After a deflating loss in Denver, the playoffs still seemed likely, but the possibility of missing seemed more real than ever.
But when it was reported that Jimmy Butler would return the following night against the Los Angeles Lakers the following night, optimism became much easier for everyone to grasp.
A minute into the game, optimism was at a point it hadn’t been at since Butler was last healthy. Butler was that good.
The Timberwolves won a badly-needed game Friday in Los Angeles 113-96, and Butler’s presence — who only played 22 minutes — was a clear lift for a team badly in need of a boost in leadership.
It started right into the opening stages of the game. Within a minute of play, Butler’s defensive IQ and impact were back on display.
[videopress UjyY07SN]A few seconds later, he did it again, adding a subsequent dime for good measure.
[videopress fkVfnpK2]Those plays made up half of his four steals, to go along with 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting in 22 minutes of play — he was on a minute “guideline”, according to the FS North broadcast.
Butler’s early insistence on disrupting the passing lanes might have been contagious. The Lakers ended up turning the ball over 21 times in the game and the Wolves came away with 14 steals as a result.
Even better, the Wolves came away with 30 points off those 20 turnovers — they average 17.7 this season, good enough for fourth in the NBA according to NBA.com.
But the game didn’t start and stop with Butler. Again, he only played 22 minutes, which meant the Wolves had to play well enough with him off the floor in order to win.
And for a while, it didn’t look like that was going to happen.
After 15 straight points for Brook Lopez to open the game, Karl-Anthony Towns looked frustrated. And after he picked up his third foul midway through the second half, things looked bleak yet again for the Wolves.
They didn’t have Butler at full strength (in terms of minutes, anyway), and didn’t have Butler to close out the half. Not surprisingly, the Lakers pounced; they let the first half with a seven-point advantage and had a lead as big as 12.
The Lakers push the ball up the floor quickly; and while the Timberwolves have vastly improved on their transition defense as the year has gone on, they did fall into some moments of lethargic play guarding the break.
This play started with a Tyus Jones turnover. And while the Wolves got back in transition, they didn’t finish the play.
[videopress UsxJrm60]Once the second half started, Butler and Towns were both back in the game. Butler continued to be his old self, and Towns got back into form.
He never got his 3-pointer going — he made just one on four attempts — but he neutralized Lopez’s ability inside and got back to a level defense that gives the Wolves a different edge.
Just as important as Towns’ second-half resurgence was the improved play of Andrew Wiggins. After taking and missing all six of his non-paint shot attempts in the first half, Wiggins corrected his mistake in the second.
He only took one mid-range jumper in the second half, the rest of the non-paint attempts coming from deep — he made two of those 3-point attempts. He attacked the basket and was much better than his 3-of-9 second-half shooting line.
It also helped that he had yet another great night on the defensive end. He stayed in front of the quick and energetic Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and made his shot attempts incredibly difficult as the Wolves started to pull away.
[videopress McnRtnDb]None of these guys led the team in scoring, either. Jeff Teague scored 25 points and was the main reason the Wolves were able to hang around in the first half when Towns and Butler were seated.
Taj Gibson kept his impressive play against the Lakers going, as well. He finished with 18 points and equaled every bit of muscle mass Julius Randle tried to throw his way.
But based on recent play, it might be safe to say this game would have been entirely different had Butler not made his return to an NBA floor on Friday. The Wolves were on an ugly stretch of blowout losses to good teams and ugly wins over bad ones. A blowout win over a middle-of-the-road team like the Lakers is exactly what they needed.
And with the massive playoff implications this game had, it’s all the more important, and impressive.
If the Timberwolves beat the Memphis Grizzlies — not an easy task, the Timberwolves are 0-2 against them this year — and the Nuggets lose to Portland on Monday, the Timberwolves will clinch their first playoff spot in 14 years.
The push for the playoffs all started when Butler joined the team in the summer. With a strong finish and some luck, it can end that way.
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