After sitting out of preseason play, Jimmy Butler played his first game with the Timberwolves in 2018-19 against the Spurs on opening night.
Butler was solid, all things considered. He finished with 23 points, seven rebounds, four steals, three assists and one block. That’s a classic Butler stat line. However, he struggled from the field, shooing 9-for-23 from the field and 1-for-4 from deep.
The Wolves lost 112-108, falling to 0-1 on the season.
You could also see, understandably so, that he still has some work to do with his conditioning, although coach Tom Thibodeau said Butler was further along than he expected.
“To be honest, I was surprised from a conditioning standpoint," Thibodeau said after the game. "I thought he handled his minutes great and just wanted to make sure that he was getting a break.”
Defensively, there were some lapses that led to some easy Spurs’ buckets. That’s on the team in general, not just Butler. Team defense is more important in the NBA as it's ever been.
Butler hit a huge step-back 3-pointer with 43 seconds left to tie the game at 108-108, but the Spurs went on a four-point run to ice the game.
You can check out Julian Andrews’ recap here, but here are a few quick takeaways on my end from the game:
- Jeff Teague came to play. We knew the Spurs had depth issues at point guard due to injuries going into the game and Teague exploited that, finishing with 27 points, shooting 8-for-12 from the field.
- Andrew Wiggins started out rough from the field, but still finished with 10 points in the first quarter and 20 points overall. He made a promise that he’d donate $22 per point this season for those who don’t have the opportunity financially to compete in sports. Tonight, Wiggins raised (thanks to himself) $440.
- Karl-Anthony Towns fouled out in the fourth quarter. He finished with eight points and nine rebounds. Not a great night from Towns. Too many offensive fouls, but you’d also like to see him get more than six shot attempts. His backup, Gorgui Dieng, had a nice night, finishing with 12 points and five rebounds off the bench.
The Wolves head back to Minneapolis. They’ll have Thursday off practice before hosting the Cavaliers in their home opener at Target Center. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.