A night after a tremendous double-overtime victory over the Washington Wizards, a combination of fatigue and the Jazz veterans were too much for the Wolves to overcome as they fell 93-84 on Saturday night.
Only scoring 10 points in the first quarter, Minnesota put themselves in a deep hole to try and climb out of for the next 36 minutes of the ballgame.
The Wolves had an opportunity to string together three wins tonight for the first time since November, but Derrick Favors, Gordon Hayward and Trey Lyles made sure that didn’t happen.
The three Utah players combined for 52 points, 14 rebounds and shot an impressive 21-for-39 from the field.
Minnesota came into tonight’s matchup 2-11 in games without any rest and that record worsened after this evening. Besides Ricky Rubio and Karl-Anthony Towns, the Timberwolves seemed a little sluggish, as they had the right to be, a struggled putting the ball in the hoop, only making 38 percent of their shots.Rubio put in a game-high 23 points (9-for-12), and also had five rebounds to go along with six assists, while Towns notched his 44th double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 boards.
Numbers Game:
21- On a night where Minnesota really needed a solid outing from their bench, Tyus Jones and company only provided the Wolves’ starters with this many points off of the bench.
18- Hayward, arguably Utah’s best player, went scoreless in the first half but came out on fire after halftime, putting in all of his points in the last 24 minutes of the contest.
9- A night after hitting some of the biggest shots of his young career, Zach LaVine didn’t seem to have his legs under him for most of the game as he only scored this many points while going 3-for-11 from the field.
Leader of the Pack: Ricky Rubio
Despite playing 44 minutes in last night’s matchup again the Wizards, Rubio filled the box score and played a great game. Ending the night with 4 steals as well as the numbers previously mentioned, the 25-year-old point guard is performing better on both ends of the floor as the season progresses.
Highlight of the Night:
Early in the third quarter and right after hitting a 3-pointer, Rubio came up with a great steal and assisted Andrew Wiggins for a huge dunk that brought every fan in the Target Center to their feet.
Up Next:
Minnesota will be back on the Target Center hardwood in less than 48 hours on Monday night when they take on the Phoenix Suns. Per usual, the game will be available on Fox Sports North and 830 WCCO radio.
