Wolves at OKC: Scott Brooks Appreciation GDT

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Towns had four super duper clutch plays way before that fantastic Wiggins drive and kick to Rubio for the game-winning three. He hit a tough floater over two OKC defenders and he hit that drive left/middle step-back jumper right in Durant's mug. Huge shot. Takes guts. Somewhere in there (about 1:00 left in the game) he also collected a defensive rebound and pushed the ball in transition himself where he found Dieng who got fouled and made two free throws. Then he played excellent help defense and blocked Durant's would-be game-tying floater on the baseline. Unfortunately, on that play nobody rotated to help the helper and Adams was clear for the putback lay.

We saw Towns rise to the occasion in that fourth quarter. He has the goods. With that said, however, I can't reward one player with a game ball tonight. Rubio, Dieng, LaVine, Wiggins... They all made huge plays and this game was tight from basically start to finish. These are the games that get you (me) super excited for the future and I'm happy to possibly surrender ping pong balls to have watched it.

[Coolbreeze44]

How in the world does the ref negate the Wiggins rebound jam by calling goaltending. Can't believe the announce crew didn't make a bigger deal of that. And why wasn't it reviewed?

Anyway, I echo those saying this starting 5 has the makings of a very good one. Now about that bench..................... We have time to develop the bench, and maybe Tyus and Shabazz can be the start.

I have to say the same thing I've been saying all year - building this team is a process and you can definitely see some progress. Don't be surprised if they throw up a stinker on this road trip, but let's enjoy this one.

[Coolbreeze44]

I have to give Sam credit for one thing - I love that he puts the ball in Wig's hands at crunch time. Paid off again tonight. And great game by Ricky culminating in the clutch winner.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

I have to give Sam credit for one thing - I love that he puts the ball in Wig's hands at crunch time. Paid off again tonight. And great game by Ricky culminating in the clutch winner.

Yep. At the same time, though, we saw how he's brutally under-utilized Towns during crunch time this season. Not tonight, but so often during this season, the offense has stopped going through Towns late in games even when he's rolling. Tonight was good balance I thought.

Ideally, Wiggins gets to the point where we can routinely put him in P&R situations to really exploit the defense. That's probably a couple years away at the very least.

[KiwiMatt]

Great win. Really showed the character and potential of this team.

I love this starting lineup and have been advocating for it since seasons start. They really compliment each other well. Dieng and Towns are really starting to become a legit starting front court pairing, 3 blocks each tonight and their FT shooting % is unrivalled in the NBA. It's nice not having the token big who can't hit a free throw to save him self!

Rubio with the big 3pt. I really think this would have done his confidence a world of good.

Add a 3 and D guy like Bazemore, a high draft pick and another year for our young guys to develop and I think we have a massive chance at making some noise in the Western Conference next season.

[TRKO [enjin:12664595]]

Great win. Last year I cared about the ping pong balls because I wanted to get a great player to pair with Wiggins. Now we got a great young trio with Towns, Wiggins, and LaVine, we don't need another star, we need role player types now. I think building confidence and learning to win games is much more important than tanking. Our young starting 5 is pretty good. Got to add those gritty role player types, or develop some, and turn this into a complete team.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Great win. Worrying about ping pong balls is a detriment to this franchise right now. Just teach the young kids how to win. The OKC game could be an example of that.

- The team showed great perseverance. They didn't get calls. They battled. And battled. Towns and Rubio seem to battle hard most nights and Rubio definitely set the tone tonight. Fitting that he wins it with his jumper. Good for him.
- I rarely complain about calls. But yikes. That's what happens though when you're a good/bad team. Those types of calls are expected. The real story is that up-and-coming teams can overcome them. And ironically, the game turned on the Adams/Rubio foul call, which I can't imagine is called very often in that spot.
- Ibaka... wow. 0 points. 2 rebounds. 2 TOs. 6 fouls. PLUS... Dieng goes for a career high. I have to imagine that's being discussed in OKC this morning.
- The Wolves bench is extremely thin right now. The Wolves starters will be a boon for fantasy basketball players because they have no choice but to play heavy minutes.
- OKC had 24 TOs... and only 15 assists. YUCK. A lot of time it's fairly easy to see/claim a good team overlooked Minnesota or they just didn't have it or whatever. But despite OKC not playing its best game, this was a much-deserved win for the Timberwolves. They deserve the credit after this one.
- No Sam. No. Please. I beg you, Glen Taylor.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

We have had a number of "signature" wins this year: @ Chicago, @ Atlanta, @ Miami, @ Clippers, Toronto, and @ OKC. And then we've had a bunch of bad losses at home to a lot of very mediocre teams. I think that's why Rubio was fairly somber after last night's game.....he was thinking of what could have been.

Speaking of Ricky, obviously that winning 3 was huge, but he also had 12 assists with zero turnovers. That was just as big to me. And when there is a scrum for a loose ball, guess who usually comes up with it? He won a bunch of 50/50 balls last night.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Towns had four super duper clutch plays way before that fantastic Wiggins drive and kick to Rubio for the game-winning three. He hit a tough floater over two OKC defenders and he hit that drive left/middle step-back jumper right in Durant's mug. Huge shot. Takes guts. Somewhere in there (about 1:00 left in the game) he also collected a defensive rebound and pushed the ball in transition himself where he found Dieng who got fouled and made two free throws. Then he played excellent help defense and blocked Durant's would-be game-tying floater on the baseline. Unfortunately, on that play nobody rotated to help the helper and Adams was clear for the putback lay.

We saw Towns rise to the occasion in that fourth quarter. He has the goods. With that said, however, I can't reward one player with a game ball tonight. Rubio, Dieng, LaVine, Wiggins... They all made huge plays and this game was tight from basically start to finish. These are the games that get you (me) super excited for the future and I'm happy to possibly surrender ping pong balls to have watched it.

I saw in the post-game interviews that during a late timeout KAT basically told Mitchell to get him the ball and they would win the game. Of course, he didn't get it on that very last play, but yeah, he made a couple of HUGE buckets late. That fadeaway was absolutely sick.

My hope is that there is no single "go-to" player at the end of games and instead we go with whoever has the best matchup between KAT, Wiggins, and LaVine. LaVine has the least experience with clutch plays this year, but you can see how he's maturing to the point where he may soon be on equal footing with the other two guys. Exciting stuff.

[SameOldNudityDrew]

Man, what a game! That was awesome.

In terms of closers, I've been ok with Wiggins. His handle always makes me cringe when we really need a bucket, but he's gotten it done pretty well and that pass last night was big. Towns should be the #1 target of the guy with the ball as a passing option. And LaVine has closed out a lot of quarters this year, and he's got the handle and shooting to handle it. So we've got some options as closers going forward, which has been a problem in the past.

It's been a rough year. Lots of losses stemming in part from little three point shooting and even less defense. But there are definitely signs that this could be the type of team that could make a big jump next year. All the close games are a sign we can compete. And while losing them is a bad sign (that we can't close one out), winning key matchup like this down the stretch on the road is so big. You could see the guys were enjoying themselves in a way they haven't much this year. That too is crucial. We need to develop some winning chemistry and winning is key to that.

Great win! I'd love to close the season on a romp and screw over some playoff contenders in the process.