San Antonio Spurs (40-30) and Minnesota Timberwolves (40-30) give each other absolutely nothing in the hot battle for the last playoff places in the Western Conference. At the end, however, an outstanding LaMarcus Aldridge decides the game in favour of the Spurs. San Antonio wins with 117:101 (BOXSCORE).
The Timberwolves got off to a slightly better start to the game:”No wonder, as they showed a certain freshness after a three-day break. The Spurs, on the other hand, put 9 of their first 11 litters only on the ring, just from the distance (1/6 threesome) from the point of view of the hosts little or nothing came together in the first minutes.
With a quick 8-point gap on the scoreboard, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich finally moved on and let the reservists in – with success. Pau Gasol, Tony Parker and Co. The second unit of the guests whirled a lot, so that San Antonio could make the game balanced again towards the end of the first section (24:23 Minnesota).
Then follows the explosion of LaMarcus Aldridge! The Big Man scored a meager 3 points in the first run, but in the second quarter the L-Train plowed unstoppably through the defence of the Timberwolves. After a total of 19 points in the second quarter and good support from Patty Mills and the bank, the hosts gained a 13-point lead.
After the break tea, however, the Timberwolves could not be shaken off. Rather the starters around the strong Karl-Anthony Towns (23 points, 9 rebounds) and Andrew Wiggins (21 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists) shortened the gap again and again. As a result, a fiercely contested game developed, which showed what it was all about.
In the middle of the fourth quarter, however, Aldridge took control again. The 32-year-old struck the Timberwolves again with his awesome offense, finally Danny Green (12 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists) added a few more threesomes and all of a sudden the Spurs split to 112:95 about four minutes before the end. Minnesota could not recover from this.
Aldridge finished the game with 39 points (14/22 FG), 10 rebounds and 2 blocks. Besides the Big Man, five other Spurs scored double-digit points, especially Rudy Gay (14), Gasol (12), Mills (12) and Manu Ginobili (10) were convincing.
The Spurs scored their third consecutive victory, while Minnesota had to realise once again that there was nothing to win for them in San Antonio: the past 9 away games at the Spurs have now been lost. In addition, the hosts passed the Timberwolves in the Western Conference and now occupy fifth place.
San Antonio Spurs (40-30) vs. Minnesota Timberwolves (40-30) 117:101 (BOXSCORE)
LaMarcus Aldridge. The Big Man of the Spurs delivered an outstanding game. After a weak start, LMA returned spectacularly in the second quarter and dominated the action from then on. In the offense he was successful with his post moves, with his midrange-umper or after fastbreaks. He also worked extremely hard under the boards (4 offensive rebounds) and in the defense (2 blocks).
Jamal Crawford. Not much of Instant Offense from the bank was to be seen with the Timberwolves that evening. The main reason for this was that Crawford was almost no factor against the Spurs. The Shooting Guard scored only 2 of his 7 throws from the field and contributed only 5 points.
Many of the posessions of the Spurs started in the post office. There Aldridge proved his strong understanding of the game: Either the Big Man himself went to work or he fitted the splitting as soon as the help of the Timberwolves came out to a teammate. At the perimeter the ball ran exemplary from one corner to the other until an open throw was found (32 assists). This allowed the Spurs some open threesomes (which, however, were rarely successful) or a lot of space for drives into the zone.