Wolves 138, Bucks 119: Complete Effort For Minnesota Earns Another Big Win

How ‘bout them Timberwolves, eh?

This team has just found a way to take such a business-like attitude into every game, and their confidence and bravado only continues to grow with each win.

Once again, the Wolves found themselves up double-digits early, which seems like happens every single game these days.

The fanbase brought a playoff-like atmosphere into the arena, and the team responded with a resounding victory over the reigning NBA Champions, even if they were missing Giannis Antetokounmpo.

It’s hard to say too many good things about a performance like that. Patrick Beverley, the heart and soul of this team, was ejected in the first quarter along with George Hill after a scuffle involving both players, plus Serge Ibaka and Taurean Prince. It would have been easy for the Wolves to falter or lose their focus. Earlier in the season, they probably would have. Not now, though.

Now, the Wolves just maintain their focus and play good basketball. They were in total control for most of the game, and showcased their nuclear offense with both Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards taking it to Milwaukee. Towns finished with 25 points on 12 FGA, and Ant added 25 more on 16 attempts. When Minnesota’s two best scorers are scoring that efficiently at the same time, they are incredibly tough to beat. When they also lock in on defense at the same time? Forget about it. The sky is the limit for this team, and they’re only going to draw this fanbase in more.

They had an unbelievable opportunity in front of a packed house tonight, and they used that additional energy to play another complete game.

KAT and Ant were the headliners, topped off by Ant’s sweet windmill, but once again it was a total team effort. D’Angelo Russell quarterbacked the offense with precision, seeing the game three steps ahead. On one play in the second quarter, he orchestrated a set off of a Milwaukee free-throw, and easily ended up with an empty PnR for a Naz Reid dunk. Reid, to his credit, was also fantastic. He poured in 14 points in just 13 minutes. He seemed to take his matchup with Bobby Portis personally, and he won that matchup handily today.

The under the radar guy who really played well tonight was Malik Beasley. Sure, he only hit two threes and was just 3-9 from the field, but it was not an accident that Beasley was a +24 for the game, behind only Towns. He constantly was in the right spot defensively, attacked closeouts with a controlled aggression, and seemed to always be in the mix for rebounds and loose balls.

Again, it was a total team effort tonight. With that, the Wolves are now just ¹⁄₂ a game back of Denver for the sixth seed. The Wolves have essentially locked up the tiebreaker with Denver, so if they continue to just take care of their business like they did tonight, good things will happen for them.

Every night at Target Center feels like a party now, and this game was no different. Get your friends and family out to a game soon, and let’s enjoy this team together.