Offense Reigns in Minnesota

That was exciting.

I think most of us probably knew what was going to happen–the same thing that happens nearly every game: the Wolves would blow it in the last two minutes. And I know that everyone is sick of good losses and wants some wins. But the Wolves didn’t even play incredibly today and they still were right there in it with a minute and a half to go.

Big mistakes in the last two minutes from Wiggins and LaVine cost them down the stretch, and in the end, KD buried ’em. Such is life.

Here’s how it went down:

The first quarter started with a couple failed plays that were nonetheless very exciting. First, a Wiggins-Towns pick and roll froze the Thunder defense, but Towns missed the layup. The next play, Towns tossed an alley-oop for Wiggins that he juuuust missed, but Dieng was there with the putback jam.

Throughout the quarter, Towns and Dieng were formidable walling off the paint, bothering Westbrook’s drives and getting the Thunder bigs in foul trouble. Unfortunately, Kanter came in to replace Adams and ran rampant over the Wolves, who lost their defensive mojo soon into the second.

Zach LaVine saved them in the second quarter. He had the team’s first ten points, off a variety of pull ups, floaters, and threes. It’s really fun when he starts getting some swagger. The kid can get hot. At the end of the first half, both teams leading scorers were off the bench: LaVine and Kanter each with 15. Dieng, Towns, and Wiggins were all also in double digits, and Bjelica had nine. Even though the Wolves struggled, they won the quarter 36-34, and they led at the half 64-62.

Dieng, Muhammad, and Wiggins led the way in the second half. The Wolves would make a great play, and while caught up in the moment, the Thunder would rush back and hit a retaliatory shot. Back and forth we went, but eventually KD did as KD will do. Victory, Thunder.

Dribs and Drabs

— The Dieng-Towns pairing worked well for long stretches. If Dieng can get a reliable jumper, it’s could be a really interesting combination.

— Only ten points and three boards for Muhammad, but he brought a lot of energy and fired up the team a couple times, including a big jam of a Wiggins feed. He needs to get better at passing out of the post if he’s going to spend so much time there.

— Towns didn’t have a great game, but still ended up with 19 points, 13 rebounds, five assists, and three blocks. Let that marinate for a minute. He was bothered all night by OKC’s gaggle of bigs, and yet he still blew up the box score, as well as the Target Center rims. He also had this fun shot.

— I’m sorry to say it but Pekovic should not be on the floor at any point against quality opponents. He reminds me of 2013-2014 Amar’e, before he figured out how to play with no knees, when he would just do these slow, methodical moves that would either then be flung towards the basket or brutally blocked. It’s tough to watch.

— LaVine! He stole the show. A season high 35 points (14-17 shooting, 5-8 3PM) in just 30 minutes, just two shy of his career high. He had a couple beautiful plays down the stretch that kept them right in it, and then blew a flat tire and shot a horrible airball from about 32 feet out. I don’t blame him, he was the hot hand, but boy was that shot bad.

— Wiggins had a tough night offensively, mostly because of how much energy he was putting into D-ing up KD. Durant got his, but Wiggins made him work for it, including absolutely stifling him on KD’s last iso play, which led to the aforementioned upperdecker laid by LaVine. Wiggins shot some bad airballs as well, but was red-hot around the rim, with some absolute pogo stick plays.

— Bjelica had a game! 11 points, three assists, three boards. He made some really nice plays, and some really bad ones. After a pass from Bjelly that hit the side of the stanchion, Dieng looked like he was about to scold the rook, then clapped and ran across the court to give him a little butt-patt. It was charming.

— I like Cameron Payne. Zach LaVine popped him in the dome and he sat the second half, but he’s a good player. I wish he were the backup PG for the Wolves. Just sayin’.

— When did Dion Waiters become a good basketball player? Not, like, a good streak shooter, but an all-around good player? Weird.

— No response for Kanter tonight. 23 points, 10 boards, two blocks for the Turk. Towns couldn’t really do anything about him.

That’s it! Russell and KD combined for 51 points, 20 assists, and 17 boards. Tough to do anything about that. They’ll see these guys again on March 11th and try their damndest to avoid the season sweep.  The Wolves were very close to matching their feat of three sub-20 year-olds with 20 points, but will settle for what they got. Phoenix got smoked by the Cavs tonight, and they sit tied at 14-33. Brooklyn is in sight with a record of 12-34. Hands off our tank, Suns!