Timberwolves Soil Prince Tribute Night
December 28, 2018
After falling behind to lowly Atlanta by 56-34 and making most of the members of the sellout home crowd wonder why they bothered to show up, the Minnesota Timberwolves rose from the ashes to take a nine-point lead with eight minutes left in the game.
Unfortunately, this not college basketball where 40 minutes of action constitutes the length of the game. Perhaps owing to their youth, the Wolves felt their work was done at the 40-minute mark and stopped competing, thus allowing the Hawks back into the game and eventually forcing overtime. Atlanta won the overtime, 11-8, and the ball game by 123 to 120.
This was what was supposed to be a festive evening against inferior opposition (the Hawks are in last place in the NBA’s Southeast Division at 10-24). It was “Prince Night” honoring the late Minnesota entertainer in story and song. The T-Wolves were decked out for the occasion in one of their many jersey styles, this one pale purple (violet?) on white, supposedly a favorite combination of Prince’s. The Wolves this year could fill a closet at Paisley Park with their many and varied uniforms (a disturbing NBA trend).
The loss kept Minnesota under .500 (16-19) and convinced those who paid to get in that playoffs this season at Target Center will be a pipe dream. The team is not equipped to handle the rigors of a competitor in the NBA West.
That old bugaboo, a leaky defense, has reared its ugly head. Good teams, when their shots are not dropping, rely on stout defense to remain competitive. Unfortunately for the Wolves, they are unable or unwilling to play even the most basic defense, and this gets them into trouble. Atlanta held leads of 25-15, 33-19, and 42-26 in the first quarter. The margin of difference increased to 22 points in the second period as Minnesota could not defend the three-point line, nor could they hit on threes of their own.
In the end, it was missed free throw attempts that did the Timberwolves in. Minnesota was 21 of 38 from the free-throw line, a miserable 55 percent. Andrew Wiggins was five for 12 from the line and blew three free throws in the final 50 seconds of overtime.
Karl-Anthony Towns was high-point man for the game but missed five of 15 free throw attempts. Robert Covington had 28 points but messed up a slam dunk that would have resulted in a four-point lead with 1:54 to go in the fourth quarter. Starter Derrick Rose scored 25 points but sprained an ankle and wasn’t there for the finish. Rose has been remarkable in the early season but possibly could be breaking down under coach Tom Thibodeau’s philosophy of subs playing sparingly.
Kent Bazemore had 23 points to lead the Hawks. The unknown John Collins had 19 for the visitors. Atlanta out rebounded their hosts 58-47.