To say Wednesday night’s game between the Wolves and Grizzlies was pretty would be a lie.
But games involving the Grizzlies seldomly are, and that’s intentional on their side.
No matter how the game looked, it was big for the Wolves as they won 99-97 in overtime thanks to a buzzer beater from Karl-Anthony Towns.
The win was an important one for a Wolves team that had dropped two straight. With the win, Minnesota improves to 25-26, 11th in the West and just three games back from a playoff spot. The Grizzlies fall to 20-32, 14th in the West.
Here are a few observations from the game:
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Towns didn’t have a great game, finishing with 16 points and 10 rebounds while shooting just 7-for-17 from the field. He played just 26 minutes due to foul trouble. That tends to be the result when Towns goes up against Marc Gasol, but Towns had the last laugh in this win and found a way to get the Wolves to a win.
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In his first game with the Wolves, point guard Isaiah Canaan played 13 minutes and scored three points to go with an assist and rebound. It was tough to assess his play, but the fact that he played minutes just shows how badly the injury-riddled Wolves needed some help in the backcourt.
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Jerryd Bayless nearly finished with his first career triple-double, finishing with a team-high 19 points, a career-high 12 assists and seven rebounds. He looks like a pleasant surprise from the trade earlier this season.
The Wolves are back at it on Saturday at home against the Denver Nuggets. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. on 830 WCCO and Fox Sports North. Tickets are available here.