With Monday night’s 111-105 overtime win over the Orlando Magic, the Minnesota Timberwolves (19-29) have won eight of their last 11 games, including five of six in a critical stretch against mostly inferior opponents in order to climb back into the race for the eighth and final playoff seed in the Western Conference.
The game was not pretty for the most part, but the young Wolves — especially Andrew Wiggins and Nemanja Bjelica — showed up when it mattered most. Bjelica had a key block at the beginning of overtime and Wiggins had six points in the final frame after hitting a game-tying shot with 10 seconds left in regulation.
“I thought we labored through the game,” said head coach and president of basketball operations Tom Thibodeau. “We were low energy to start, and then I thought in the end we made mistakes, but we still found a way to win, so that was the positive.”
In some ways, for a team that seemed to find ways to lose early in the season, learning to win an ugly one isn’t a bad thing.
“The challenge right now is … I think every team right now is going through the same thing. They can’t jump ahead, it’s important to lock in, get your rest, come out with energy, know your opponent well, and know what goes into winning,” said Thibodeau, alluding to the pack of teams in the West that are vying for the final spot in the playoffs.
“So when you have great concentration, and you give great effort, you’ll get to a pretty good intensity level. But if you lack in one of those areas, your intensity will wain, and it has, so we have to change that.”
Ricky Rubio finished with a season-high 22 points as well as a career-high six three-point shots. And Shabazz Muhammad hit a buzzer-beater from half court to end the second half, both keeping the Wolves afloat when they were trading buckets or falling behind at various points of regulation.
“Bazz’s shot at the end of the quarter was a big lift,” Thibodeau said. “But Ricky making those threes, we were teetering, and those shots were big to bring us back.”
Karl-Anthony Towns had no shots in the fourth quarter but contributed other ways with his passing and by drawing double-teams and creating opportunities for his teammates.
“I want him to read the game,” said Thibodeau. “So if they’re double-teaming him, then he’s either got to have deep post positions so the double-team can’t get there, so post depth is critical.”
It was Wiggins who shined brightest on the night, however, and Thibodeau believes what he did is sustainable throughout the season.
“I liked his aggressiveness in the fourth, I thought he was attacking the basket. And the shot he made to tie the game, that’s his shot. Again, he got right to his spot, great balance, knocked it down,” he said.
“Everyone did their job to execute. Their screening was good, the pass from Ricky was good, everything was a great job. And Wig making that shot is great shotmaking by him.”
Here is Thibodeau’s press conference from the Fox Sports North feed:
Wiggins had a million-dollar smile after the game, but while he had absolute concentration on his game-tying shot, he lost focus during the postgame interview when Jordan Hill, who’s locker is next to Wiggins, sprayed him with Axe:
Rubio talked about his season-high 22 points as well as his transformation into “Steph” Rubio and hitting his career-high six threes tonight:
Rubio also participated in this video…as a media member. He asked Bjelica about his block, to which the Serbian sharpshooter responded “I saved your ass”:
And finally Towns was flabbergasted when he was told he had no shots in the fourth quarter, but was happy to contribute to the win in other ways and thinks the team can “beat anyone right now”:
