Timberwolves Wrap: Late collapse to Jazz

The Timberwolves led for much of the way against the Utah Jazz on Saturday night before allowing an 11-0 run to close the game and ultimately losing by a final tally of 94-92.

UtahJazz94

There have been a number of horrible losses this year, so the idea that this may have been the worst of them all is…pretty significant.

The Timberwolves led by one point at halftime, and after a big third quarter (similar to Friday night in Washington, in fact), were up by 11 points heading into the fourth quarter. But the Wolves last point was when Karl-Anthony Towns knocked down one of two free throws at the 3:34 mark. From that point on, it was all Jazz.

The Wolves actually played a solid all-around game for much of the evening, save for their bench being massively outplayed yet again. But down the stretch, the offense slowed to a crawl. There were a number of forced, contest mid-range jumpers and…not much else.

In the Wolves’ first possession in the final three minutes, they managed to miss three three-pointers with a pair of offensive rebounds in between. Then, a shot-clock violation, a made bucket by Utah, and a careless turnover from Ricky Rubio.

That was followed by a three-pointer from Rudy Gobert and another miss from Andrew Wiggins. After a foul on Rubio and a pair of made free throws from George Hill, it was a tie game.

The Wolves had to take two timeouts back-to-back before Gorgui Dieng clanked an open mid-range jumper off the rim. On the other end, Minnesota managed to force the Jazz into a miss, but Gobert used his length to manage an impressive, athletic tap-in behind his head to give Utah a two-point lead with 27 seconds remaining.

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After a timeout, the Timberwolves inbounded the ball directly to Towns, who immediately spun and missed a hook shot. Then, he tied up Gobert and forced a jump-ball.

Towns won the jump, but Bjelica got tied up with a Jazz player as he tried to corral the loose ball and fell to the floor. By the time that Zach LaVine caught up with the ball in the back court, there was only about 10 seconds left. For some reason, he lingered on the perimeter before taking a dribble inside the arc and launching a tough, off-balance, two-point attempt that clanked off the back rim. The rebound came down with less than a second left and the game was over.

This was a rough one. The only way that Minnesota could have lost this game is if the above events played out in that exact way. Time and time again, the Wolves manage to lose the seemingly un-loseable games.

Tweet of the Night

Star of the Game

Rudy Gobert: 12 points (5-10 FG, 2-3 FT), 13 rebounds, 4 blocks, one assist, one steal

This was a weird game. The only player on either team with over 20 points was Zach LaVine, and he had 24 points on 21 shots, plus some boneheaded plays down the stretch. George Hill led the Jazz with 19 points but was inefficient and didn’t play nearly as dominate a role as Gobert.

The late tip-in was probably enough to give Gobert the title of “star of the game”, but his paint presence and work on the glass certainly were key to Utah’s win as well.

Notable Timberwolves Lines

Towns was just ‘okay’ once again. He battled Gobert and Derrick Favors in the paint but continued to struggle with his own shot, although the officials didn’t do him any favors with the lack of calls around the basket.

Rubio was great early but iffy of late. He didn’t have a single turnover until the final moments of the game, but he committed two crucial miscues late. LaVine struggled save for a hot stretch in the middle of the game, and Wiggins followed up his 41-point performance on Friday with a dud.

Who’s Up Next?

The Wolves will host the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night at Target Center, with tip-off at 7:00 p.m.