Everything was rolling for the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night. They snatched a 121-105 victory over the Houston Rockets in a game they needed to have. Minnesota's triples fell at an absurd rate, their turnover count was low, and Houston's historic offense struggled to get off the ground. Avoiding a 3-0 deficit was obviously huge, but that felt almost secondary.
The fact that there was a playoff game featuring the Wolves at all was a win in and of itself.
May 29, 2004 was the last time Minnesota hosted a playoff game. It was a different era then. Kevin Garnett was still the most versatile player in basketball. Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant were still teammates. Manu Ginobili had hair. “Yeah!” by Usher, Lil Jon, and Ludacris was the top song on the Billboard chart.
So, yeah, it was a long time ago.
The Wolves won that game, by the way. It was a crucial Game 5 victory in the Western Conference Finals to save their season. Garnett was masterful in the 98-96 win, dropping 30 points, 19 rebounds, four assists, a steal and a block in a LeBronian 46-minute workload. Latrell Spreewell scored an efficient 28 points. The star-studded Lakers didn't get enough scoring from Kobe (23 on 8-of-19 shooting) or Shaq (17 on 6-of-11 shooting).
The Wolves would lose the next game and the series, but nobody expected the loss to kick off a 14-year run of ineptitude. Some highlights and lowlights:
- Wasting the rest of Garnett's peak before eventually trading him to Boston
- Picking approximately 37 points guards over Stephen Curry
- Ricky Rubio. I mean, pick a side, but Rubio.
- The rise of Kevin Love
- That time Michael Beasley almost averaged 20 a night
- The Corey Brewer game
- The return of Garnett as the vocal leader and wily veteran
- The passing of Flip Saunders
To say that the Wolves — and their fans, God bless 'em — took lumps was an understatement. Disappointment turned into frustration; frustration turned into anger; anger started to turn into hopelessness, but never indifference. No matter how bad it got, Minnesota's fan base never stopped caring. As a neutral viewer, the best part of Saturday's game was seeing and hearing the fruits of their emotional labor pay off.
The Wolves now enter Monday night's contest with a chance to tie things up and really put pressure on Houston. A win for Houston could put a stranglehold on the series as they travel back home. Here are four things to look for in the pivotal Game 4.
1. Can Karl-Anthony Towns get even more involved?
Towns has been the talk of the series, mostly for the wrong reasons. After looking and producing like one of the most talented scorers in the league during the regular season, he essentially became Casper the Friendly Ghost in the first two games of this series.
He had only scored 13 points on 18 shots through the first two games. You could explain some of it away. Clint Capela is a fantastic defender who had given him fits during the regular season matchup. The Rockets doubled him virtually every time he caught the ball on the block, and rotated crisply whenever he could catch-and-attack. Still, there were too many possessions where he was just … kinda there, floating around the perimeter instead of demanding the ball.
Things changed a bit in Game 3. Towns didn't have a huge night — 18 points on 5-of 13 shooting — but he certainly looked more assertive. He went after Capela on the block, even if the results were mixed. The forcefulness that had been missing in Houston finally arrived.
His best moment came early in the second quarter. The Wolves were in semi-transition, and the Rockets were a little sloppy matching up in the middle of the floor. Towns took advantage of this and got inside positioning as Capela tried to front him. Jeff Teague lofted a wonderful entry pass to Towns, and he did the rest:
https://youtu.be/4XrOyBX01Fc?t=10s
Funny enough, that was Towns' first shot of the game, but it went a long way in establishing himself moving forward. He broke out a little bit; for Minny's sake, they have to hope the aggressive version of Towns is here to stay.
2. Is Andrew Wiggins for real?
Minnesota's big names showed up. Jimmy Butler led the Wolves in scoring with 28 points, while Towns finally made his presence felt. Slipping under the radar was one Andrew Wiggins, quietly slapping up an efficient 20-5-5 game. It was the 9th such game of his career, which speaks to the rarity of him filling up the box score.
With Butler struggling with his shot at times and Towns struggling to shoot at all, Wiggins has been Minnesota's most consistent offensive threat. He did a little bit of everything in Game 3, mixing in strong forays to the rim, slick passes, and a healthy dosage of jumpers. He even drilled 4-of-6 triples on the night.
Speaking of the slick passes, can we talk about this cross-court dime under duress?
https://streamable.com/q9mbi
That beauty hit Teague right in the shooting pocket! That was easily his most impressive dime of the night, but that's something to keep an eye on. Wiggins has very rarely showcased that kind of vision in traffic, much less the gall and accuracy to attempt a pass like that.
3. Will Eric Gordon show up?
Gordon finished the night with 15 points, but it took him 16 shots (11 of those were misses) to get there. He missed six of his nine three-point attempts. He could never really establish a rhythm, which is the only explanation I can think of that would absolve him of taking this turnaround jumper:
On the series, Gordon is averaging 10.3 points with a 28/23/60 shooting split. Yuck. While Chris Paul is the obvious leader of the non-Harden units, the scoring punch of Gordon is what makes those lineups work. If he can't get going, that's going to put a lot of strain on Paul to carry them. Paul's good enough to do so, but he shouldn't have to with the reigning Sixth Man of the Year as his running mate.
4. Can Houston contain Minnesota's point guards?
The Rockets had no answer for Teague and Derrick Rose (who's quietly been good!) in Game 3. The speedy duo combined for 40 points on 57 percent shooting while generating just about any look they wanted. Teague was methodical, abusing momentary lapses or beating switches. Rose, on the other hand, was able to feast in transition. His athleticism popped off the screen like it did in years past:
Houston's defense was bad in just about every area on Saturday, but especially at the point of attack. Tightening that up is the first step to throwing cold water on Minnesota's offense.
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