There’s a lot to mull over after the Minnesota Timberwolves’ game against the Utah Jazz on Friday. And with a five-day break before Thursday’s game against the Boston Celtics, there’s a lot of time to do so while also getting valuable rest and practice time in.
Karl-Anthony Towns was ejected just before halftime. Jeff Teague ran into Ricky Rubio in the fourth quarter and was ejected as well.
Oh yeah, and don’t forget: Nemanja Bjelica dropped his pants at the free throw line.
“I didn’t mean to do that,” Bjelica said after practice on Monday. “I tried to pull my shorts inside of my jersey. Here in USA, they make jokes from anything. But it’s OK.”
He said he got a few texts on his phone after the game. People had noticed.
“My parents called me (and asked), ‘What were you doing?'” he said, laughing. “My wife, she was laughing. People from Serbia (were), too.”
While the Bjelica incident can be chalked up to an innocent mishap, the Towns and Teague ejections were cause for consternation. Along with Andrew Wiggins, both Towns and Teague are expected to carry the offensive load with Jimmy Butler out.
Towns was ejected just before halftime for arguing about a non-call on Rudy Gobert. It was his second technical foul in the game — the first came on a scuffle he had with Jae Crowder that was borderline in nature.
Referee Kane Fitzgerald said that the first call was a dead-ball contact of an elbow to Crowder’s face. The second was due to “continuous complaint.”
At practice on Monday he seemed to understand the situation. While he wants to communicate his disdain for the call with the referees, he has to be available for his team that was already shorthanded without Butler.
“It was very difficult, it was very difficult. You want to be out there, you want to be supporting your teammates, playing your game,” said Towns.
“Regardless of how I feel about everything — and a lot of people feel — it’s about making sure I don’t put myself in that position to even give him the chance (to make that call).”
“He had some tough calls go against him, so sometimes that does lead to frustration, and obviously we have to handle that better,” said Tom Thibodeau, candidly.
“And I think KAT is playing great basketball for us, so I want him to continue to learn and grow. There’s no lid on what he can do, it’s amazing what he’s done, and he’s getting better and better. But to not have him in a game like that, it hurt us.
“We know that some nights we may not get calls, we have to handle that better.”
Thibodeau also pointed out that Towns was just starting to heat up. He finished the game with 13 points and eight rebounds in 20 minutes played.
“Karl is very respectful towards officials,” Thibodeau added. “Maybe that hurts him. I see a lot of times guys are going off, and they tend to get calls.”
Teague was chasing Ricky Rubio, the man he replaced at point guard this year, down the court when he ran into him and was called for a flagrant 2 and tossed with 5:20 left to play. The Jazz won the game 116-108.
“I was just trying to stop the play,” Teague insisted. “I didn’t think I hit him that hard. I think he put a little extra on it, but he made a good play for his team and I’ve got to be smarter in that situation, just make a common foul and not that aggressive, I guess.
“I was frustrated a little, just trying to stop the ball after that. I guess it happened, whatever.”
Teague’s words echoed that of Butler, who was at a watch party with fans when he tweeted for the first time since 2016.
The contact between Teague and Rubio caused tempers to flare in an emotional contest that Teague compared to a “playoff atmosphere.” Thibodeau was caught on camera yelling at Crowder, and Butler beefed with the Jazz forward via Twitter.
Crowder, a fellow former Marquette player, responded on Twitter by saying that Butler has his number and home address.
“It’s a competition, that’s all it is,” said Thibodeau when asked about his interaction with Crowder. “I’ve got a lot of respect for him and their team. They play hard, they’re a tough team.”
As for why Butler was tweeting from a watch party. “The guy is bored out of his mind,” Thibodeau said, smirking. “But he’s into it. He’s into every play, we talk after every game, before every game. He’s a fierce competitor, you have to have great respect for that.”
Minnesota is looking to take advantage of their bye week by balancing the need for practice with the desire to rest up for a difficult stretch run. They watched film of the Utah game, as well as the Boston game from January before working on offensive fundamentals on Monday.
Seeds No. 3 through 10 are bunched in the West, and the Wolves are looking to make the playoffs for the first time since 2004 without Butler. How the next few days are handled could influence how they play in a tough stretch coming up against Boston, Golden State, Washington, San Antonio, Houston and the L.A. Clippers.
“It’s tight. The West is a killer every night, you have to bring it,” said Thibodeau. “There’s so many good teams, and everybody’s fighting for the same thing. Every night, come out, relish this opportunity — it’s a chance to compete every second, and it should bring out the best in us.”
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