Timberwolves

11/29 RECAP: Anthony Davis Sees Red, Timberwolves Find Victory in New Orleans

The Minnesota Timberwolves had many reasons to struggle with Wednesday evening’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans.

They had lost in a difficult game the previous night back in Minnesota, in which the starting lineup played heavy minutes. The home and away back-to-back matchup with a New Orleans team that Karl-Anthony Towns in particular had struggled with in the teams’ first matchup had “scheduled loss” written all over it.

But in the second quarter, Anthony Davis completely lost his mind.

Davis received two technical fouls within 15 seconds of game time, and was ejected for the first time in his career. He was visibly furious with the refereeing crew and had to be held back by his teammates as he left the floor, including DeMarcus Cousins — a remarkable turn of the expectations of the two New Orleans stars.

This should not take away from the fact that the core players outside of Towns played excellent basketball in an important, tiring game, and the Timberwolves came away with a relatively comfortable 120-102 win.

However, any review of this game has to lead with Davis’ ejection. He had been dominant early, with 17 points and five rebounds in 18 minutes, and the game was close when he departed.

The moments after his ejection featured an 11-0 run for Minnesota that created most of the game’s winning margin, and while some of the normal fourth-quarter jitters were there, the team did enough to seal the game away. Each of the seven players in Minnesota’s rotation — including Aaron Brooks, who played seven minutes — had a role to play, and the legs were fresh enough to take them to the end.

With Towns struggling with foul trouble throughout — he played under three minutes in the second half — the focus was on Gorgui Dieng to play significant minutes against the difficult matchup of Cousins. He excelled, playing his best basketball of the season by a wide margin in 36 minutes, and largely managed Cousins on both ends, including some ridiculous-looking flop attempts by Boogie.

Dieng finished with 19 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals, and Cousins finished with just 17 points and 10 rebounds.

The Timberwolves’ leader in minutes in this game was not any of the stars that one might guess without context.

It was Tyus Jones, who broke his career high in minutes for the fourth straight game — and third straight start — with his team-high 41. And once again, Jones was excellent across the board with 16 points, four rebounds, six assists, four steals and just one turnover. His defense was more than competent, and the ball movement that his presence seems to create on offense lets the scorers shine.

He had a couple critical shots of his own to keep Minnesota’s lead stable when it wobbled in the fourth quarter, and one wonders if minutes distribution between he and a returning Jeff Teague might change at all.

Andrew Wiggins had some offensive moments of brilliance and, almost more importantly, shot the three with confidence. Wiggins led all scorers with 28 points on 10-of-18 shooting, including 3 of 6 from behind the arc. He and Jimmy Butler made timely shots throughout the second half, and Towns still managed to finish the game with a double-double — which he completed in the first half.

The defense wasn’t exactly perfect, and New Orleans got plenty of open shots particularly from deep, but the offense was more than enough to carry Minnesota over the top.

One sadder note from this game: the seven-man rotation without Teague and Nemanja Bjelica is obviously missing a player from the usual 10 the Timberwolves have played to open the year.

Shabazz Muhammad did not appear in this game, even as short-manned as Minnesota appeared to be, and that may be the beginning of the end for Bazz. He hasn’t played well enough to merit the minutes that he has received, and if Tom Thibodeau doesn’t trust him to soak up minutes in a game like this, that’s a really bad sign for his future.

It is very early in the season to consider playoff implications. However, the Timberwolves have played twice each against the Pelicans, Thunder, Spurs and Jazz — all teams who are around them in the standings (or who were expected to be, in Oklahoma City’s case).

They are 7-1 in those games, with the opening night loss in San Antonio the only blemish, and can improve that even more on Friday against a mightily struggling Thunder team. If Minnesota can ever rid themselves of confounding losses against teams with lesser talent, they could find themselves remarkably well-positioned moving into the new year.


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