Bucks pull away from ailing Wolves for 103-86 victory

On a night when youth was being served, the Timberwolves were busy battling a problem already getting old.

Injuries.

A long list grew longer when veteran Mo Williams was scratched from the lineup Wednesday night against Milwaukee at Target Center because of strep throat and pink eye. That meant rookie Zach LaVine playing nearly 37 minutes at point guard. Or Corey Brewer, at times, trying to initiate the offense. Or having Robbie Hummel try to guard Bucks center Larry Sanders at crucial times down the stretch.

Ultimately, it was too much in a 103-86 loss that sent the Wolves back onto the road at 3-10.

"We had a very small margin in how we had to play," Wolves coach Flip Saunders said.

After a Brewer jumper got the Wolves within one, 84-83, with 6:57 left, the Bucks (9-7) responded with a 16-1 run over the next 3:46 to put the game away.

It is no coincidence that stretch coincided with Bucks point guard Brandon Knight taking over.

Held to two points through three quarters, Knight scored 13 in the fourth, including nine in that 16-1 run. Ultimately, the Wolves were too shorthanded to respond. Instead, the Wolves lost patience on offense and forgot about team defense.

"That's when you need a steady point guard to calm the ship," Saunders said. "But it's a learning process with Zach. He made some mistakes, but he made some plays. We have to keep working."

The game was the first time the top two picks from the 2014 draft — Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker — met, and the game's tipoff marked an NBA milestone. With each team starting two 19-year-olds, Wiggins and LaVine for Minnesota, Parker and Giannis Antetokounmpo for Milwaukee, it marked the first time in league history four teenagers played in the same game.

But this game came down to health.

All five Bucks starters finished in double figures, with center Larry Sanders getting five blocks to go with his 15 points. Antetokounmpo had 13 points and Parker 11.

Wiggins had a strong night after a shaky start. He had 14 points with eight rebounds, four assists and two blocks. But, without a veteran point guard to feed him, he tried to force his offense, and a collapsing defense forced him into six turnovers.

Brewer had a season-high 19 points and LaVine had 12. Shabazz Muhammad (13) and Anthony Bennett (12) scored in double figures off the bench.

"We're shorthanded, I don't care what anybody says," Brewer said. "We played our butts off. That's all you can ask of this young team.''

For three-plus quarters the Wolves used intensity to make up for any roster shortcomings. Through three quarters, the Wolves had a 26-6 edge on free throw attempts, an indication they were the more aggressive team.

But with the Bucks up one midway through the quarter, Knight hit a three, then he made six free throws in a row and the Wolves didn't respond.

"It's a challenge, because of the simple fact that we have so many young guys," said forward Thaddeus Young, playing for the first time in six games.

Saunders saw a team that stopped working for a good shot on offense and stopped rotating on defense. Hero ball, he called it; everybody trying to do things by themselves. Because the game was there to be won late Saunders said this loss hurt more than the one-sided loss in New Orleans a week and a half ago.

"We beat ourselves a lot today," he said. "We turned the ball over a lot [19 times]. When we got tired we started doing whatever we wanted to do on defense.''