featured-image

Timberwolves Fall to the Nuggets 100-85

Wolves coach Flip Saunders was short with his postgame answers after Minnesota’s 100-85 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night at Target Center. He was visibly frustrated with his team’s effort and execution and had every right to feel that way after the performance throughout the loss.

“In the last two months this is probably the most disappointing loss we’ve had just because we’ve been playing pretty good,” Saunders said. “We just didn’t play with any sense of urgency.”

Saunders said before the game that he knew the Nuggets were going to come out energized like a team normally does after a coaching change.

“There’s always a bounce,” Saunders said before the game. “In a lot of cases what happens is the players get a little bounce because they want to prove it wasn't them. They … went through a lull there in the last 20 games or so. I thought they played really hard last night and Melvin Hunt had them playing really loose.”

Hunt had them playing loose again Wednesday night and that made all the difference.

Denver went on an incredible run in the second quarter and turned an early deficit into a massive lead at halftime. Minnesota was abysmal in that stretch and couldn’t get into a flow on either end of the floor. Denver, on the other hand, led by its reserves, surged in front and never looked back.

“We had a great start and just couldn’t carry that momentum throughout the game,” Kevin Garnett said.

As the Nuggets started to pull away at various points throughout the night, the Wolves never had a sustained answer. They’d cut into the deficit a few times only to watch that lead balloon minutes later.  

“We’ve got to bring more energy every night and tonight we didn’t,” Ricky Rubio said. “We’ve got to start the game with energy. I blame myself. I didn’t bring enough energy tonight.”

It wasn’t just Rubio, though.

Minnesota had absolutely no answer for Denver in the battle in the paint. It was outscored 52-28 down low with Kenneth Faried leading the way for the Nuggets. Faried finished with 18 points and 14 en route to his 16th double-double of the season.

“We just didn’t seem to react,” Saunders said. “They were quick to the ball tonight. That’s all I can say.”

While the Wolves couldn’t handle Faried down low, they also had no response for a bench mob for the Nuggets that scored 47 points on the night. Jameer Nelson and Will Barton were superb for that group as Nelson recorded 12 points and 9 assists and Barton chipped in with 17 points.

Rubio had a decent night and finished the game with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Andrew Wiggins also had a strong night as he had a game-high 20 points. There weren’t many positive things to takeaway from the game other than that. 

Garnett was complementary of his team at shootaround Wednesday morning, and while he hasn’t played with this group for very long, the players have clearly made an impact on him so far.

"This is a team that will fight for 48 minutes," he said. "This is a team where everyone will give what they have every night. That's a good sign.”

As the game against the Nuggets proved, though, there’s still a long ways to go. Minnesota has a chance to bounce back against Portland in a few days.

“I guarantee we won’t play that bad against Portland,” Saunders said.

Garnett seemed to feel the same way.

“There’s no excuse,” Garnett said. “We’ve got to come out with a better energy and give our fans something to cheer about.”

---

LEADER OF THE PACK

Andrew Wiggins was named the Western Conference Rookie of the Month before the game on a night he played 38 minutes. Wiggins made sure his time on the court paid off as he finished with a game-high 20 points on 8-for-16 shooting from the floor. Wiggins has racked up a lot of minutes as of late and shows no signs of slowing down. He punctuated his night early in the contest when he hammered home a nasty throw down off a pretty feed from Ricky Rubio.

HIGHLIGHT OF THE GAME 

NUMBERS GAME 

-- Andrew Wiggins started the game 5-for-8 from the floor en route to a quick 10 points. That gave the Wolves a 27-26 lead at the end of the first quarter.

-- Minnesota saw its lead evaporate in second quarter as it was outscored 32-16. In that span the team shot 4-for-19 from the floor and Denver took a 60-43 lead into the locker room at halftime.

-- Kevin Martin really struggled after missing Monday night’s game with an illness. He shot 3-for-15 from the floor and only scored 9 points.

-- Kenneth Faried has been a beast on the boards against the Wolves this year once pulling down 25 rebounds in a game. Faried finished with a modest 14 boards in the matchup, though his team with a 51-43 advantage on the glass.

-- Melvin Hunt is 2-0 as a bench boss in the NBA. Hunt helped lead the Nuggets to a win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night. 

LOOKING AHEAD

Minnesota will have a few days off before a matchup with the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday night at Target Center. The Wolves stunned the Blazers with a 90-82 victory in the last meeting between the two teams.