MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES 119, GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS 99
January 16, 2022
TIMBERWOLVES NOTES
Player Notes
• Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 26 points and 11 rebounds, accounting for his 17th double-double of the season and his 11th 25+ point/10+ rebounds game of the season. He has now scored 25+ points in 21 games (four straight games). Of his 26 points, 13 of them came in the first half, accounting for his 23rd double-digit first half of the season. Towns connected on 11-of-20 from the field, marking his15th game of season with 10-or-more fields goals.
• Malik Beasley knocked down five triples tonight, scoring 16 points and extending his franchise record to 24 games for with at least five triples. He has connected on five-or-more from beyond the arc on 11 occasions this season, including in two of the last three games.
• D’Angelo Russell ended the night with seven points and 12 assists, his eighth 10+ assist game of the season and fifth in his last six games (38th career). Russell dished out six assists in the first quarter, tied for his most assists in any quarter this season (6, 2Q, vs. IND on 11/29). His eight 10+ assist games this season mark the second-most such games in a single season (14 in 2018-19).
• In 24:43 minutes off the bench, Jaylen Nowell notched 17 points and one block, notching his 12th 10+ point game of the season and ninth in his last 11 games played.
Team Notes
• Minnesota bested Golden State tonight 199-99, the 20-point margin marks the Wolves’ largest winning margin vs Golden State since their 121-93 victory (+28) on Feb. 7, 2007.
• Led by 17 points from Nowell, the Timberwolves bench scored a season-high 57 points, the fourth time this season Wolves reserves have scored 50+ points (3-1). The Minnesota bench connected on 11 triples, the second time this season Wolves reserves have eclipsed 10+ threes (10, vs Atlanta on Dec. 6).
• Minnesota registered 54 points in the paint, the 17th time they have eclipsed the 50+ paint point mark.
• Led by five triples from Beasley, Minnesota connected on 16 shots from deep, accounting for the 40th game this season registering double-digit treys.
• The Timberwolves forced 15 Warriors turnovers, the 39th straight game forcing10+ opponent turnovers, extending the NBA’s longest active streak.
• Led by 12 assists from Russell the Timberwolves dished out 30 assists for the seventh time this season, moving to 6-1 when doing so.
POSTGAME QUOTES
TIMBERWOLVES HEAD COACH CHRIS FINCH
On Jaylen Nowell’s impact from the bench…
“Yeah, he’s been great. I mean, it’s not just the scoring, but it’s you know, he had another four assists tonight. He’s really looking for people. I thought he found (Malik Beasley) on a couple of those…Yeah he’s really moving the ball well. He’s staying aggressive. He’s picking his spots. He’s not forcing anything. The game’s really coming to him easy and his defense was really good. His defense was great. He was in the right places all night long.”
On Karl-Anthony Towns’ first half performance…
“Yeah, he was frustrated, but I didn’t think it like ate him alive. He did a good job of staying aggressive, finishing through some contact there, got some and-ones. You know, went to the glass. Got himself started on the glass. I thought he did a good job of composing himself tonight.”
TIMBERWOLVES GUARD MALIK BEASLEY
On confidence in his shot…
“Just told myself to keep shootin’. I’ve been getting great looks the last couple games. It just hasn’t been falling, so I tell myself keep shooting, trust your work, and tonight it showed.”
On his teammates’ belief in his shooting…
“They always tell me to keep shooting no matter what because they feel like it’s a high percentage of going in, no matter what the numbers say. It feels good to have great teammates like that.”
TIMBERWOLVES CENTER KARL-ANTHONY TOWNS
On taking advantage of second-chance opportunities as a spark…
“I think that’s a smart observation. You know, I understood. The game was different, to say the least, and I just wanted to get myself going in a way that didn’t require me touching the basketball, and I just wanted to kinda dominate the boards and get myself going. Things worked out, so very happy that we got this win. I’m happy the way we played. I’m happy about the discipline we showed. I’m happy we played Timberwolves basketball. It was a great night for us.”
On being aggressive when threes aren’t falling…
“Honestly, I really wasn’t thinking like that. I was just trying to be aggressive. I didn’t want little things in the game that can happen affect me, not wanting to shoot or being aggressive. I was going to be extremely aggressive all night and I understood their defensive schemes, and I wanted to try to utilize it as best as possible, so I wasn’t going to let anything deter me and make me more passive. I was not going to be passive, so I wanted to go out there and be aggressive throughout the game and just continue to put pressure on their defense and hopefully make some plays for my teammates as well.”
GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS HEAD COACH STEVE KERR
On most disappointing part of performance…
“I thought the defense slipped away from us late third quarter. You know, the last minute or two of the third. We were right in the game and then they kind of got, if I remember currently, they got to the rim three or four times, laid it in so our defense kind of broke down, but I think we ran out of gas. You know, I think fatigue showed up at that stage of the game and in the fourth and you know, Minnesota got hot. They played really well during that stretch and it was too much for us.”
On the road trip…
“Yeah I mean, one and three is disappointing obviously for a team of our caliber, but you know, we understand what’s going on right now. You know, we’re in a tough spot just like every team faces every year and this is our time right now with some of the injuries and so it’s okay. We’ll bounce back and it’ll be really nice to get home and I think we’ve got our next seven, seven at home and hopefully get guys back and we’ll move on.”
GOLDEN STATE FORWARD JONATHAN KUMINGA
On his performance…
“I think I should have bring more energy, feel like I did, but I didn’t bring it to the point where I feel like it was going to help the team a lot.”
On change from G League to now…
“I mean, I been good. I’ve been talking to Coach Kerr for a minute now and the G League thing, I don’t think I played bad, but just coming out here, even out there to the G League, I just gotta bring some energy every single day and I feel like when I played at the G League, the last time I played, I didn’t really bring a lot of energy and so I think if I go back out there, I just got to keep up with the same work I do out here.”
GOLDEN STATE GUARD KLAY THOMPSON
On what changed in final two quarters…
“Probably us not shooting very effectively from the field and they shot a great percentage and as I look at the box score, our turnovers weren’t very great either. I know they had a lot of opportunities because of that and I think we’re all just ready to go home and gear up for Tuesday.”
On personal performance in last four games…
“I mean, I feel great. I’m excited just to be out there. I think I’m playing great. I’m getting great looks, I mean, I had some really good looks tonight and I got blown by the defense which isn’t good. I missed the boxout as well, but it’s coming and it’s a new challenge for me to play within these minutes and be as efficient as I can, but it pales in comparison to what I went through the last two years. So although I’m not shooting ball as well as I want to, I’m going to keep shooting because that’s what I’m best at.”
(info and photo courtesy of Timberwolves)