11/12 Nets @ Timberwolves Rapid Reactions

Final Score: Timberwolves: 120, Nets: 113

Timberwolves:

• A tremendously weird night at the Target Center finished with the Timberwolves coming out on top. In their first game since the Jimmy Butler trade, it’s good for the Wolves to start off in the right direction. Although it was ugly, a win is a win in the NBA.
• Karl-Anthony Towns performed well in the first game since the Butler trade. Towns will need to be the leader of the Wolves, especially on the offensive end. Tonight, Towns poured in 25 points and 21 rebounds. While KAT will need to cut down on the turnovers (10 tonight), Towns will keep needing to lead the Wolves on offense.
• Jeff Teague is a monster when the ball is in his hands and he’s being aggressive. Recording 24 points and 11 assists, Teague will need to be ultra-aggressive the rest of the season for the Wolves to stay in the race in the West.
• Wolves only got 10 points from their bench. While the Wolves were short handed tonight without Covington and Saric in the lineup, Minnesota needs more than 10 points off the bench. When Minnesota is fully healthy and everyone is in their lineup, their bench has a real chance to be one of the best bench units in the league.
• Derrick Rose continued his hot start to the season. Putting up 23 points and 6 assists, Rose shot 3-5 from three-point range. Coming into the night, Rose had been shooting 46.7% from three. That will go up after his performance tonight. Rose’s shooting from deep has been a huge plus for Minnesota early in the season.

Nets:

• First and foremost, prayers go out to Caris LeVert. One of the most promising young players in the NBA, it’s tough to see that devastating of an injury. So thoughts are with him for a speedy recovery.
• D’Angelo Russell torched the Timberwolves from deep. Russell shot 9-15 from downtown tonight, recording a personal career-high in makes from three. Russell is shooting a career-high 36% from three this season, and his hot shooting continued tonight.
• The Nets dominated the Wolves on the offensive glass. The Nets pulled down 19 offensive rebounds, compared to Minnesota’s 9. While the Timberwolves still grabbed more total rebounds, the offensive glass was controlled by Brooklyn.
• The Nets continued attempting a ton of threes. The Nets put up 50 shots from deep tonight. In an effort to continue to adapt to the NBA’s new playstyle, Brooklyn continued pulling shots from beyond the arc tonight.
• Brooklyn forced 23 turnovers on Minnesota, and they managed to only turn the ball over 13 times. Usually, when a team wins the turnover battle by that much and crushes the opponent on the offensive glass, they come out on top, but that was not the case tonight.