Jimmy Butler was laying on his back on the Minnesota Timberwolves locker room floor on Saturday, overcome by painful back spasms after a dreadful loss to the Phoenix Suns. If his back was still hurting after this game, it’s because he and Jamal Crawford carried the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 108-107 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday.
“Well, that’s Jimmy Butler right there,” said head coach Tom Thibodeau. “It’s the toughness that he brings on every possession. Special player.”
Butler had 37 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals. Crawford had 23 points, and not only was the only bench player to score, but also outscored all starters except Butler.
“Jamal was terrific,” Thibodeau said, “Making a lot of tough plays, big shots. That really got us going.”
Butler and Crawford combined to score the final 21 points in the game — Butler had 11 of them — and the Wolves kept Damian Lillard from making a last-second buzzer beater that would have won the game. This on a night when Karl-Anthony Towns didn’t score until the second quarter and Andrew Wiggins finished with nine points on 4-of-14 shooting.
Butler repeatedly had his back brace adjusted when he went to the bench for rest, and said that he felt pain after the game, although he did not elaborate on how much.
“I ride for everyone in this locker room. I’m going to battle with them as long as I can walk,” he said. “At the end of the day, I love this game. I always think like a kid from Tomball, [Tx.]. A long time ago, you told him your back would hurt, but you still get to play in an NBA game, he’s jumping at that opportunity every single time.”
Crawford said that he knew that he was signed by Thibodeau for his leadership qualities and to be a spark plug off the bench. His fourth-quarter performance was spectacular: 16 points (7 of 10), a rebound, an assist and a steal. He finished plus-12 in 11:06 played.
Still, his focus was on Butler, who seemed determined not to lose the final game of a five-game homestand that included a 118-112 overtime loss to the Philadelphia 76ers and a 108-106 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Saturday.
“Two days ago the guy was laying right there (on the floor) on his back,” said Crawford. “Forty-eight hours later he puts us on his back.”
At various points in the third quarter and early in the fourth, it appeared that the Blazers were suffocating the life out of the Wolves. Known as a defensive team that can win on the road, Portland kept everyone at bay except Butler and Crawford, and had balanced scoring up and down their lineup.
Every Portland starter except Evan Turner finished with a double-digit point total. The Wolves were forced to pick their poison with Lillard (17 points) and C.J. McCollum (20 points), as well as big man Jusuf Nurkic (20 points).
“They’re very unselfish,” Thibodeau said, “and they play well off each other.”
Al-Farouq Aminu scored 13 as well, largely because the Wolves were “challenging his shot as if he weren’t a good shooter,” Thibodeau said, adding that Turner, who only had five points, “probably gets lost a little bit for them,” adding that. “He just makes a lot of big basketball plays.”
Shabazz Napier and Ed Davis added 15 and 10 points, respectively, off the bench.
For Thibodeau and Butler, it was the defense that was the difference for the Wolves on Monday night. Thibodeau has harped all season long that the intensity in the fourth quarter makes it completely different from the first three quarters of the game. It was no surprise that Butler and Crawford, two veterans, rose to the occasion as the game came to a close. But the defensive effort is a positive sign for this team going forward, and something Butler wants the team to embrace.
“When you’re guarding, when you’re playing defense, you’re really competing at a high level,” he said. “When you’re flying around, contesting shots, getting rebounds and taking off, that’s fun to me.
“I love the defensive side of the game because you’re exerting so much energy and you start really getting lost in the game.”
“Understanding how important defense is, it has to become critical for everybody,” said Thibodeau.
He used Portland as an example of what the Wolves could become. They have offensive juggernauts like Lillard, McCollum and Nurkic, but their commitment to defense has allowed them to win three straight on the road heading into Monday’s game.
“They’ve always been a good offensive team,” he said, “but now they’ve put the defense to go along with it.
“I thought we saw the same thing when you study Golden State, they went through the same steps,” he added. “Golden State was a very good 50-win team, very good offensively. And when they made their commitment to defense, they went to an entirely different level, and hence the championships.”
Time will tell if the Wolves will continue to play defense like this in the fourth quarter. They are 11th in net rating in their last 10 games, but dead last in the league over the course of the season.
They will be tested immediately, as five of their next six games come on the road, including a marquee matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers on Christmas. They do not return home until Dec. 27 against the Denver Nuggets. Picking up a win on Monday was crucial in the short term, while the lessons they learned about playing in the fourth quarter could change the outlook of their season if implemented correctly.
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