After one half of basketball on Sunday, it appeared as though the Timberwolves had reached their lowest low.
They had given up 77 points to the NBA’s best offense through just 24 minutes. Houston already had four players in double figures and their bench was shooting 11-of-14 from the field.
It was the epitome of the Wolves season, with all of its worst qualities coming out at once; the offense was clicking — they had 56 points and six 3s through the first half — but the defense was nonexistent despite a decent supply of defensive players and individual personnel.
And even though the offense was clicking for Minnesota, a Trevor Ariza block on a Nemanja Bjelica layup attempt, and the subsequent smile shared between Ariza and MVP favorite James Harden, summed up the first half perfectly.
The first-place Rockets were toying with the Timberwolves.
“We put ourselves into too big of a hole — you can’t do that,” Tom Thibodeau said after the game. “Where we are right now, the fight has to be greater.”
It was an abysmal half, one that was especially frustrating considering their recent success against the top-end Warriors. But while the Warriors might be playing for the Finals in March, the Rockets are playing for right now.
The Rockets outscored the Wolves 15-0 on fast break opportunities that half, and it looked like they were going to run away with it.
Even as the third quarter started and the Wolves started to cut down on the lead, the assumption remained that Houston would put it away when they decided to. They shoot 3s at a higher volume than anyone else in the league, and it was reasonable to think that they’d display that at some point.
But then early in the fourth, Gorgui Dieng got into a scuffle with Chris Paul.
The play resulted in a foul on Paul, a technical on Dieng and an ejection for Gerald Green, who came in with a subsequent shove.
When asked about it in the locker room after the game, Dieng was blunt and to the point.
“I feel like he threw a cheap shot at me and I just responded,” Dieng said.
Whether it was a cheap shot or not, the play lit a fire under the Wolves’ feet. Suddenly, Dieng and his teammates were playing with a newfound sense of urgency.
At that point in the game, the Rockets were up 13. After being down by as many as 25 points, the Wolves would cut it down to five at one point.
“I don’t know if it will show up in the stat sheet, but if we win that game [Dieng is] probably the most important player out there because his energy is contagious,” Jamal Crawford said of his teammate. “The way he was battling was contagious. We need that.”
And while the game would never amount to a win for the Wolves, the comeback was a spectacle in its own right.
And after a rough start to his brief Timberwolves career, Derrick Rose might have been the main catalyst in that comeback.
He dropped eight points in the final frame, hitting a slew of tough shots as well as a jumper. The crowd might have been at its loudest when Rose led a fast break — following a steal he and Taj Gibson helped create — that ended up as an assist for a Towns slam.
By then, he had gained — perhaps even regained — the respect of the Rockets defense. They had to stick him, and it gave Towns a clearer lane to the basket.
Rose has been under scrutiny since signing here, both for his recent on-court play and overall on and off-court history. All the while, his coach and his teammates have lauded his ability in practice and continued to support their new backup wing.
“Tonight, he was fully ready for the moment,” Towns said of Rose.
Even amidst some horrendous stretches — albeit through just a couple games of action — Thibodeau has remained in Rose’s corner. It was easier to do so on Sunday.
“He’s just got to keep doing what he’s doing. He’s playing great defense,” Thibodeau said. “I don’t think people see it. He did it in the Washington game.”
The Wolves never mounted the comeback, but they did get the sellout crowd going. It was a playoff atmosphere in the Target Center despite the fact that they’re nearly out of the playoffs for the first time all season.
On Tuesday, the now No. 8-seeded Wolves face the No. 9 seed LA Clippers. In many respects, it will mark the final game of what has been described as the schedule’s most brutal stretch.
If they come out with the same intensity that they showed in the second half of Sunday’s game against Houston, they should be alright.
Sunday’s game showed the absolute best and worst of what the Wolves can look like without Jimmy Butler. The sooner he gets back, the better, but they don’t have time to wait.
What they showed in the second half is what they need the rest of the way.
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