Minnesota Timberwolves: Strong second half propels Wolves over Raptors
A strong second half propelled the Minnesota Timberwolves to a preseason victory over the Toronto Raptors by a score of 89-87 on Wednesday night in Ottawa. The win is the first win of the preseason for the Wolves after dropping their first three contests, the most recent of these being a loss on Monday night, also against the Raptors.
The Timberwolves trailed at half by a score of 54-43, before outscoring Toronto in the second half 46-33. Minnesota’s defensive effort finally came to life tonight after struggling mightily the first three preseason games.
Gorgui Dieng wound up as Minnesota’s leading scorer on the night, tallying 14 points on 6/9 shooting, including 1/1 (!) from three-point range. Tayshaun Prince had his best game with his new team, chipping in 13 points (10 in the first half) on 5/6 shooting and 3/4 from three.
Other key contributors for the Wolves included Karl-Anthony Towns (12 points, 4/7 FG, 6 rebounds, 3 blocks), Tyus Jones (12 points, 4/7 FG, 3 assists), Andrew Wiggins (11 points, 3/10 FG, 3 assists) and Zach LaVine (9 points, 3/8 FG, 5 assists).
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During this preseason, one area of the game that has been drastically changed from last season for the Timberwolves is their three-point shooting. In their previous three preseason games before Wednesday night, the Wolves attempted 18, 21, and 18 threes. Against the Raptors Wednesday night, the Wolves converted 12 of 24 three-point attempts. The 24 attempts is more than the Wolves attempted in any game last season.
The Timberwolves’ next preseason action will take place on Sunday in Memphis as they’ll take on the Grizzlies. Signs point to Ricky Rubio being ready to make his preseason debut for that game, and that should give a more true indication of where the Wolves are really at. At any rate, we’ll have a recap of that game for you here at Sporting Sota.
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