Wolves thump Pistons, continue to value winning over draft positioning
DETROIT - Throughout the last few weeks, the Timberwolves were adamant that they weren't tanking, that playing hard through the final whistle of the season and trying to win as many games as possible to build momentum into the offseason trumped a few percentage points in retaining a top three pick.
The Wolves' two games against Orlando and Detroit, two teams angling for lottery odds, were going to show just how serious they took those words and if they were going to play like they meant them.
After beating Orlando handily on Sunday, the Wolves dispatched of the undermanned Pistons 119-100 at Little Caesars Arena.
Over the last week, the Wolves have fallen out of the bottom three of league standings, which would have given them about a 40% chance of keeping their pick in the top three or sending it to Golden State to complete the D'Angelo Russell trade, to sixth worst, pending the finish of Orlando's game against Milwaukee. That spot means there's about a 27.6% chance of the Wolves keeping the pick.
Anthony Edwards had 22 for the Wolves while Karl-Anthony Towns had 28 as Detroit committed 28 turnovers leading to 34 Wolves points.
The Wolves had all but Malik Beasley and Jarrett Culver playing while the Pistons had eight players listed as out, including key contributors like Jerami Grant and Mason Plumlee.
The lack of those two in the frontcourt meant there wasn't much Detroit could do to contain Karl-Anthony Towns, who had 12 points in the first quarter. Towns' strong start helped the Wolves build a 10-point lead seven minutes into the game. The game got choppier as it entered late in the first quarter and early in the second as the bench units took over. D'Angelo Russell played with the second unit and got off to a slow start shooting (2-for-13 in the first half), though he did add five assists. He finished with 15 points and 10 assists.
The Wolves weren't able to build much on their lead, which grew to as large as 14 early in the second. An 8-0 run from Detroit cut that to 37-31. Once the starting unit came back on the floor it did something it needs to do if it wants fans and the league to take them seriously — stomp inferior opponents.
The Wolves led 44-38 with 5:35 remaining in the second. The score ended up 62-40 at halftime. The Wolves scored 16 points off 15 Detroit turnovers in the first half and had a number of transition buckets before the half. Towns only had two points in the second as others took turns scoring. By the half, Edwards had 14, a total that included a slick turnaround fadeaway jumper over Isaiah Stewart.
The Wolves lost some focus to start the second half as Detroit opened on a 12-0 run, but it didn't take long for them to regain it with their own 11-0 answer to restore order. They would lead Detroit 86-65 headed into the fourth and cruised from there.
