The Minnesota Timberwolves have lost their last six games and 10 of their last 11.
That’s not good.
But the Wolves have done good things during that stretch, even if those things haven’t resulted in wins. After a day when the Wolves, Vikings (a bit more drastically and without doubt, the most painful) and the Wild lost, we are looking for any positives we can. And for the Wolves, there are more than a few.
Ricky Rubio’s Stuffing The Stat Sheet
Rubio isn’t known for his scoring. And yes, he’s not a very good shooter. But like Zach Lowe told me earlier in the season, let’s forget about that for a split second. Rubio does other things, like a lot of them, that really help the team.
He’s averaging 9.4 points per game to go with 8.9 assists (career high and fifth in the NBA), 4.7 rebounds, 2.3 steals (second in the NBA) and he’s turning the ball over just 2.3 times per game (career best). Rubio’s PER of 18.32 has him ranked ahead of All-Star Jeff Teague, Rajon Rondo, Brandon Knight and Goran Dragic.
You’ve gotta think a triple-double or a 20-assist night is coming from Rubio at some point.
Bazz Getting Buckets
Shabazz Muhammad’s minutes earlier in the season were inconsistent, seemingly because his play was.
In the last six games, Muhammad has played more than 15 minutes in each contest and he’s averaging 15.3 points per game, the kind of production he was giving the Wolves last season before getting hurt. In those six games, he’s also shot 7-for-15 from the 3-point line, giving the Wolves a much-needed boost from deep.
If Muhammad can continue to hit those corner threes consistently, don’t be surprised if he’s playing 25 or 30 minutes per game. Remember, in 38 games last season, Muhammad shot 39.2 percent from deep.
Bjelica’s Back
Rookie Nemanja Bjelica impressed fans early on this season with his smarts on the court, his ability to hit the open three and to make extra passes when needed. But Bjelica’s confidence appeared to go up and down, which is expected for a player who’s spent so many years playing professionally in Europe and was still adjusting to the NBA life.
After not playing on Jan. 6 against Denver, Bjelica has played an average of 12 minutes in his last two games. Sure, he went scoreless against Cleveland, but he did hit two 3-pointers against Dallas on Sunday evening.
This could be a trend or a mirage, but for a guy who hasn’t had much success since mid-November, this is a positive sign. Judging from interim head coach Sam Mitchell’s media availability on Monday, it sounds like Bjelica is probably back in the rotation.
Career High For Wiggins
We might have to start fooling Andrew Wiggins into thinking he’s playing the Cleveland Cavaliers every game. After averaging 30 points per game against the team that traded him last season, Wiggins put up a career-high 35 points against Cleveland at home on Jan. 8. After being held under 20 points for three straight games, Wiggins has eclipsed 20 in his last two.
Against Cleveland, he shot 3-for-7 from the 3-point line, showing us that it’s something he can continue to build on. On the season, Wiggins is averaging 20.6 points (up nearly four from last season), while hauling in 3.8 rebounds per game.
Mitchell preached to Wiggins that he’d like to see him even out his game a bit with rebounds and assists. It’s probably not a coincidence that he had seven rebounds on Sunday night to go with three assists.
KAT Continues To Lead ROY Race
It continues to look like, barring any injury (knock on wood) or total collapse in play (which seems unlikely), Karl-Anthony Towns will make it back-to-back Rookie of the Year awards for rookies on the Timberwolves.
Towns is averaging 15.9 points, 9.2 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game and already has 17 double-doubles in 38 games. He’s struggled in the last five games, averaging 12.4 points and eight rebounds per game. But then again, if we consider that struggling for Towns, that speaks to just how good he’s been this season.
It won’t get any easier for the Wolves as they play the Thunder twice and the Rockets in the next four days.
This team is still about the future, but there are some things to be impressed by in the present.
