwolves outshot the Golden State Warriors from three-point range. That has been a burr in the Timberwolves’ saddle all season, and there is no way to deny that the team played their hearts out in this one. Let’s be clear. Not only did the Timberwolves score more three-point shots, but the team attempted as many perimeter shots as the Warriors. That’s a huge sign of progress.
Timberwolves Game Takeaways I: Karl-Anthony Towns with 2nd game-winner
Like him or not, if you cheer for the Minnesota Timberwolves you really want the basketball in the hands of Karl-Anthony Towns with just seconds to go and the game on the line. Towns is a passionate and enthusiastic playmaker for the Timberwolves team. He is so good, so skilled, that past iterations of the Timberwolves have counted on Towns to do it all simply because he can.
Now, with rim protection handled by teammate Rudy Gobert, Towns can focus on the aspects of the game that he loves and that in turn is unlocking his love of the game once more. Perhaps the last 2:00 of this game illustrates that point.
After point forward, Kyle Anderson hauled in a defensive rebound with just 2:01 to go in the game, and the Timberwolves trailing by two points, the basketball found its way to Karl Anthony Towns via Anthony Edwards (assist), who drained a huge 28-foot three-pointer to put the Timberwolves up by a score of 94-93. Golden State Warriors SG Jordan Poole, their top scorer, responded with a three-pointer of his own, retaking the lead by a score of 96-94.
But Rudy Gobert was sent to the free throw line and sank one of two to bring the Timberwolves to within one point with just 27 seconds remaining. On their next possession Warriors’ Draymond Green attempted a pass that was intercepted by Kyle Anderson. With just 11.0 on the game clock, Towns’ artillery blasted once more, this time sinking a 27-footer. The Timberwolves defense forced another turnover, and with possession, the Warriors were forced to commit a foul. Jaden McDaniels hit one of two free throws, and that was the game.
The victory catapults the Minnesota Timberwolves (38-37) to the seventh seed in the NBA Western Conference, and to second place in the NBA Northwest Division. With seven games remaining, the Timberwolves can do no better than 45-37, and now no worse than 38-44.
The Golden State Warriors (39-37) are the sixth seed in the NBA Western Conference, just one-half game ahead of the Timberwolves.
The next contest for the Minnesota Timberwolves will be on the road to face the Sacramento Kings (45-29), a team that is securely anchored as the third seed in the NBA Western Conference. Tipoff is Monday, March 27, at 9:00 pm CT.