Minnesota Timberwolves: About Last Night…

What in the world just happened?

We all knew the euphoria the Minnesota Timberwolves experienced during the first 3-and-half quarters wouldn’t last. The Wolves are always going to do Wolves things.

But halting the Atlanta Hawks’ — the reigning Eastern Conference powerhouse, a team that exemplifies the modern day qualities of pace and space — roaring comeback and pulling out the win to improve to 4-0 on the road?

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Well, that was unexpected.

Everything was going swimmingly for Minnesota to start — Ricky Rubio came out firing and hitting, Karl-Anthony Towns was drop-stepping and protecting the paint, Andrew Wiggins was flying (literally) around all over the court, and their veteran faction, comprised of Kevin Garnett and Tayshaun Prince, was shoring up all angles on the defensive end.

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Dunking with Wolves

KG even managed to hit a jumper.

Even the bench was contributing.

Although it was far from a work of art — the trademark of a Zach LaVine-run offense — Kevin Martin was engendering 4-point plays, Shabazz Muhammad was eating on the left block, and LaVine got rid for his love of the long 2 and was nailing pull-up, shake-and-bake 3s.

The defense suffocated the Hawks’ motion offense, as Jeff Teague and Dennis Schroder met the wrath of a collapsing Wolves D everytime they intruded the paint. When they kicked the ball out, Minnesota’s synchronized rotations stifled their drive-and-kick forays.

At the same time, the bigs made a concerted effort of playing up on Atlanta’s stretch big men — taking away their ability to bend opposing defenses with a live dribble when receiving the ball as a trailer in secondary break situations.

After halftime, the Wolves’ offensive assault continued, as Wiggins showcased his entire repertoire — nailing catch-and-shoot 3s, attacking the rim via the pick-and-roll, and torching a helpless Kent Bazemore with his mid-range pull-up game.

He also did found time to do this:

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However, things predictably crumbled — and it crumbled quickly.

With a blink of an eye, the driving lanes they had confined so judiciously all of sudden opened up for the likes of Teague. In conjunction, both KAT and KG would lose sight of Paul Millsap and Al Horford in transition, as the Wolves’ turnovers piled up incrementally.

As well, coach Sam Mitchell‘s befuddling rotations would catch up to him, as LaVine would fall back to earth and revert back to his indecisive, jittery self. The off-balanced shots K-Mart was nailing in the first half turned into brutal misses. The one travel a game Nemanja Bjelica commits a game as a result of trying to beat an aggressive closeout would once again rear its ugly head.

To add insult to injury, the referees began to swallow their whistles — letting the most egregious of contact go unpunished.

Lo and behold, their 30-point lead would evaporate, as the Hawks clawed all the way back and took the lead late in the fourth.

Timberwolves fans are all too familiar with such a script. Team builds lead. Team loses lead. Team loses game. Morale destroyed.

But, a foreign amendment was made for this night’s libretto.

Explicitly, Bjelica would live up to moniker of Professor Big Shots — giving his propensity to pass open 3s a big F U, and nailing three cold bolded 3-pointers during the fourth quarter.

Thereafter, Wiggins would channel his inner mid-1980s Michael Jordan — hanging in the air, contorting his body, and absorbing the contact, before laying the ball in for an and-1.

The very next play, he would steal the maneuver Dwyane Wade had bamboozled him on multiple occasions just less than a week ago — pump-faking, getting his man in the air, before jumping into the defender and flinging the ball into the basket for yet another and-1.

As Prince (or David Chappelle, I’m not sure who’s who at this point) would famously declare: game… blouses.

Although the contest itself almost gave me multiple aneurysms, what a sight it was watching the Wolves primary core of Wiggins, Towns, Rubio, and Bjelica flourish.

Next: Minnesota Timberwolves: Takeaways From Opening Night

I’m not sure if the above sequence of events actually happened, or if that was all a dream. Nonetheless, if it’s latter, don’t pinch me, because I do not want to wake up.