A matchup that featured a struggling team with a undermanned 8-man rotation against one of the most-balanced teams in the NBA played out as expected as the Wolves fell 113-99 to the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night at Target Center.
It was clear from early in the contest that the Raptors were the superior team on the court. They actually fell behind in the opening minutes before charging back and running away with an utterly dominant 14-point win that wasn’t even that close.
“We’re just undermanned,” Flip Saunders said. “I feel bad for our players because we can’t give them reinforcements to give them a little bit of rest. Those guys are just physically and mentally exhausted.”
Postgame Interview: Flip Saunders
In an ironic contrast Andrew Wiggins, essentially the prodigal son of Canada, led the Wolves in a game against his hometown team. Wiggins was the talk of pregame as he’s almost a lock to take home Rookie of the Year honors with a few players make a late run.
“I don't know who else would win,” Toronto coach Dwane Casey said. “It's clear that his talent and his potential are unbelievable. … He should be the Rookie of the Year."
Wiggins continued to prove his worthiness in spite of the lackluster performance from the Wolves. He finished his night with 25 points while playing another 43 minutes. It’s no secret that Wiggins leads the league in minutes over the last couple months and after nights like this his number total continues to climb.
Postgame Interview: Andrew Wiggins
Saunders said pregame that Wiggins has actually upped his play with the increase in minutes.
“As he's gotten more minutes and he's gotten more tired I thought that he would start to settle,” he said. “It's actually been the contrary. He's one of the top guys in the league as far as getting shots in the restricted area and really attacking the rim.”
Wiggins also continued to attack the rim in the contest and finished 9-for-10 from the free throw line.
It wasn’t nearly enough in the end, though.
“We’re a small team right now,” Wiggins said. “We’ve got a lot of guys hurt so we’ve got to have a lot of guys step up.”
Wiggins added that these types of games in the midst of a rough season motivate the team for the future.
“We’ll never forget this,” Wiggins said. “As we grow and get older as a team we’ll never forget this season. It’s motivation for us to try to beat the teams that beat us this year.”
In this moment, though, the team is struggling and it couldn’t to keep up with a Toronto team that shot 55.3 percent from the field and 13-for-30 from long range.
Lou Williams led a very balanced Raptors attack with 18 points. DeMar DeRozan finished with 17 points, Terrence Ross scored 16 points, Jonah Valanciunas recorded 15 points, Greivis Vasquez had 14 points, James Johnson dropped 13 points, and Tyler Hansbrough rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points.
“We went to our bench a little bit and we didn’t really have subs,” Saunders in reference to the 8-man rotation. “They went to their bench and kept on wearing us down.”
Minnesota has now lost 8 of its last 10 games with a game against the Orlando Magic coming up on Friday night at Target Center.
Postgame Interview: Zach LaVine
“We can’t practice tomorrow,” Saunders said. “These guys are so tired … so we have to get them off of their feet. I’ve banned them from coming here … so they can try and get rejuvenated a little bit.”
“We need that a lot,” Wiggins said. “We’ve had a lot of guys play a lot of minutes and everyone is tired. That day off will be good for us.”
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LEADER OF THE PACK
Andrew Wiggins paced the Wolves with a game-high 25 points in the loss. Wiggins has been the lifeblood of the team for the last few months and continued to assume that responsibility against the Raptors. He was aggressive throughout the game and got to the bucket every chance he got. Wiggins finished 9-for-10 from the free throw line. Those numbers still weren’t enough to keep the Wolves competitive.
NUMBERS GAME
-- Justin Hamilton had himself a nice start scoring 11 points in the first quarter. Hamilton cooled off from there and finished with 13 points in the game.
-- Toronto was money from long range before halftime and went 10-for-19 from beyond the arc en route to a commanding lead. It finished 13-for-30 from three-point territory.
-- Minnesota dug itself into a hole after a rough stretch before halftime. It only scored 19 points in the second quarter and trailed 60-46 at the break.
-- Andrew Wiggins has now scored in double figures in 47 of the last 49 games. He’s averaging 18.5 points per game in that span.
-- Toronto entered the night No. 4 in the NBA in scoring at 104.1 points per game and upped that average with 113 points on the night. It hit 55.3 percent of its shots.
LOOKING AHEAD
Minnesota will take Thursday off before a contest against the Orlando Magic on Friday at Target Center. That contest will serve as the conclusion of a three-game homestand and gives Andrew Wiggins a chance to put the Rookie of the Year discussion to rest.