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Wrap-Up -- The Timberwolves eventually outlasted the Cavaliers on Friday night, but when it was all said and done, they knew they were in a fight.
The Wine & Gold nearly erased a 21-point deficit, mounting a furious second half rally that fell just short – dropping the 131-123 decision at the Target Center as they head home searching for their first victory of the season.
Just when things looked like they would get out of hand in the third quarter – with Minnesota building its lead to 21 points – the Cavaliers began chipping away, cutting the T-Wolves lead in half by the end of the period.
Collin Sexton and Jordan Clarkson took over in the fourth – combining for 18 points in the final quarter and cutting the Wolves edge to just four, 127-123, with under a minute to play on Cedi Osman’s fourth triple of the night.
But a pullup jumper and a pair of free throws by disgruntled All-Star Jimmy Butler gave Minnesota an eight-point edge to seal its first win of the season.
Butler, playing in his first home game of the season after demanding a trade just before Training Camp, was roundly booed during pregame introductions. But those jeers turned to chants of “MVP!” as the former Marquette star finished with 33 points to lead all scorers – going 10-of-12 from the floor and 12-of-12 from the stripe in the win.
Kevin Love, who spent the first six years of his decorated career in Minnesota, was outstanding for the Cavaliers – leading the squad with 25 points and 19 boards, going 6-for-19 from the floor to go with seven assists and a block.
Tristan Thompson also doubled-up on Friday night, finishing with 14 points and 10 boards – going 7-of-9 from the floor and adding a pair of assists and a block.
Six Cavs score in double figures in the shootout with the Wolves.
Osman followed up with a career-high 22 points – going 9-for-17 from the floor, including 4-of-7 from long-range, adding three boards, a team-high eight assists and a steal.
Clarkson, the league’s second-leading bench scorer a season ago, was effective off the bench for the second straight game – finishing with 19 points on 8-for-14 shooting and grabbing four boards in 23 action-packed minutes of work.
In the fourth quarter, Sexton showed lived up to his nickname – attacking the Timberwolves relentlessly from the perimeter. The Young Bull notched 10 of his 14 points in the final period, going 4-of-5 from the floor in the fourth, 6-of-9 overall.
Rodney Hood rounded out the Cavaliers in double-figures, finishing with 10 points on 3-of-7 shooting in the loss.
Aside from Butler’s big night for Minnesota, former Cavalier Andrew Wiggins – who came in averaging 27.5 points in eight career contests against Cleveland – finished with 22 points, but just six of those after intermission.
Both teams shot the ball well. The T-Wolves hit on 51 percent of their shots; the Wine & Gold, 48 percent. Both teams also excelled from the stripe – with Cleveland going 25-for-29 and Minnesota at 33-of-35.
Turning Point -- Last year, the third quarter was the Wine & Gold’s Achilles heel. But in their first two outings this year, they’ve struggled in the second quarter and actually played some of their best ball right after intermission.
Through the first four minutes of the third period, the Timberwolves looked like they were going to run away with the win – upping their 17-point halftime advantage to 21 on Jeff Teague’s free throws with 8:13 to play in the quarter.
But Kevin Love would proceed to score 10 of Cleveland’s next 12 points to cut Minnesota’s lead to 15 – 89-74. From there, Cedi Osman began to heat up, and his triple with 2:32 to play in the period sliced the Timberwolves edge to just seven.
It was a dogfight for the final 12 minutes before Minnesota pulled away late.
By the Numbers – 27 … games over the course of his career that Kevin Love has tallied at least 25 points and 15 boards with three or more three-pointers – the most in NBA history.
Quotable – Cedi Osman, on the Cavaliers start to the season …
”(it’s) the second game we lost, but it’s all good. We’re really enjoy playing with each other and it’s going to be a really fun year for us. We’re a young team, we have a lot of things to learn, we’re going to just keep playing hard.”
Up Next -- The Cavaliers head home for a pair after starting the season on the road – taking on the Hawks in the home opener on Sunday night at The Q, followed by a visit from the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday. The following night, Cleveland travels to the Motor City for a meeting with the Pistons before returning home for a Saturday night showdown with the Pacers. The Cavs close out the month of October with another meeting with Atlanta the following Tuesday.