Timberwolves beat short-handed Jazz at Target Center for fourth straight win, move to 8-3
Minnesota scored 115 against a Utah team missing three starters and then lost Keyonte George. The Wolves are 8-3 and host Dallas on Thursday.
The Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Utah Jazz on Sunday night at Target Center for their fourth win in a row, moving to 8-3. ESPN's results list the final as 115-100. Getty photo captions in the recap that ran on SB Nation and Yahoo give it as 115-110. Whichever is right, Minnesota scored 115 for the third time in four games and controlled the night against an opponent that was badly short of players.
Utah came in without three starters, Jusuf Nurkic, Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr., according to SLC Dunk's recap, which Yahoo Sports also published. Keyonte George played through an illness and then hurt his ankle in the fourth quarter, on his 23rd birthday. The Jazz bench scored only 20 points, and SLC Dunk's Gabe Bodily wrote that the reserves gave up points just as easily at the other end. That left Minnesota's second unit room to work, and the Wolves used it.
Rookie Darryn Peterson was the one Utah player who caused real problems. The No. 2 overall pick finished with 26 points, six rebounds and four assists on 52.4 percent shooting, including half of his threes. He scored all of it without a free throw, so Minnesota held up well when he drove to the basket. SLC Dunk described Peterson as the clear bright spot in a gloomy stretch for Utah. Minnesota rookie Joan Beringer took some of the matchups inside, and photos from the first quarter show him contesting Kyle Filipowski.
The Wolves shouldn't make too much of the win, because they did what good teams are supposed to do against a depleted opponent. Still, they took care of it at home after early slips there. Minnesota is 4-1 at Target Center, and its only home loss was the five-point defeat to Golden State.
What it means for Thursday against Dallas
Minnesota has a three-day break before it hosts the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday, November 12 (NBA TV, KFAA-TV, MavsTV). The Wolves bring their best stretch of the season into that game. Since the 121-111 loss in San Antonio, they have beaten Milwaukee 112-100, won 117-107 in Houston and 115-109 in New Orleans, and then beaten Utah. They held all four of those opponents to 109 points or fewer.
The full-season numbers look just as good. Through 11 games, Minnesota is averaging about 118 points and allowing about 107, a margin of roughly 11 points per night. None of the three losses was lopsided. The Wolves lost by two in Cleveland, by five at home to Golden State and by 10 in San Antonio. They have also played well away from home, going 4-2 on the road with wins in Miami, Orlando, Houston and New Orleans.
The defense is the thing to watch against Dallas. Minnesota gave up 119 or more in two of its three losses. In the current win streak, though, opponents have topped out at 109. If the Wolves keep teams around that level, the offense has scored enough to beat almost anyone on the schedule so far. Thursday will show whether that holds up against a team that is presumably closer to full strength than the Jazz were on Sunday.