The Wolves beat the Hornets 112-94 Sunday night at Target Center, marking the team’s fifth-straight win.
Our Kyle Ratke was there because that’s his job. Here are his three takeaways from the game.
A Balanced Attack
The Wolves had six players hit double digits, with no one exceeding 20 points.
Andrew Wiggins finished with 20. Jeff Teague added 18. Karl-Anthony Towns scored 16. Jamal Crawford and Gorgui Dieng had 15 each off the bench. Jimmy Butler rounded things out with 13.
A big reason why the team is on a roll and in second place in the West right now is because they aren’t focused on individual stats, but instead the collective greater good of the team.
On the season, Towns, Wiggins, Butler, Teague and Crawford are averaging somewhere between 10.8 points and 21.8 points per game.
The Wolves talked plenty about sacrifice this offseason. We’re seeing it firsthand now.
“We just want to win, however that happens,” Butler said after the game. “If somebody scores 30, great. If they score 50, even better. If you can score more than Kobe’s 81, do that, too. We just want to win at all costs. We have to go take care of business on the road.”
Not The Same Dwight
Dwight Howard now plays for the Hornets, in case you didn’t know. This comes after playing for the Magic, Lakers, Rockets and Hawks, respectively.
His stat line against the Wolves was fine and actually better than I expected. He finished with 13 points and nine rebounds while shooting 6-for-8 from the field. But just watching in person, it’s so weird watching him now when five years ago most considered him the best center in the league. A lot has changed since them, most notably the league in which he plays in. The type of big man like Howard has become an outlier in today’s NBA.
He also might be the strongest-looking human I’ve ever seen in person.
Continuing To Hit From Deep
The Wolves were 10-for-24 (41.7 percent) from the 3-point line. Teague hit four, Crawford hit three, Butler hit two and Wiggins had one.
This continues a trend for the Wolves. The team is shooting 38.3 percent from deep on the season, ranking seventh in the NBA.
The team is only shooting 23 per game, but they are efficient when they are shooting them.
The Wolves are back at it Wednesday night as they travel to play the Warriors in Oakland. Tipoff is set for 9:30 p.m. on Fox Sports North, ESPN and 830 WCCO.