Minnesota Timberwolves: No Rubio, no problem as Wolves dethrone Kings

Before tonight, the Minnesota Timberwolves had lost their last 16 games in which Ricky Rubio did not play a single minute.

This streak ended tonight.

Minnesota captured their third straight win, something they haven’t had since last February, with a 101-91 victory over the Sacramento Kings.

Timberwolves head coach Sam Mitchell went 11-deep, getting meaningful contributions from each player. Tonight’s game truly exemplified what a team win should look like. Great team basketball was played on both ends of the floor, something that usually doesn’t happen when Rubio isn’t on the floor.

Andrew Wiggins led the Timberwolves scoring effort by tallying 22 points on 8 of 17 shooting. He continued to shed his “passive” label, attacking the basket and drawing fouls like he has been in the league for years.

More from Sporting Sota

• Minnesota Twins bullpen will be their downfall
• Top 5 Minnesota Twins Pitching Prospects
• Kyle Rudolph signing gives stability to Minnesota Vikings offense
• Jake Odorizzi’s emergence fueling Twins starting staff
• Former Minnesota Twins player David Ortiz shot

Zach LaVine, thrust into the starting point guard role with Rubio out, added 19 points (on 7 of 14 shooting), 8 rebounds and 4 assists. Additionally, while battling Rajon Rondo all night, he committed just two turnovers and ran the offense fairly well all things considered.

Marco Belinelli led Sacramento’s scoring effort with 17 points on 7 of 12 shooting. Rondo (16 points, 16 assists) and Kosta Koufos (16 points, 13 rebounds) also made significant contributions, but it wasn’t enough in the end.

A couple of intriguing stats from tonight caught my eye. First of all, the Wolves scored exactly zero fastbreak points tonight, which goes to show how well they controlled the pace of the game against a pretty high-paced team. Also, the Wolves made 9 of 25 three-point attempts, and those 25 attempts are a pretty high number relative to the last couple of seasons. Seven different Wolves made threes tonight, so they clearly have the personnel to shoot a higher volume of threes.

Tonight’s victory moves the Wolves back to .500 for the season at 8-8 and also keeps them at eighth in the Western Conference (not that it really matters right now). But it’s cool to see that if the season ended today, the Wolves would have a playoff matchup with the…Golden State Warriors. Gulp.

Okay, never mind. It’s way too early for that.

Notes/Observations

• A few more things on Andrew Wiggins, because he’s really good. He defended Rudy Gay all night, who was probably Sacramento’s go-to scorer with DeMarcus Cousins out. Gay’s stats for the night? 2 points on 1 of 13 shooting and 0 for 3 from deep. Oh, and this putback slam was incredible. But it also isn’t surprising because we see this stuff from him all too often.

• Sam Mitchell decided to play Gorgui Dieng more minutes than Karl-Anthony Towns tonight, which has myself and many other Wolves fans a little upset. However, I understand what he’s doing. Dieng played pretty solid tonight, and the Wolves had this game pretty well at hand when it was time for Towns to return, so Mitchell elected to give Dieng more developmental minutes. I’d like to see Towns there, but having Dieng out there when he’s playing pretty good isn’t a bad thing.
• Kevin Martin continues to struggle. He’s lost his shooting stroke and he can’t seem to find it anywhere. It might be time to put Tayshaun Prince back in the starting lineup, because he can at least contribute defensively.

More from Minnesota Timberwolves

• Minnesota Timberwolves: how Robert Covington has become the T’Wolves’ glue
• Minnesota Timberwolves: did Jimmy Butler send a veiled diss to his former team?
• Minnesota Timberwolves: time to cease celebrating the Jimmy Butler trade
• Minnesota Timberwolves: enough is enough — Jimmy Butler has to go
• Minnesota Timberwolves’ Prince-inspired jersey leaked — should you buy one?

• Damjan Rudez (or Rud3z, as the kids say) is a hidden gem for the Wolves. He only scored 3 points tonight, but he did a lot of little things well. He passed the ball quickly. He spread the floor and he set good screens. Most importantly, he knows his role and he executes it very well.
• Shabazz Muhammad with yet another Energizer bunny-type performance off the bench, netting 15 points on 5 of 8 shooting in just 16 minutes of action. Plenty of times this season, he’s provided that scoring spark off the bench and he did so again tonight.
• I’ll save the best for last, because I’m cheesy like that. Old man Andre Miller got some minutes tonight at backup point guard with Rubio out, and he played terrific. He picked apart the Kings defense, playing the role of floor general exactly like the definition says. He finished with 12 points on 4 of 4 shooting and 4 assists in 19 minutes. It’s almost as if he should get more minutes even when Rubio is healthy…

Next: Vikings @ Falcons: Preview

Onward

On Sunday, the Minnesota Timberwolves continue their west coast road trip as they get another test at Staples Center when they’ll play the Los Angeles Clippers for the first time this season.

As always, continue to check with Sporting Sota for news and analysis on all things Minnesota sports.