Quick Hits | Minnesota at Utah Reaction
After last night’s 112-97 win over the Utah Jazz on the road, our Kyle Ratke made a few observations. He typed them here. Enjoy.
1.) Getting Some Confidence Back
Point guard Ricky Rubio told the media last week that he needed to get his rhythm back. Well, hot diggity! Rubio did exactly that on Tuesday and for the second straight game, made things rough for rookie point guard Trey Burke. Rubio finished with 11 points, 13 assists, five rebounds and five steals. It was Rubio’s 12th career 4x5 game. If you don’t know what that is, look at the numbers. You’ll figure it out. I have faith in you. #believe
He was the main reason why all five starters and J.J. Barea finished with 11 or more points.
Point guard… I mean, power forward, Kevin Love was also dishing out the rock, finishing with eight assists, nearly finishing with his first career triple-double. He also added 19 points and 13 rebounds.
2.) STOP BEING PERFECT!
Yeah, the handsome Spanish point guard did this. Go to the 45 second mark. I was at Applebee’s watching the game when this happened, because you know, Applebee’s is the place to be when you’re 23. I spilt my ranch dipping sauce and immediately started crying.
If Rubio has more statistical games like Tuesday and continues to do adorable things like this, well, the rest of us have no chance.
3.) A Positive for Utah
Utah doesn’t really have any aspirations to make the playoffs this season, sitting at 14-29 overall, but it does have a few positive building pieces. One of those pieces is guard/forward Gordon Hayward. Hayward put up 27 points, five assists, five rebounds and three steals last night while shooting 10-of-17 from the field.
He’s really the only natural scorer on this team. Yes, his shooting percentages are down this season, but that’s what happens when you take guys like Al Jefferson and Paul Milsap away from the basket. I’m not sure if Hayward is the guy to build around in Utah, but he’s certainly a guy to build around. When watching him in college at Butler, I thought he was kind of a nerd. But obviously really good at basketball. I thought he’d get to the pros and be a cute bench player that could hit threes for five or six years and call it quits. Well, I was wrong. He’s become a do-it-all kind of wing player. Well done.
Also, Gordon, if you’re reading this. You ruined my bracket in 2010 and cost me unlimited pizza from my mother’s office pool. Just think about that for a bit.
The Wolves are back at it on Friday night as they take on the Golden State Warriors on the road. You better pound some Mountain Dew. The game is at 9:30 p.m. on Fox Sports North, NBATV and WCCO 830-AM.