The Minnesota Timberwolves played their third game in 72 hours on Monday night, but even with a sense of jetlag, Minnesota traveled to Detroit and picked up a victory over the Pistons thanks to a hot start and another clutch effort from Andrew Wiggins.
Unlike the Timberwolves’ loss on Sunday night against the Denver Nuggets, Minnesota started the game white-hot from the floor thanks to the early foul trouble of Andre Drummond. With the Pistons’ star on the bench, the Timberwolves shot 60 percent from the floor in the first quarter on the way to a 41-26 lead.
Even as Karl-Anthony Towns battled foul trouble, the Wolves bench stepped up and saw their lead swell to as much as 17 points thanks to 11 first-half points from Jake Layman. A thunderous dunk by Gorgui Dieng helped the Timberwolves end the first half on a 10-2 run to go into the half with a 66-51 advantage.
GORGUI THEY WEREN'T READY FOR IT
😱😱😱 pic.twitter.com/OXDGOvPdpJ
— FanDuel Sports Network North (@FanDuelSN_NOR) November 12, 2019
The second half had a different feel to it, however, as the Wolves came out of the locker room and allowed the Pistons to get back into the game. As Detroit trimmed Minnesota’s lead back to single digits, Towns restored order with another highlight-reel moment just before the third-quarter buzzer
THE HANDLES 💯
THE FLUSH 💯
THE MEAN MUG 💯#Timberwolves pic.twitter.com/6meqIp9jIf— FanDuel Sports Network North (@FanDuelSN_NOR) November 12, 2019
Detroit made a last stand entering the fourth quarter and got the Wolves lead down to five points, but that would set the stage for Wiggins.
After becoming the 11th youngest player in NBA history to score 8,000 career points, Wiggins hit a big jumper down the stretch as part of a 33-point effort to help the Timberwolves earn their first win over the Pistons since February 2015.
The Timberwolves improved to 6-4 with the win and will return home to host the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night.
