(photo credit: chatsports.com)
Minnesota’s defense looked a lot better in the road contest against Houston Monday night, and it was only defense that kept the Wolves in the game as long as it did. The Timberwolves’ offensive performance was abysmal, and they fell 113-102 to James Harden and his squad. Rookie Andrew Wiggins led the Wolves with a career-high 30 points on his 20th birthday.
Harden was the story of the night, notching yet another triple-double with 31 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. He didn’t start out that way, however. Harden played 12 minutes in the first quarter and went 0-for-6 from the field and 0-for-4 from behind the 3-point line. Houston kept the game going and patiently waited for its super star to catch up–which he certainly did.
“When I get my teammates confident to shoot their shots and be aggressive and get them in their rhythm, I can get into mine and that makes everything easy,” Harden said.
On the other side, it was an entire team that shot poorly. The Rockets held Minnesota to a season-low 33 percent from the field, including just 28.5 percent in the second half. The Wolves’ best quarter was the second, in which they shot 52.4 percent and tallied 31 points. If they could have kept the game going at that pace, a win would have been in the cards for the young team.
Kevin Martin added 21 points for the team, a solid contribution, but even he wandered from his usual consistency and made only 32 percent of his shots. Martin also committed six turnovers, which combined with the 20 total errors Minny made on the night.
Ricky Rubio has been playing well since his return from injury, but he struggled to find a groove Monday. The point guard made all 10 of his attempts from the free-throw line, but he was only 2-0f-13 in his other shots. The Associated Press’ Jon Krawzcynski posted on Twitter during the game:
Rubio has made some wild passes that he shouldn’t have pulled the trigger on tonight. Has to settle down when it’s not there
— Jon Krawczynski (@APkrawczynski) February 24, 2015
The Wolves did hang on for most of the game, thanks in large to Wiggins, and they trailed by only a single point with under four minutes remaining. Unfortunately, though, Minnesota ran out of steam. Houston went on a 14-2 run in the final minutes of the game, and it was over.
“They kept getting us down, but we kept on fighting,” coach Flip Saunders said. “But we just didn’t have enough there at the end.”
Adreian Payne made his first NBA start on Monday, and the center played much better than he did in Friday night’s contest. Payne finished the game with a double-double, adding 11 points and 10 rebounds. The rookie started in the absence of the injured Anthony Bennett, who is slated to be out for two weeks with an ankle sprain.
The biggest news for Minnesota remains the return of Kevin Garnett to the team that drafted him. The 38-year-old Garnett will have his first practice with the team Tuesday, and he will be officially introduced in a presser at 3 p.m. The team has announced that Garnett will make his debut in Wednesday’s home game against Washington. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
Making the Call 