New York Knicks 103
Minnesota Timberwolves 95
The Timberwolves started ice cold and never fully regained their momentum despite 24 points apiece for Andrew Wiggins and rookie center Karl-Anthony Towns.
Rocky start leaves the Wolves playing catch-up
The Timberwolves might have sealed their fate from the very beginning of the game, going without a made field goal for nearly half of the first quarter. Minnesota allowed New York to put up 14 points before a jumper from Towns and a split free-throw trip for Wiggins finally got the team on the scoreboard. The Wolves only made 17 of their 39 field goal attempts in the first quarter, and the Knicks raced out to a 20 point lead by the early minutes of the second quarter.
New York dominates on the glass
Minnesota never got things closer than a six-point deficit, and the blame can be found on the backboard–the Knicks out-rebounded the home team 51 to 31. New York center Robin Lopez had himself a game, scoring 26 points and nabbing 16 rebounds, while star forward Carmelo Anthony managed 30 and 11 as well, capitalizing on his size advantage over the Wolves’ Shabazz Muhammad. In a glaring statistic, Minnesota forward Gorgui Deng managed just 3 points and 3 rebounds, only one more board than his matchup Kristaps Porzingis, who played less than half as many minutes.
Wolves stay competitive despite deficit
As depressing as all of the above sounds,Ricky Rubio almost tied the franchise record for assists with 16, including this running lob to Wiggins, who showed why some are calling him “Air Canada.”
Ricky with the lob. Wiggs with the JAM! #NYKatMIN đź’Ż https://t.co/8RtLX2n663
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) February 21, 2016
Towns played strong defense, managing a crafty steal and three block, including this swat on fellow lottery pick Porzingis.
Towns blocks Porzingis: https://t.co/0JiAhmFECU
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) February 21, 2016
Despite his struggles on defense, Muhammad put in work on the other side of the ball, scoring 20 points on 10 of 13 field goals, including 2 badly needed three-pointers.
Tweet of the Night
Everyone forgot to high-five poor Karl after this free throw attempt.
https://twitter.com/netw3rk/status/701222557186392064
Up Next
The Timberwolves host the Boston Celtics (32-24) on Monday, tip off at 7pm.
