Karl-Anthony Towns led the Minnesota Timberwolves to victory over the Phoenix Suns with a dominant performance. The Miami Heat won against the Chicago Bulls despite a horror start.
The Suns didn’t announce until shortly before the game that Devin Booker had dropped out – the Guard had already been struggling with problems on his foot in the last days, now the starting backcourt of the guests consisted of Tyler Ulis and No. 4-Pick Josh Jackson. Minnesota took advantage of this first and quickly won a 16-point lead, led by Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson (10 points each in the first quarter), but it didn’t last long.
Thanks to Mike James in particular, Phoenix almost immediately came back into strike distance and, thanks to a good shooting, equalised the match in the second quarter, and in a short time they even managed to keep the lead. The Wolves also had two short-term breakdowns with Jeff Teague and Nemanja Bjelica and this was shown because the performance collapsed several times as soon as Tom Thibodeau brought his bank to court.
But of course Thibs recognized this and let his starters – as usual – play a lot. In the beginning of the second half they played a 16 point lead again and this time the Wolves were able to protect them. The Suns sold well, but they were unable to put Minnesota at serious risk, especially since they could not keep Gibson or Karl-Anthony Towns off the board. The Wolves grabbed a proud 19 offensive rebounds.
The top scorer of the match was KAT with 32 points and 12 rebounds, but all Wolves starters showed good performances. Butler scored 25 points, Andrew Wiggins scored 21. Gibson provided a double-double (16 points, 14 rebounds) and Teague replacement Tyus Jones liked with versatility (9 points, 7 assists, 7 steals). James was the most successful scorer of the Suns with 26 points.
If you want to put together a compilation of the highlights of the season at the end of the season, you might rather ignore the first quarter of this match. Both (!) teams scored a pitiful 20 points in the first twelve minutes, the Heat (7 points, 2/19 FG) completely shot the bird.
After all, the Heat apparently recognized the embarrassment themselves – because in the second quarter they presented themselves as if they had changed hands and scored 38 points. Wayne Ellington was particularly pleased with 10 points from the bank and breathed new life into his team. It’s just that they lost their rhythm immediately. After another intolerable third quarter, the final leg was 64:61 for Miami.
But there the Heat finally remembered their strengths. The previously inconspicuous Goran Dragic took over the sceptre in the offense and delivered enough placards to bring Miami onto the winning track – the Dragon then also advanced to the top scorer of his team with 24 points. This was particularly appreciated by Ellington (19) and James Johnson (15), while Hassan Whiteside played a double-double (11 points, 10 rebounds), but only watched in the final phase with a pinch of luck. In the Bulls six players ended up in Double Figures, with Denzel Valentine being the best man with 14 points, 13 rebounds and 7 assists. Jerian Grant got 24 points from the bank.
Paul Zipser was once again more on the court than last, but the German remained once again without luck. In 12:45 minutes he scored 3 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal (1/3 FG). There was an excitement when he was fouled hard by Kelly Olynyk and clapped on the court with his back. But he could go on.
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