Minnesota Timberwolves: Spurs prove too much for Wolves

The Minnesota Timberwolves were easily defeated by the San Antonio Spurs by a score of 108-83 on Wednesday night.

After watching a San Antonio Spurs basketball game from beginning to end, I can sum up my thoughts in one sentence.

James Naismith would be very proud.

The Minnesota Timberwolves were simply no match for the far superior Spurs in every facet of the game. It’s almost mesmerizing how fundamentally sound the Spurs play basketball. Not that I really expected the Wolves to win this game, but I just didn’t expect to see such a disparity between the two teams.

Normally, when the Timberwolves lose by a score of 108-83, I’ll be a little upset about it. However, I had a lot of fun watching the Spurs play basketball. For example:

There’s nothing you can do but appreciate that. It’s just beautiful basketball.

Sure, the Wolves somewhat helped San Antonio’s cause by not playing very good themselves. But with three 20-year-old kids and a 19-year-old playing big minutes, it’s tough to expect the Wolves to really contend.

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?

Minnesota was led by Zach LaVine, who tallied 17 points (7/13 FG, 1/1 3pt FG, 2/4 FT) and 4 assists. LaVine played mostly the shooting guard position due to the emergence of Tyus Jones into the rotation. Jones, who was just recently called up from the NBA Development League, tallied 6 points (3/7 FG), 2 assists and 2 steals in 20 minutes of action off the bench. Shabazz Muhammad provided a nice spark off the bench by recording 15 points (5/9 FG, 1/1 3pt FG, 4/4 FT), but it proved to be too little too late.

San Antonio was led by Kawhi Leonard, unsurprisingly, as he tallied 19 points (8/16 FG, 3/7 3pt FG) and 6 rebounds while completely shutting down Andrew Wiggins all night. Tony Parker scored 14 points (6/11 FG, 2/3 3pt FG) and LaMarcus Aldridge put up 12 points (4/9 FG, 4/5 FT) and 8 rebounds.

The Spurs shot 53.2% from the field (44/82) while the Timberwolves shot just 41% (30/72).

Tonight’s loss marked the first loss for the Timberwolves by more than 14 points all season. The remaining three teams that haven’t lost by more than 14 points include the Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers and San Antonio.

Notes/Observations

• I just need to take another moment to rave about how good the Spurs are. Their ball movement is uncanny, and each player is unselfish and it leads to easy shots. Additionally, on the defensive end, they play excellent team defense. For example, Wiggins was actually able to penetrate the lane effectively on Leonard a few times, but ran right into a wall of Spurs that was there to block his shot every time.
• Karl-Anthony Towns struggled on the offensive end, but he still managed to put up yet another double-double at 10 points and 11 rebounds. He continues to get it done and he’s well on his way to the NBA Rookie of the Year award.
• Tim Duncan scored 2 points tonight, but that completely undervalues his influence on the game tonight. He protected the rim brilliantly, blocking four shots and altering many others, and filled his role nicely on offense.
• Tyus Jones’ first game playing big minutes went surprisingly alright despite playing against the mighty Spurs. It was refreshing to see a legitimate point guard come off the bench and run the offense in place of Rubio. He’s still got a ways to go defensively, but he seems to have the handle of things on the offensive end.
• As long as Jones sees big minutes, it appears as if we won’t see Kevin Martin. He didn’t play tonight and he wasn’t on the injury report, so I assume that means Sam Mitchell just decided to sit him. Good on you, Sam.

Onward

The Minnesota Timberwolves’ next action will be this Saturday when they host the Indiana Pacers in an attempt to avoid a third straight loss. The game is slated to start at 7:00 PM CST at Target Center.

Next: Tyus Jones recalled from the D-League

Stay tuned to Sporting Sota for all news and analysis on all things Minnesota sports.