Minnesota Timberwolves: Grizzlies destroy Wolves 90-68
In their fifth preseason game of the season, the Minnesota Timberwolves were destroyed by the Memphis Grizzlies by a score of 90-68 Sunday night.
The game marked the highly anticipated return of Ricky Rubio, Minnesota’s point guard who sat out 60 games last season and the first four games of the preseason this season. In 23 minutes of action, Rubio was held scoreless while adding four rebounds and three assists.
The offense undoubtedly flowed better with Rubio in the game than when he was on the bench, but that’s not saying much at all. The Timberwolves committed a total of 22 turnovers on the evening, including one from every player that saw the floor besides Nick Wiggins, who played just four minutes. Overall, the Wolves shot just under 38% (26/69) from the field and under 24% (4/17) from three-point range. Needless to say, the Wolves’ offense was pretty discombobulated the whole night.
Another element worth noting is that there were a few occasions in which Rubio would fire a pass at a teammate who wasn’t ready for it whatsoever, and it would result in a turnover. Hopefully as players get more comfortable playing with Rubio, we’ll see less of this. If there’s one thing everybody on this roster needs to learn about playing with Rubio, it’s that he knows if you’re open before you do.
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Gorgui Dieng wound up as the leading scorer for the Wolves tonight, netting 12 points on 5/9 shooting, including 1/2 from three-point range and adding seven rebounds, three assists and two blocks. After finishing all of last season just 1/6 from beyond the arc, Dieng is now 2/3 this preseason. Whether he continues to fire away from three during the regular season is yet to be seen, but it appears as if it’s something he worked on this offseason.
Shabazz Muhammad scored nine points for the Wolves on 3/8 shooting and 1/3 from deep. Kevin Garnett (4/5 FG), Andrew Wiggins (3/8 FG) and Karl-Anthony Towns (2/7 FG) each added eight points. Towns’ seven rebounds tied Dieng for the team high.
Zach LaVine had another subpar performance, scoring just two points on 1/6 from the field. So far this preseason, LaVine is hitting on just 23% of his field goal attempts and 18% of his three-point attempts. If head coach Sam Mitchell is going to stick with LaVine as the team’s starting shooting guard, it’d be nice to see some better numbers from him.
Courtney Lee led the way for the Grizzlies by scoring 18 points on 6/12 from the field, while Tony Allen chipped in 13 points on 6/9 shooting. Overall, the Grizzlies made 45% of their shots (33/73) for the game.
The next preseason action for the Minnesota Timberwolves will be on Tuesday night in Milwaukee against the Bucks. Check back with us at Sporting Sota for analysis not just on the Timberwolves, but on all of your Minnesota teams.