In a few ways, Wednesday’s game in Cleveland was very characteristic of both teams.
They both played like the bottom-seven defensive teams they are, both played like the top-five offensive teams they are, both saw major games from their team’s superstar and both looked very beatable down the stretch.
To be clear, both are also top-four teams in their conference, despite the obvious flaws each team possesses. The Timberwolves’ struggles haven’t been quite as extreme as Wednesday’s opponent, nor have they made the news cycles to the same degree, but their recent drop in defensive rating and duds to bad teams has become a problem for them this year.
Just like the Cavaliers.
“You’re not going to win when you play defense like that,” Tom Thibodeau said plainly.
The mood in the locker room at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland was noticeably somber, echoing their coach’s sentiments. Despite some good defensive moments this season, the Timberwolves defense was virtually nonexistent for the duration of Wednesday’s game.
For everything the Wolves did, the Cavs matched.
They nailed a season-high 19 3-pointers and dropped 138 points in a thrilling overtime loss, but they also gave up 21 3s on the other end. Jimmy Butler dropped 35 points, but LeBron James had 37 with 10 rebounds and 15 assists. On top of all that, he hit the buzzer-beating game-winning shot in overtime – over Butler – to put the game away.
The Timberwolves had a foul to give on the play, but the fear of sending James to the line allowed the four-time MVP to drain a heroic shot.
“It’s one second and if you’re in the shooting motion, it’s going to be a shooting foul, so it’s a tough play,” Thibodeau said.
Not shockingly, the always-honest Butler was noticeably frustrated after the game.
“We just didn’t get stops,” he said. “I don’t think anybody goes out there and says ‘hey, I’m going to go let my guy score and then go down and score on him.'”
It didn’t just stop at Butler and James. Karl-Anthony Towns now has the Wolves’ all-time record for consecutive 3-pointers made with 10, and went 6 of 6 from deep on Wednesday.
But on the other end, his defensive assignments had a good day of their own.
Tristan Thomspon shot 7 of 9 from the field for a season-high 17 points. Off the bench, Channing Frye struggled to make his 3s, but got enough open looks off defensive breakdowns to make that stat a surprise.
“We shot 60 percent tonight, but at the same time, our thing has been defense. We didn’t play defense out there tonight,” Towns said. “We fell right into their hands.”
It was also a game where Jeff Teague was asked to attack Isaiah Thomas, a notoriously weak defensive player who has also struggled to score the ball.
While Teague did his job on the offensive end – shooting 50 percent for 14 points and a season-high 15 assists – he also fell victim to one of Thomas’ better scoring nights of the season.
And while the bench had a couple nice individual performances – most notably Jamal Crawford on offense and Gorgui Dieng on both sides of the ball – the Cavaliers bench was noticeably better. As good as Crawford was on offense, he struggled mightily staying with the always-moving 3-point threat in Kyle Korver. Korver finished with 4 3s and shot 5 of 7 from the field overall.
And when the defensive breakdowns would really start to mount for Korver’s defender, it gave fellow bench guy Jeff Green all the opportunity he needed to find the lane for easy dunks.
The same happened for starter Andrew Wiggins – who had 4 3s of his own – as he struggled (especially early) to stick with J.R. Smith, who dropped six deep balls.
“Getting into their body, getting attached,” Wiggins said when asked about what went wrong defensively. “I lost touch of J.R. a lot of times in the first half and he got open looks.”
Wednesday’s game wasn’t the best example of what the Timberwolves – or the Cavaliers – can be on a given night, but the results shouldn’t be seen as shocking.
Both teams have shown an ability to be great on the offensive end, but are equally as liable to give up a dud of a defensive performance.
Both teams did that on Wednesday, and looked for heroics from their superstars. While both Butler and James brought it in different ways, LeBron got his revenge from January’s blowout at the Target Center.
This game was both entertaining and frustrating to watch. The Wolves and Cavs are both top-level offenses with inconsistent defenses.
That can be fun to watch, as long as you win.
Listen to Tim on Wolves Wired!
