San Antonio hit a hot start through All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns and the sweltering Wolves shooting, and despite a great performance on the piece, the teams treated the spectators to extra overtime basketball. The Spurs could only stop enough on the Wolves’ star pair while shooting the clutch from DeMar DeRozan, Keldon Johnson and Patty Mills to stop Minnesota. The loss pushed Minnesota further into the basement of the Western Conference. The Spurs have moved their road record to 4-1 and 3-0 this season.
Towns (25 points and 13 rebounds) and Malik Beasley (29 points and 4 rebounds) give the Timberwolves the lead. San Antonio was led by season highs by DeMar DeRozan (38 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists) and Dejounte Murray (22 points and 14 rebounds – also a season high). The teams continue their short series of two games tomorrow night and we can only hope that we get a similar effort and result.
Observations
- Would the lime green on the Wolves jerseys give a good Fiesta color?
- At the start of the match, LaMarcus Aldridge ranked 65th in the league in the following series: an early proof that he’s taking up more space than ever before.
- Lonnie Walker IV seems to be heeding timely suggestions for improvement. He completed a first half of the ride on the base ride that was worthy of his predecessor Sean Elliott with a left-handed touchdown.
- Keldon’s Kitchen: Thanks to an awkward half-court performance, Johnson fearlessly took the team’s first three (!) Shots from behind the arc (twice late in the clock) to make two of them. At one of Johnson’s patented management impositions, Wolves bench Juancho Hernangomez shouted stubbornly: “no mistake!” On a late drive of the first half, Johnson dragged three Wolves with him to the edge to get even more free throws.
- DeMar DeRozan’s footwork is something to behold. During the second period, DeRozan played Jake Layman on a string while pulling a nasty and free throw. He follows this up with a handy eurostep essay – by notable contact with no call from the referees. If DeRozan even pulls 70% of the amount of offenses and free throws his mentor Kobe Bryant deserves, …
- Sequence of the night: Halfway through the third, Murray pulls several wolves toward him in transition and finds a streak of DeRozan for a rising dunk.
- Devin is dead: Vassell grained an idiosyncratic Mills miss amid a bunch of Wolves early in the fourth quarter and quickly got Patty for an open try.
- While other NBA teams have placed title banners behind their baskets, Minnesota has … four luxury cars.
- Wolves analyst Jim Petersen praised Spurs assistant coach Becky Hammon as the toughest opponent he had to prepare for as a former Lynx coach. Petersen later compares Pop to ‘Gandalf the Wizard’.
- The Wolves’ newcomer Anthony Edwards does not seem to have determined the direct speed of the game yet – he broke three bricks out of the glass and looked insecure about himself in the first half. However, he seemed more stable and more confident in the second.
- For Spurs fans of a certain age, does not Vassell’s shooting form remind you of former swingman Willie Anderson?
- With the return of Towns, the Wolves were able to find enough space on the edge and at a distance – with Malik Beasley the biggest receiver of playing from his center. San Antonio’s Johnson scored 10 points with an excellent shot and his bench temporarily closed the gap to two. Naz Reid put off a boiling quarter of the Wolves shooting (69% and 6-for-6 of three) with a bid-it-in-shot to make it 34-28.
- DeRozan regularly placed himself in the standings to start second. San Antonio played the defensive passes better – soon taking the lead with a 9-0 run. Both teams exchanged baskets for the rest of the half and San Antonio left it with two – thanks to a favorable free throw and showing the difference in turnover – while resisting Minnesota’s continued shooting.
- Walker IV’s setback three at halftime briefly gave San Antonio its biggest lead of the night. DeRozan continued his shooting from across the court, while Towns asserted himself against the Spurs greats in the paint and on the offensive boards. Minnesota pulled the Spurs into the bonus and Aldridge into trouble. Rudy Gay struck his first four strokes to maintain San Antonio’s lead. The Wolves ended the period on a 10-0 run (highlighted by two unexplained Reid three-pointers) to regain the lead.
- A few Mills tries enabled the Spurs to take the lead again soon. Both teams exchanged clues for most of the last stanza. Towns acted as a distributor of Tim Duncan out of the post, while San Antonio relied heavily on DeRozan’s creativity.
- In the frenetic waning minute, Spurs nemesis Ricky Rubio once again hit Edwards for an open try to make it with two Wolves. Aldridge switches 1-for-2 off the line. DeAngelo Russell nailed an open jumper. DeRozan switched consecutive high difficulty shots in the paint and on the edge to set up the Spurs two instantly. Towns paired on a late try to put them up one and DeRozan tipped against another tough driver. Russell hit a setback from the clutch to make it 113-111. With a quick ride in the teeth of the Wolves’ defense, DeRozan knocked over both free kicks to tie it up. Russell was unable to switch over Mills on Minnesota’s last shot of regulation.
- With overtime, Aldridge was able to lure Towns to a travel offense. The Spurs worked around the Wolves zone with a Murray try, a Johnson setback and a Mills try. A tip-dunk from Towns cut the Spurs lead to four. DeRozan somehow found Mills in the left corner for an absolutely last possible microsecond jumper to make it 125-119. Beasley paired from a distance to cut it to three. Aldridge sent a wandering move from Edwards into the air and Mills came down with the fair to secure the win.
For the perspective of the Timberwolves fan, visit Canis Hoopus.
Both teams return to the Goal Center in less than 24 hours to complete the two-match series on Sunday night at 19:00 CDT.