The Timberwolves won by a lot on Christmas night, but it wasn’t 48 minutes of holiday cheer for their fans.
After three quarters of bad transition defense, iffy half-court defense and inefficient scoring from the starters – reminiscent of the first couple weeks of the season – the Wolves dropped 18 points in the final six minutes and change to beat the Lakers 121-106 in Los Angeles.
It was also a game where Jimmy Butler and Karl-Anthony Towns both looked like two-way superstars. Butler did it all night long, and has become the norm but Towns’ production dazzled the masses.
Between some tough blocks and some tougher offensive finishes inside, the Staples Center crowd was dazzled, as was the TNT broadcast crew – as long as he wasn’t shooting 3s, where he’s shooting a career-best 39.5 percent this season.
Taj Gibson and Andrew Wiggins also had big bounce-back games, after a small series of lesser production from the pair.
The Lakers – who sit towards the bottom of the Western Conference – stayed at bay with the Wolves through the first three quarters, and even led through different parts of the game.
The Wolves gave up a slew of transition baskets, often leaving Jimmy Butler alone to try to make a stop. And while Jeff Teague’s offensive numbers were below average but satisfactory, the Lakers clearly sought him out in screens and motions in hopes of subsequent team defensive breakdowns.
Often times, it worked.
In the meantime, it was a good night for backup Tyus Jones, who moved the ball efficiently, made a couple key defensive stops and even hit a big 3-pointer late in the game.
Eventually, a bad alley-oop pass in the fourth quarter got him yanked, but Jones was still one of the team’s best contributors.
It wasn’t until the game’s six minutes – about the time Teague came back in, for what it’s worth – that the Timberwolves really poured it on.
Not only did the Lakers seem to run out of gas, the Wolves finally found the level of offensive fusion they had been searching for all night long. Gibson, Towns, Butler, and Jamal Crawford all found hot hands late in the game, taking turns piling onto the differential.
While they did lose big, the Lakers were without starters Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball, but didn’t look too out of place in the process.
Jordan Clarkson, Ball’s replacement, scored big early and looked every bit as veteran savvy as he has off the bench this season with 17 points. Josh Hart, Ingram’s fill-in, had nice moments, but most of those came in the second half.
On the other hand, the Timberwolves got a player back.
Nemanja Bjelica – who returned after missing 15 games with an ankle injury – only got a few minutes and had a bad foul to close the first half, but also helped keep the starters’ minutes down to a reasonable set of numbers.
The Timberwolves will head home for a Wednesday contest with the Denver Nuggets. They remain fourth in the Western Conference and are two games behind San Antonio for third.
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