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Disappointing defense causes Sam Mitchell to bench three starters

Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins and Ricky Rubio watched most of second half from the bench

March 5, 2016 at 5:33AM
Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Sam Mitchell
Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Sam Mitchell (Mike Nelson — Associated Press/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

It will be very interesting to see how the Wolves respond to what happened here in Milwaukee tonight.

The Wolves had a game-long series of defensive collapses, and interim coach Sam Mitchell finally had enough. He benched Ricky Rubio, Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins early in the third quarter and they never played again. Afterward Mitchell had some pointed comments about their defense – or lack of it – in a terse, 30-second post-game press conference.

Here are some thoughts on the game:

--What an up and down night for Towns. He scored 15 points in the first quarter – it was his second 15-point first quarter in six games – but then wasn't heard from much again.

--Wiggins and Towns, both pulled 3:51 into the third quarter, were a minus-12 in that time. Rubio, pulled a minute later, finished with two points and one assist.

--A group of Zach LaVine, Gorgui Dieng, Tyus Jones, Shabazz Muhammad and Damjan Rudez played very well. That group was in the game for much of a 25-5 run that began with the Wolves down 27 late in the third quarter that pulled Minnesota within seven points on Rudez' three-pointer with 5:10 left. But the Wolves couldn't get any closer.

--Minnesota's 26 turnovers was a season high. The 41 points the Bucks scored off those turnovers was the second-most by a Wolves opponent this season; Phoenix had 43 points off 25 Wolves turnovers earlier this season.

--Four or five Wolves tried, at different times, to guard Bucks point-forward Giannis Antetokounmpo. None was very good at it. The big Greek fella had 27 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds tonight.

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--Perhaps the most amazing thing tonight was how often the Wolves allowed Khris Middleton to shoot open three-pointers. He made his first eight before he finally missed one. He finished with 32 points on 11-for-16 shooting.

That's about all for now. Jerry will be with the team Saturday.

about the writer

about the writer

Kent Youngblood

Reporter

Kent Youngblood has covered sports for the Minnesota Star Tribune for more than 20 years.

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