Daily NBA Fix: Are The Minnesota Timberwolves Finally Turning The Corner?

Is it happening? Is it finally here? Are the Minnesota Timberwolves finally turning the corner?

With a 109-102 overtime win over the Chicago Bulls, I’m starting to believe. Not because they’ve won three games over so-so competition, but because many of their young players are healthy and on the rise and have Kevin Garnett back to keep them in line.

Andrew Wiggins led the charge with 31 points in the victory while rookie Karl-Anthony Towns had 17 points and 13 rebounds as the two battled against a mix of Jimmy Butler and Pau Gasol guarding them.

However, the most impressive thing might have been a shutout of the Bulls in overtime, outscoring them 9-0 in the extra period. Not surprising when you consider they are ranked fourth in the league in defensive rating.

There are other small things here and there that are encouraging too.

Though last night wasn’t his best night (the Bulls are a strong defensive team after all), point guard Ricky Rubio started off the season with the best performance in his entire career with 28 points and 14 assists while shooting 58 percent. Obviously that number is trending down now to 39.2 percent, but it is part of a larger trend of him shooting closer to 50 percent on a given night.

The Timberwolves don’t need him to shoot the lights out by any means, but shooting closer to the league average of 43.8 percent will make it to where teams won’t sag off him so heavily as they have in the past. Rubio has always shown a deft touch assisting, but his weakness had always been his shooting. That might be changing.

Kevin Martin has been a spark off the bench so far, averaging 18.8 points in his 28 minutes a game, and he’s actually the team’s leading scorer. Zach LaVine also is coming off the bench to score a few points, but he’s going to need to step his game up if this team wants to ensure itself a playoff spot. Making the playoffs in the West is an incredibly tough task but Minnesota is doing its best to not be an afterthought.

More from Hoops Habit

• 7 Players the Miami Heat might replace Herro with by the trade deadline
• Meet Cooper Flagg: The best American prospect since LeBron James
• Are the Miami Heat laying the groundwork for their next super team?
• Sophomore Jump: 5 second-year NBA players bound to breakout
• NBA Trades: The Lakers bolster their frontcourt in this deal with the Pacers

Ever since 2007 when Kevin Garnett left them for the Boston Celtics, the Timberwolves have struggled to find their footing. Drafting Kevin Love started to point them in the right direction, as well as Rubio, but their parts just weren’t there yet.

It wasn’t until they picked up LaVine and swapped Kevin Love for Andrew Wiggins and other pieces that they really started to head into the right direction. Maybe Love had to go for them to build a stronger future, but no matter what, they seem to be headed toward a brighter one now.

Unfortunately one of the sadder parts to the public side of Flip Saunders’ death is that the team he had put so much time and effort into for so many years was finally turning the corner to relevancy, but he wouldn’t be here to see it.

Rest in peace, Flip.

Blake Griffin Goes 1-on-4, Succeeds

Blake Griffin grabbed a rebound in the fourth quarter and looked for teammates but couldn’t find any as he continued to half court. It looked as if the power forward was going to turn the ball over but then he summoned his inner-Chris Paul to maneuver through traffic before returning to his normal self to slam the ball home.

However the Houston Rockets went on to win 109-105. James Harden scored 46 and looks to be trending in the right direction after a slow start.

But while we’re in Los Angeles…

Enjoy this DeAndre Jordan ally-oop from Lance Stephenson.

Boban Marjanovic is much larger than Tyler Hansbrough

Sometimes it isn’t the big dunks, amazing dribbling, or any of the normal things that most people watch sports for that I enjoy most watching basketball. Sometimes it is a seasoned veteran like the 6′ 9″ Tyler Hansbrough being caught of guard by the 7’3″ Boban Marjanović. The San Antonio Spurs beat the Charlotte Hornets 114-94.