Towns dominates as Timberwolves crush Kings
SACRAMENTO — At a Las Vegas craps table, they call wagering on double numbers such as 22 or 33 thrown as the “hard way.”
The Minnesota Timberwolves’ very own version is a road to the playoffs without star Jimmy Butler for the coming weeks, a challenge Butler’s longtime teammate and Wolves veteran forward Taj Gibson says is just fine with him.
After winning 118-100 over Sacramento on Monday, the Wolves are 2-0 since Butler suffered a partly torn meniscus cartilage in his knee Friday.
“Playing hard, playing smart, playing together is important for winning,” coach Tom Thibodeau said afterward.
They followed Saturday’s 18-point home victory over Chicago by blowing open this one with a lopsided 34-17 third quarter that changed everything against a Kings team that has lost four consecutive games and nine of 11.
The Wolves now are headed to games against Portland on Thursday and Utah on Friday that could loom large in the playoff race. After that, they play Boston, Golden State, Washington, San Antonio and Houston — playoff-bound, all — in a five-game stretch that would have tested them even with Butler healthy.
Now they will have to try to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2004 that hard way.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Gibson said before the game. “I like facing adversity. It’s coming down to the wire. It’s really important. We’ve been playing really hard. We’ve been playing
great basketball all year, so why not just have a tough moment to make it even better to seal a playoff spot because nothing in this league is given. Everything is taken with heart and passion.”
The Wolves took Monday’s game with heart and passion in that third quarter, when they turned a 63-60 halftime lead into a 97-77 bulge by the third quarter’s end.
They did so the same way they beat Chicago on Saturday in their first game without their four-time All Star: with the kind of balance Thibodeau says they now need if they’re going to compensate for Butler’s individual talents.
“We’ve got six guys averaging in double figures, so I think the unselfishness has been there all year,” he said. “Defensively, we’ve got to keep working at it. We understand how important that is.”
This time, six players — all
five starters and reserve Gorgui Dieng — reached double figures by the end of that third quarter on a night when Wolves star Karl-Anthony Towns reached a league-leading 54th double-double game with a 26-point, 17-rebound display.
Andrew Wiggins added 22 points and Jeff Teague contributed 20 points, seven assists and four rebounds.
“Everyone pitches in 1 percent more, no one person can do it and all those other coaching cliches,” Kings coach and Staples, Minn., native Dave Joerger said of how the Wolves compensate for no Butler. “They have a great collection of guys who have pretty much seen and done everything.”
The Wolves built a 10-point lead twice before halftime but couldn’t get any separation.
The first time, they led 49-39 midway through the second quarter and then allowed Willie Cauley-Stein a three-point play and a layup and quickly the Kings pulled back within 55-51 with fewer than four minutes left before halftime.