It may not have looked like much, but it was honest work.
Coming in as 13.5 point favorites over a tanking Memphis Grizzlies team, Tuesday night shaped up to be one of those matchups for a Minnesota Timberwolves team and fanbase that have been tortured by lack of effort and defensive intensity against teams trying to lose.
I specifically like this Grizzlies team. They may not be good, but they have a lot of solid basketball players that play hard, are assignment sound, and beat teams to loose balls.
With a host of shooting to backup the additional things they do on the floor, it furthered a potential letdown spot for a white-hot Timberwolves team coming off of a big win in Denver.
But contrary to what’s been much of the narrative over the last couple months, the Wolves came away with a win in which they displayed all of their sides, good and bad.
Shooting 18 percent at the half, the Wolves’ percentage from the field mirrored their first half effort level. They turned the ball over on the first play of the game, and found themselves in a double digit hole multiple times before the went to the locker room at the end of the first half.
For much of the game, it felt like writing the same story over and over again. But coming out for the second half, a switch flipped for the Wolves, primarily in the form of their top two offensive options.
Up Next
The Wolves will continue the homestand on Thursday night and host the Toronto Raptors. The last time the two teams played, Anthony Edwards and company scored their first win north of the border since 2004.
The Raptors have been playing close to .500 basketball recently, and look to be a formidable challenge with the expectation of the Wolves being able to take them down at home.
Tipoff is at 7:00 PM CST.
