Eventually, the streak of astoundingly good defense had to come to an end.
Thankfully — for the Timberwolves — the winning streak did not.
The Timberwolves won their most competitive game of the five-game homestand so far on Friday, beating the New York Knicks 118-108, extending the winning streak to four and the home winning streak to seven.
More impressive than anything else? The Timberwolves were able to amass a win over a competitive Knicks team without Jimmy Butler playing like Jimmy Butler. And the run that put the game out of reach happened in a fourth-quarter stretch that took place with four starters – everyone but Towns – sitting on the bench.
“I thought the bench, at the end of the third and start of the fourth, gave us a big lift,” Tom Thibodeau said after the game. “We started the game with not much energy, but we found a way to win in the end.”
Butler’s struggles – or lack of energy, one might call it – were the most noticeable. He finished with 13 points on 6-of-12 shooting, and only got to the free-throw line once.
Thankfully for the Wolves, it didn’t matter, because they seem to have become a full-on two-star team.
With Butler’s struggles, Towns – past the fact he was one assist shy of his first career triple-double – took the reigns and put forth one of his most dominant performances of the year. While he struggled early with the offense of Enes Kanter and the defense of Kristaps Porzingis, he figured it out in the second half.
“I thought Karl had an exceptional game, just the way he played all around, offensively and defensively,” Thibodeau said. “The nine assists were terrific.”
Towns didn’t want to talk about his individual accomplishments in the locker room, though. He was all team, all the time.
“We just had to find a way to win,” he said. “We didn’t play with the energy we usually do. The urgency, especially.”
He stopped hesitating on his 3-pointers, even when Porzingis came to close out. On the other end, he didn’t allow Kanter to take more than three shots in the second half.
When the Wolves needed big buckets in the fourth quarter – both from deep and in the post – Towns was there to set his team up.
But it wasn’t just Towns that got the Wolves their double-digit lead in the fourth. The big run featured Towns and four bench guys, all of whom played big roles.
It was a redemption game for Nemanja Bjelica, who shot a perfect 4 for 4 from the field and 2 for 2 from 3-point land. He hit a big 3-pointer early in the fourth that helped get the Wolves off to the right start. Tyus Jones, who played 15 minutes, hit a big 3-pointer in the fourth as well.
In fact, all four bench players – with the exception of Jones – got into the double-digit scoring column.
And while Towns and the bench may take an overwhelming majority of the glory in this one, the starters weren’t half bad, either. Gibson was consistently in the right place offensively, always finding the right times to enter the lane for the dunk. His ability to fill the lane without clogging it is a skill that has made him a bigger offensive contributor than most expected.
Notice who gets the assist here.
On a night where Jeff Teague had eight assists of his own, Towns was the key facilitator in this one. He even brought back his once-famous over-the-head entry pass late in the first half to Butler.
Because while the team as a whole – Butler, mostly and shockingly, excluded – finished with good games, it was a victory because Towns put the team on his back and forced a victory.
This is a huge development for Towns. While he’s always been a big numbers guy, his ability to take over games has either been halted by Butler’s brilliance, or nonexistent and usually resulting in a loss.
Lately, Towns has improved on the defensive end, and made winning plays on the offensive end. The team ended up with a victory on Friday because Towns put the team on his back, and wouldn’t let them down.
It was a star-quality effort from a now-definite star player.
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