Wolves can't stop Walker, Hornets

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – As much as he'd like to, Wolves interim coach Sam Mitchell can't play his starters 48 minutes a game.

Monday at Time Warner Cable Area, that was a problem in a 108-103 loss to the Charlotte Hornets.

Despite a whopping 34 points from Hornets guard Kemba Walker — he scored 21 of those points in the third quarter, going 5-for-5 on three-pointers — the Wolves likely would have won this game if Minnesota could have gotten something from its reserves.

But they really didn't. The Wolves bench scored a season-low nine points. It wasn't until there was 2:40 left in the third quarter that the bench scored, when Damjan Rudez hit two free throws. Wolves starters out-scored their Hornets counterparts 94-70. All five Wolves starters scored in double figures, with Karl-Anthony Towns (28 points, 14 rebounds) and Ricky Rubio (10 points, 10 assists), getting double-doubles.

But the bench?

With big Al Jefferson banging off the Charlotte bench for 20 points, the Hornets reserves enjoyed a 38-9 advantage. It was enough for Charlotte, which used a 16-2 run that began at the end of the third quarter and ran into the fourth to take a 13-point lead it never lost.

"I thought our guys played hard," Mitchell said. "But our guys ran out of gas. We just couldn't hold it. Our bench wasn't very good tonight."

The Wolves bench is already hobbled by injuries; Nikola Pekovic has barely played this season and Nemanja Bjelica is still out because of an injured foot. But then Monday, an hour before the game, Mitchell was informed that center Greg Smith had an ingrown toenail. He tried to play, logging 2:52 of playing time, but couldn't go any further.

Mitchell felt Smith might have helped against Jefferson. But even so, he needed more from his reserves.

And they knew it.

"It's unacceptable, starting with myself," said Shabazz Muhammad, who scored five points in nearly 18 minutes of playing time. Tyus Jones and Rudez each scored two. "We have to come out [Tuesday] with an edge. Our bench didn't have energy, we didn't help our team out tonight."

After a slow start, down 16 in the second quarter, Towns led a Wolves charge that gave Minnesota a two-point halftime lead. The game was tied late in the third began the game-turning run. Walker, Marvin Williams (15 points) and Nicolas Batum (11) were also in double figures for the Hornets, who won their fourth straight game.

"We weren't starting the right way, but it clicked in and we were playing well," Rubio said. "We had the game, and then, in the third, Kemba got hot."

And the Wolves starters got tired.

"We need energy," Mitchell said of his bench. "We need more than nine points. I think we have too many guys right now that are worried about scoring the basketball. … My conversation with them is going to be, start thinking about playing defense, get some steals, some stops. Then get out in transition. That has to be their mindset."

After a wonderfully productive game in a victory over Brooklyn on Saturday, the Wolves starters were efficient again, combining to shoot 36-for-70 (51.4 percent). Monday the Wolves out-rebounded Charlotte, scored more in the paint and had a 24-7 edge on the break.

But depth proved to be the difference. After the game Smith, limping, said he would play Tuesday. Still, the Wolves bench is thin.

"The players who are healthy have to play and play hard," Rubio said. "Compete till the end."