Game Report - Wolves v Warriors
Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2018 6:52 pm
Great true capacity crowd with no visible empty seats and lots of energy. A real playoff atmosphere. This was a great and critical win that keeps the Wolves in the running for a top 4 finish in the West. Yes, Curry and Iggy were out, but this was still an impressive win playing without our best player, Butler, against a team that still had 3 allstars (including one superstar) in their starting lineup.
Tonight was the formula for success down the stretch for the Wolves to finish in the top 5 without Jimmy Butler. Overall that formula as a team consists of good ball movement, tight defense and getting after it on the boards. More specifically, it breaks down as follows in my mind:
First ingredient: Towns stepping up as our best player with Butler out and dominating down the stretch. Towns was fantastic tonight with 31 points and 16 rebounds. He put the team on his back downt he stretch and carried the Wolves to this win.
Second ingredient: Wiggins scoring with decent efficiency and defending. Wiggins doesn't have to be great, he just has to be good. Tonight he was very good on both ends of the floor. He attacked the basket, taking only one of his disgusting fade-away jumpers, which he took late in the 4th quarter with a familiar bad result. Otherwise, this was the Wiggins we need to see the rest of the way. Wiggins has the ability to score 30-40 points with 8-10 rebounds in a game like tonight's, but he doesn't have to do that for this team to win even without Butler. Tonight he was terrific with 23 efficient points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists. If we had seen anything close to this Wiggins the other night against Boston we would have won that game.
Third Ingredient: Belly continuing to play a terrific all-around game. He wasn't shooting particularly well, but he was superb in every other facet of the game with 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks and all-around excellent defense and smart play. He may be our best all-around player outside of Butler and KAT. He does so many things well.
Fourth Ingredient: Taj continuing is stellar play on both ends. This has been the one constant all season.
Fifth Ingredient: Tyus and Crawford playing well off the bench. Crawford was borderline tonight with his overdribbling, poor defense and poor 3-point shooting. But he hit some big 2 pointers and ended up hitting 44% of his field goal attempts while also hitting 3 of 3 free throws. Tyus was terrific tonight and offers yet another example of how poor the plus/minus is as an indicator of a player's contribution. Tyus played excellent defense and did a nice job running the offense, also hitting 4 of 5 field goal attempts, including two really big shots.
A telling moment tonight after KAT was called for a a phantom foul after getting beat up with far too few calls his way as usual all night. Green was on the free throw line and Towns was obviously highly agitated. Taj lined up directly across from KAT and talked him down, telling him to relax and play his game. Towns nodded and clapped his hands. From that moment on, Towns took over the game. Can't say enough about the value Taj adds to this team.
We need to build on this win by winning at least one of our next two road games against the Wizards or Spurs if not both. This Wolves team is fully capable of beating both teams on the road even without Butler. The Wizards are a middle-of-the-pack team and the Spurs are really short-handed and struggling. I had both these games down as looses in my last prediction. So stealing at least one would be huge. After these next two road games, we're home against the Rockets. I'd be really surprised if we won that game, but playing at home this season we're capable of pulling it off with some luck and multiple Wolves players stepping up with great games.
After these next 4 games, the Wolves can make their run in their final 11 games. I see 6 of those as games the Wolves absolutely should win: @Knicks, Memphis, Atlanta, Utah, Memphis and Nuggets. We could also pick up a win on the road against the Mavs and/or Lakers. Let's go Wolves!
Tonight was the formula for success down the stretch for the Wolves to finish in the top 5 without Jimmy Butler. Overall that formula as a team consists of good ball movement, tight defense and getting after it on the boards. More specifically, it breaks down as follows in my mind:
First ingredient: Towns stepping up as our best player with Butler out and dominating down the stretch. Towns was fantastic tonight with 31 points and 16 rebounds. He put the team on his back downt he stretch and carried the Wolves to this win.
Second ingredient: Wiggins scoring with decent efficiency and defending. Wiggins doesn't have to be great, he just has to be good. Tonight he was very good on both ends of the floor. He attacked the basket, taking only one of his disgusting fade-away jumpers, which he took late in the 4th quarter with a familiar bad result. Otherwise, this was the Wiggins we need to see the rest of the way. Wiggins has the ability to score 30-40 points with 8-10 rebounds in a game like tonight's, but he doesn't have to do that for this team to win even without Butler. Tonight he was terrific with 23 efficient points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists. If we had seen anything close to this Wiggins the other night against Boston we would have won that game.
Third Ingredient: Belly continuing to play a terrific all-around game. He wasn't shooting particularly well, but he was superb in every other facet of the game with 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks and all-around excellent defense and smart play. He may be our best all-around player outside of Butler and KAT. He does so many things well.
Fourth Ingredient: Taj continuing is stellar play on both ends. This has been the one constant all season.
Fifth Ingredient: Tyus and Crawford playing well off the bench. Crawford was borderline tonight with his overdribbling, poor defense and poor 3-point shooting. But he hit some big 2 pointers and ended up hitting 44% of his field goal attempts while also hitting 3 of 3 free throws. Tyus was terrific tonight and offers yet another example of how poor the plus/minus is as an indicator of a player's contribution. Tyus played excellent defense and did a nice job running the offense, also hitting 4 of 5 field goal attempts, including two really big shots.
A telling moment tonight after KAT was called for a a phantom foul after getting beat up with far too few calls his way as usual all night. Green was on the free throw line and Towns was obviously highly agitated. Taj lined up directly across from KAT and talked him down, telling him to relax and play his game. Towns nodded and clapped his hands. From that moment on, Towns took over the game. Can't say enough about the value Taj adds to this team.
We need to build on this win by winning at least one of our next two road games against the Wizards or Spurs if not both. This Wolves team is fully capable of beating both teams on the road even without Butler. The Wizards are a middle-of-the-pack team and the Spurs are really short-handed and struggling. I had both these games down as looses in my last prediction. So stealing at least one would be huge. After these next two road games, we're home against the Rockets. I'd be really surprised if we won that game, but playing at home this season we're capable of pulling it off with some luck and multiple Wolves players stepping up with great games.
After these next 4 games, the Wolves can make their run in their final 11 games. I see 6 of those as games the Wolves absolutely should win: @Knicks, Memphis, Atlanta, Utah, Memphis and Nuggets. We could also pick up a win on the road against the Mavs and/or Lakers. Let's go Wolves!