The Timberwolves tied the Timberwolves, 71-71 in a scrimmage that was free and open to the public Wednesday night.
According to FOX Sports North, about 6,000 fans showed up for the free event. Standing ovations were common, too.
“That’s the first thing,” Wolves head coach and president Flip Saunders said. “More of a surprise than anything was the fans… I don’t know how many standing ovations we had last year at times.”
The Star Tribune reports that Zach LaVine, the Wolves’ most recent first-round draft pick, finished with four dunks en route to a 16-point night.
“I looked in the crowd and said ‘Oh, wait a minute,'” LaVine said, “‘That’s a lot of people.'”
Saunders, per the Star Tribune, was very impressed with LaVine’s passing ability.
“He’s almost 6-7,” Saunders said. “So when you have a guy who can handle the ball at 6-7, he can see over the defense. It’s like having a big quarterback. I think he has a great feel for the game.”
Canis Hoopus’ Tim Faklis was at the scrimmage and made a note of LaVine being “soft.”
When I first sat down, the concerns of his iffy decision making and poor shot selection were the main thing on display. He was also noticeably soft As the game went on, though, he started to figure things out, and eventually went on a dunking rampage.
Shabazz Muhammad finished with 19 points. 7-foot-1 big man Kyrylo Fesenko had a scrimmage-high 21 points.
The Wolves practice once again today before heading to Las Vegas for the NBA Summer League.
