The Butler Did It
December 27, 2017

In a game the NBA likes to advertise as the league at its best, the hometown Minnesota Timberwolves edged the Denver Nuggets in overtime by 128 to 125 before a sellout crowd of 18,978.

In overtime, Jimmy Butler put the Wolves on his back and carried his team to victory, scoring 12 of Minnesota’s 14 points and setting up Jamal Crawford for the winning basket.

Butler scored 14 points in the first half and had 25 at the end of regulation time. In overtime, he was successful at drawing Nugget fouls and converted nine free throw attempts. He completely dominated both the fourth quarter and overtime.

“He’s changed everything for us,” coach Tom Thibodeau after the game. Minnesota obtained Butler in an off-season trade with the Chicago Bulls where his coach was Thibodeau. “I’m hoping,” the coach said, “everyone recognizes how special he is.”

The game started with the Wolves red hot. A Taj Gibson dunk staked them to a 19-7 lead. Soon, it was 25-12. Minnesota scored 35 points in the period, raining three-point baskets from Andrew Wiggins, Jeff Teague, and Butler. Minnesota was hitting baskets from the field at nearly 60 percent through the first half which saw the Wolves leading by 71 to 58.

The start of the second half mirrored that of the first. When Wiggins scored on a layup, the lead mounted to 86-68, and the crowd was hungry for blood. Then, the home team went into one of its customary alertness slumps and stopped playing defense

Denver quickly took advantage of the Timberwolves’ funk and narrowed the gap to 86-81 on a three-point basket by unknown reserve Will Barton. The quarter ended with Minnesota clinging to a four-point lead.

The Timberwolves were outscored in the fourth quarter by 32 to 28. A 108-100 lead had evaporated. A Barton free throw tied the game for the first time since the opening period.

The overtime started poorly for the locals, Gibson fouled out, another previously anonymous Nugget reserve, Trey Lyles, scored on a dunk shot, and Denver had a three-point lead.

Then, Butler took over scoring eight of his team’s next 10 points for the 128-125 victory. This was accomplished without starters Karl-Anthony Towns (fouled out in fourth quarter), Gibson, and Teague who went down with a severe knee injury and will be out for an unspecified period of time.

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