MINNEAPOLIS — D'Angelo Russell has asked Timberwolves fans to stand at the beginning of games to start a new tradition. By the time the game was late in the fourth quarter, it was Russell's play that had the whole arena on its feet, hanging on his every move.
The Timberwolves prevailed, 119-114, Thursday night in a physical tussle with Memphis after Russell went bonkers in the fourth quarter. He scored 23 of his 37 points to erase the miserable night the Wolves had on the defensive glass against Memphis.
The Wolves weren't exactly crisp in their return from the All-Star break. Fortunately for them their opponent wasn't either. The Wolves did just enough in the second half to overcome a 15-point first-half deficit and come away with the win.
Russell carried them through a 1-for-11 night from Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns (22 points) spending a large portion of the second half on the bench in foul trouble.
Russell took it upon himself to carry the Wolves through the fourth quarter, and the Wolves won despite allowing Memphis to grab 26 offensive rebounds for 27 second-chance points. Edwards contributed his biggest moment of the night on the defensive end, forcing Ja Morant to air-ball a potential game-tying 3 with five seconds left.
The Wolves looked like they hadn't played together in more than a week during the first quarter. The rhythm, the chemistry, the passing were all off. It should come as no surprise that this disjointed effort didn't lead to productive shotmaking as the Wolves were just 8 of 23 in the first quarter.
The Grizzlies got out in transition to the tune of 11 fast-break points and it didn't take long for them to build a double-digit lead that grew to as much as 15 on a 10-3 run late in the first.
It looked like Memphis might steamroll the Wolves, but the Wolves got their act together in the second to keep that from happening. The Wolves as a team shot 13 for 25 to erase that double-digit Memphis lead at 52-52 late in the quarter.
Memphis went cold (32%) but the Wolves did a better job of getting back in transition and limited the Grizzlies to no fast-break points in the second quarter. The Grizzlies also committed six turnovers to let the Wolves back in it. The Wolves shot just 3 for 8 from the free-throw line in the first half and Memphis used its size to crash the offensive glass for 13 offensive rebounds, but Memphis had just four second-chance points.
The quality of play didn't quite pick up in the third quarter, but the intensity and emotion sure did. The Wolves turned a three-point halftime deficit into a small lead early in the quarter even as Edwards continued to struggle. The second-chance points statistical anomaly corrected itself for the Grizzlies in the third quarter as they pulled down seven more offensive rebounds for 12 second-chance points.
The Wolves got through the third with Edwards' off night offensively and Towns picking up his fourth foul early in the quarter.
Malik Beasley caught fire from 3-point range later in the quarter with three 3s. That plus Memphis' seven additional turnovers in the quarter helped the Wolves stay in front 84-83 headed into the fourth. The Grizzlies survived an injury scare when Morant exited the game in the third quarter only to return by the start of the fourth.
Towns wouldn't stay out of foul trouble for long, though, because by the 10:11 mark of the fourth he had picked up his fifth foul. Once again, the Wolves trudged on without him and went back and forth with Memphis for the lead. The Wolves couldn't keep Memphis off the offensive glass. Russell tried to keep them in it as he hit from outside and inside. His relentlessness won the day.
