NBA 2018-19: Minnesota Timberwolves vs Chicago Bulls: 3 Talking Points

Minnesota Timberwolves
Minnesota Timberwolves

Final Score: Minnesota Timberwolves beat Chicago Bulls, 111-96

Stats:

Wolves- 58 rebounds, 22 assists, 5 Blocks and 8 steals.

Bulls- 40 rebounds, 22 assists, 4 Blocks and 7 steals.

After a great victory against the Brooklyn on Friday night, the Timberwolves faced Zach LaVine-lead Chicago Bulls last night at the Target Center.

Timberwolves are 5-2 after trading Jimmy Butler to the Philadelphia 76ers, and look solid contenders for the playoffs.

For Bulls, Zach LaVine scored 28 points and 8 rebounds and looked good. Jabari Parker scored 27 points and 7 rebounds and is improving. But these performances were not enough to give them the W. They had 5 turnovers and shot 4 out of 16 in the fourth quarter which made the difference in the game.

The game started with a horrible shooting night for the Wolves. No team lead more than six points till the third quarter. It was in the fourth quarter that Minnesota started to pull away for a win, thanks to Karl-Anthony Towns. Wolves had a 12-2 run in the fourth, with Towns scoring 8 out of those points.


#3 Horrible shooting night for Wiggins and Covington

Andrew Wiggins
Andrew Wiggins

Minnesota started the game with a 3-of-12 shooting. They had a slow start but recovered as the game progressed. However, two of the stars never came back from their horrible shooting night. Andrew Wiggins and Robert Covington combined for a 1-of-30 shooting performance.

Andrew Wiggins finished with 0 points for the first time in his career. He had a 0-of-12 shooting night. Covington finished with 1-of-18 after the match but was 0 of 12 in the first half.

The horrible offensive display by them was compensated by a good rebounding effort by the team. Wolves had 58 rebounds and 21 offensive rebounds which were a season-high for them.

#2 Good Contributions by Dario Saric and Derrick Rose

Derrick Rose
Derrick Rose

Dario Saric had 19 points and 14 rebounds coming off the bench. He is getting adjusted to his new role with the team. Saric is a great player to have in the team. He scored 4 three-pointers against Memphis, was great against the Denver and dominated the offensive glass tonight. He is a perfect example of a player who wants to contribute to the team in any way possible.

This is what he said after the match:

Derrick Rose, on the other hand, has been amazing this season. He is averaging 19.5 points this season and scored 22 yesterday. Rose has now scored at least 20 points in 7 games out of the last 9.

This is what Taj Gibson had to say about Rose:

“He’s just calm. He’s comfortable being around people who are familiar with him, people who are going to let him play his game, understand when he’s feeling right and when he’s not feeling right."

“The way he’s getting ready for the game as far as working out, monitoring his body, taking care of himself, he’s a totally different person. Every game, it’s like he’s in a new form. He’s born again. And it shows.”

#1 Karl-Anthony Towns's monstrous performance, joins Kevin Garnett

Karl-Anthony Town
Karl-Anthony Town

Karl-Anthony Towns is definitely a top 3 center in the League. His performance today is proof of his immense talent and the determination inside. He scored 35 points, 22 rebounds, 6 assists and 1 steal. He had a 13-of 23 shooting night.

He became the only player in the franchise history to put up these numbers.

Check out this tweet by ClutchPoints:

It was Towns's third game of his career with at least 30 points and 20 rebounds. He had his 10th double-double this season and a season-high six assists.

Anthony has looked more comfortable after the Jimmy Butler trade, and his numbers speak for it.

This is what Coach Thibodeau had to say about Towns's amazing performance:

''He was terrific in so many different ways. He mixed it up. The post was terrific. Playmaking was terrific. The all-around game, the rebounding again. He's on a roll rebounding-wise. We played through him and we got a lot of good stuff off of that.''

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Edited by Sai Krishna