The Wolves put up a good fight and set a franchise record for made three-pointers but suffered their fourth loss in a row on Wednesday night in Los Angeles. The Wolves couldn’t miss early, but their offense dried up in the second half and they couldn’t contain LeBron James and the Lakers well enough to claim the victory.
It was a blistering display of offense in the first half in Los Angeles. Both teams shot the ball extremely well from range and there wasn’t much defense by either squad. Both teams scored more than 30 points in the first and second quarters and the Wolves went into halftime up 67-65.
The Wolves hit 11 threes in the first half, tying a club record for threes in a half, and ended up setting a franchise record for three-pointers in a game as well with 20. The game was a fast-paced contest in which it sometimes felt like the ball was magnetized to the rim—everything was falling.
Things slowed down in the second half as both teams locked up on defense, but the game was still exciting. The speed of the game and several highlight-reel plays from both teams made this contest a very fun one. It was hard-fought and energetic and the crowd had good energy. In a national TV game, the Wolves did themselves proud despite the loss.
In the most exciting moments of the night, Derrick Rose hit back-to-back three-pointers to pull Minnesota to within one with 1:06 left in the game. However, the Wolves couldn’t get a rebound on the ensuing Lakers possession and ended up intentionally fouling Kyle Kuzma. Kuzma hit one-of-two giving the Wolves a chance down two with 9.2 seconds left. Rose couldn’t hit the final shot though, and Josh Hart hit two free throws to ice the game.
A few quick observations:
- Everyone was hitting threes tonight. Rose had a career-high seven, Jimmy Butler hit five and Andrew Wiggins and Taj Gibson (!!) hit three each. The Wolves can certainly shoot the ball.
- Karl-Anthony Towns was clearly making an effort to get deeper position in the post. He played extremely well in the first half but had trouble in the second. The Lakers figured him out a little and drew him into a few three-second violations and offensive fouls. It was a mixed bag, but it was nice to see Towns forcing the issue inside.
- Too many turnovers and not enough assists. The Wolves coughed it up 15 times and had just 22 assists. Though they forced 16 Lakers turnovers, L.A. had 32 assists. The Wolves were also outrebounded 35-29. Very low total rebounding numbers in this one due to how many shots went through the hoop.
The Wolves are back in action on Friday when they’ll look to pick up their first road win of the season in Sacramento.