The Minnesota Timberwolves are coming into this game needing to win out if they want to have a chance to grab the 7th seed in the West. To do that, they had to handle the task at hand in Austin, TX. The Spurs were without Keldon Johnson and Zach Collins whereas the Timberwolves needed to play their starters to secure a spot in the play-in tournament. This is the front end of a back-to-back for the Timberwolves so they needed to make light work of the Spurs ASAP.
At the beginning of this game, you can tell that the Spurs were playing an extremely competitive game as Tre Jones was everywhere. It goes to show you that many of these Spurs players were still playing for jump security heading into next season. Tre Jones showed that his job would be more than secured as he can be one of the key pieces to the Spurs puzzle moving forward. It seemed as though Jones was all over the place getting rebounds and finding his teammates with ease. Tre Jones could go right at the Timberwolves’ defense with ease as he finished the game with a triple-double. Tre Jones had 21 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists on the day. The Spurs had 6 players in double figures against the Timberwolves and managed to score 131 but the Timberwolves just had it going offensively today. The Timberwolves scored 151 points and had 7 players in double figures as they were led by Anthony Edwards who finished with 33 points. Anthony Edwards as he came out the gates setting the tone in this game scoring with ease. The Spurs had no answer for Edwards as he was able to score over and around the Spurs’ defenders. When Edwards plays like this the Timberwolves are unstoppable and today it showed what the team can actually be when things are clicking.
Karl-Anthony Towns looked really good out there as well with 22 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists. It’s good to see KAT getting back in the swing of things on the offensive and defensive sides. When KAT plays on both ends like he did today anything is possible. I truly believe if KAT didn’t get hurt this team would be locked into a seeded instead of the play-in tournament but things happen and you have to overcome. Rudy Gobert has been a rebounding machine and he did just that against the Spurs today as they had no big man in the paint that could stop him. Rudy had 13 rebounds and when he commands the paint like he did today this team is tough to beat as the Spurs found out. Rudy was the defensive anchor in the paint with 4 blocks today as well to add to his boards. The mix of KAT and Rudy has been special every time they grace the floor together. Jaden McDaniels took over that 3rd quarter and was able to drop 12 points in the quarter alone. We already know he is an All-Defense caliber player but when he scores the ball like he has since the All-Star breaks it makes it tough on anyone and the Spurs found that out today. This Timberwolves team is clicking at the right time and will have a game with the Pelicans tomorrow to determine their fate in the NBA play-in tournament. Below are the seeding opportunities for the Timberwolves heading into tomorrow’s game.
The Minnesota Timberwolves would finish (7th seed if they beat the Pelicans, Lakers lose to the Jazz) (8th seed if they beat the Pelicans, but Lakers beat the Jazz) (9th seed if they lose to Pelicans)
Photo Credit: (Photos by Michael Gonzales/NBAE via Getty Images)
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