Minnesota Timberwolves: Clippers sneak past Wolves, 110-106

Before I get started, I just want to recognize what might have been the greatest thing to happen in Target Center maybe since the 2004 Western Confernce Semifinals.

Kevin Garnett, age 39 (THIRTY-NINE), completely posterized Blake Griffin on a fast break. No, no, this is not a typo. This actually happened in the year 2015.

Oh, and KG received a technical foul for taunting after the dunk because, KG.

I could watch that every second for the rest of my life.

I could also watch Karl-Anthony Towns‘ reaction to the dunk for the rest of my life.

Okay, I just had to put that in first for obvious reasons. There actually was a pretty fun basketball game that took place a Target Center, too. If you’re a fan of dunks, this was the perfect game for you to watch.

When it was all said and done, the Minnesota Timberwolves weren’t quite able to knock off the Los Angeles Clippers, falling by a score of 110-106 in a very entertaining game.

Zach LaVine led all scorers, posting 21 points (7/16 FG, 1/2 3pt FG, 6/6 FT) off the bench and making some key baskets down the stretch to keep the Wolves in it. Towns chipped in 18 points on an efficient 7 of 9 shooting and grabbed 5 rebounds while Ricky Rubio also had a solid game, recording 16 points (4/8 FG, 8/8 FT), 7 assists and 4 steals.

The Clippers were led by DeAndre Jordan’s season-high 20 points (8/9 FG, 4/6 FT) and 12 rebounds. Jordan was absolutely dominant in the first quarter, grabbing numerous offensive rebounds and putting back others for dunks. Blake Griffin added 16 points (7/17 FG, 2/2 FT) and 11 rebounds while Jamal Crawford tallied 18 points (5/11 FG, 4/6 3pt FG, 4/4 FT) off the bench.

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The Wolves got a huge boost from their bench tonight not just from LaVine, but also from both Shabazz Muhammad and Gorgui Dieng who combined for 27 points and 14 rebounds. Both played with such high energy and aggressiveness and it really kept them in the game.

A rookie mistake from Towns ultimately cost the Wolves the basketball game, as he intentionally fouled DeAndre Jordan when he didn’t have the ball with just a few seconds left in the game. By rule, the Clippers were able to get a free throw and the ball back and this didn’t work to Minnesota’s favor as they were trying to play catch-up with the foul game.

Alas, the young pups couldn’t quite pull of the upset. Honestly, it’s tough to be upset about it. At this point, I’m just glad that the Timberwolves are fun to watch again and, man, tonight was definitely fun. If all this talent stays together, this team will be very special in a few years.

Notes/Observations

• Andrew Wiggins struggled tonight against Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, one of the NBA’s best defenders. Wiggins was only able to shoot 3 of 15 from the field tonight for 8 points. Clearly, Los Angeles wanted to take Wiggins out of the game and they were able to do that.
• Shabazz Muhammad played like the spark plug off the bench that we’ve been wanting all along. He was just awesome tonight. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say Muhammad is one of the best offensive rebounders in the NBA inch-for-inch. It was fun to see Muhammad bring all that energy off the bench and make big plays down the stretch.
• This Karl-Anthony Towns kid is truly speical. Just when you don’t think he can get any better, he goes 3 for 3 from three-point range. That’s nuts for a 7-foot rookie center.

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• One more note on Muhammad: when he gets the ball on a fast break, he won’t give it up. He doesn’t care if he has a teammate wide open under the basket, he’s going to take it himself. While he is a very good finisher at the rim, he does need to be more unselfish in transition.
• Gorgui Dieng is really playing well lately. Head coach Sam Mitchell has been getting a lot of heat for giving Dieng some of Towns’ minutes, but it’s really hard to argue with Dieng’s performance with those minutes over the past few games.
• I feel like I write this in every single recap I write, but I’m going to say it again. Zach LaVine’s extreme confidence is really cool to see. It does get him in trouble sometimes as he tends to fire up some questionable shots, but I’m beginning to excuse the questionable quality of some of his shots just because of the confidence he exudes. He wants the ball in his hands. He wants to take the big shot, and he knows he can make the big shot. He’s going to be a special player, I’m telling you.

Onward

The Minnesota Timberwolves will play their second straight home game against a team from Los Angeles on Wednesday night. This time, they’ll host the Los Angeles Lakers in Kobe Bryant’s final game at Target Center.

Next: Takeaways from Vikings' disastrous loss to Seahawks

As always, check in with Sporting Sota on the daily for news and analysis on all the Minnesota teams.