The Wolves dropped a tough one to the Nuggets on Saturday night, falling 107-106
in a wire-to-wire battle. Karl-Anthony Towns was phenomenal, scoring 31 points
on 63.2-percent shooting and adding 12 rebounds and seven assists, but he didn’t
get much help–no other Wolves player scored more than 15 points.
Minnesota came out strong and led 38-29 at the end of the first period but the
Nuggets quickly came back and things were tight the entire contest. The game
came down to just a few key stats. The Wolves were outrebounded on the offensive
end 15 to eight, the Nuggets scored 17 points off Wolves turnovers and the
Wolves shot just 11-of-16 from the foul line. Those numbers were the difference.
At the end of the day simply didn’t get enough from players not named
Karl-Anthony Towns–while five Wolves hit double figures, the Wolves’ second
highest scorer was Jerryd Bayless with 15. Despite that, Minnesota had a chance
to win, but couldn’t execute when they had the ball down one with 14.5 seconds
left, ending up with a contested three instead of whatever play had been drawn
up. To their credit, the Nuggets got contributions from players up and down
their roster and put themselves in the position to earn the victory even as they
were exhausted after a hard-fought game and a late flight last night.
A big focus heading into the game was to stop Jokic. It’s fair to say that
effort was partially but not entirely successful. Taj Gibson and Towns held him
to 13 points, but he grabbed 16 rebounds and dished out 10 assists. Jokic is
such a dangerous playmaker his impact really isn’t limited to his scoring and
allowing him to function as the engine of the Nuggets’ offense is a recipe for
disaster.
It’s a tough loss for sure, but the Wolves shouldn’t be too hard on
themselves–the Nuggets have one of the best records in the NBA and very much
look like a team that could make a deep playoff run. All Minnesota can do now is
buckle down and look ahead to a three-game road trip that looks very much like
it could be a sweep. Knock on wood.
The Wolves get the Grizzlies on Tuesday, the Magic on Thursday and the Pelicans
on Friday. All three teams have inferior records to the Wolves and with
Minnesota’s health improving (Derrick Rose returned tonight with a good bounce
in his step), this road trip is a real opportunity to start on the run the team
needs to get itself back into playoff contention. Picking up a few more wins
heading into the All-Star break would be huge.
Player: Jerryd Bayless
Player: Karl-Anthony Towns
Media Content:
https://www.nba.com/timberwolves/news/karl-anthony-towns-big-night-not-enough-bea
t-nuggets
Media Keywords: NBA, Sports, Minnesota Timberwolves, Jerryd Bayless,
Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota Timberwolves
Media Thumbnail:
https://www.nba.com/timberwolves/sites/timberwolves/files/karl_1.jpg
Story Link:
https://www.nba.com/timberwolves/news/karl-anthony-towns-big-night-not-enough-bea
t-nuggets
