Three Positives:

Jonah: In the five games before the All-Star break, Derrick Williams was averaging 16 and 9. He kept that streak of high-octane offense going tonight by posting 17 and 8 on 7-12 shooting. Actually, he began 7-9 before missing his next three shots. With the trade deadline looming, I firmly believe that trading him at this point in his development would be a major mistake because he’s starting to come into form and will prove to be a viable asset — For a major trade or strong role player — down the line once the team is healthy.

Tom: I glanced at Nikola Pekovic’s box score after the game and saw 7 and 18. I initially thought that was his shooting percentage and thought “Hmm, that seems low.” It was. Turns out those numbers were his offensive and total rebounds. Pek’s ACTUAL shooting percentage was 56.3%, on 9-16 shooting.

Admittedly, it’s pretty easy to abuse Philadelphia inside. But it’s great to see Pekovic scoring so easily, especially in the post on a series of turnarounds.

Derek: Oh you know…Andrei Kirilenko’s line of 15-5-5-3-2 on 4-8 shooting returning from extended time off…no big deal for the guy who has probably kept this team in the more games this season. I hope he doesn’t opt out, because I could watch him play for a long time.

Three Negatives:

Jonah: The Wolves’ bench, as depleted and exhausted as it is, was pretty awful tonight. Cunningham, Shved and Barea combined for 58 minutes and went just 5-22 from the field. Cunningham shoots too many mid-range jumpers, from where he’s desperately funking. Shved’s shot selection is also too sporadic and come from waiting too long in the offense to make his move. And Barea, well, is Barea; he’ll go through these kinds of nights at least once a week but might give you 20 points next time out. If there is any serious run left in this team, they’ll need the bench to become much more consistent.

Tom: Ricky Rubio turned the ball over six times, and several of them were in transition, which was a bummer. Even more of a bummer: his fourth turnover was a between-the-legs pass to Pek that the 76ers totally closed off. On a selfish level, I really really hope teams aren’t adjusting to Rubio’s flash. I JUST WANT HIM TO BE ABLE TO FLASH. That came out wrong.

Derek: You know what the Sixers did in the second half on offense while the Wolves’ was stalling? With Evan Turner running the offense, the Sixers tried and successfully managed to get the Wolves to switch D-Will on Turner from the longer, more athletic Kirilenko and Turner got pretty much whatever he wanted against him. Turner was even able to successfully assist on made baskets by players Derrick was guarding. Williams has improved, but we just need to see that consistency, although this could be attributable to returning to play after a week off.

Three Observations:

Jonah: Two mind-blowing statistics here: nine out of the 10 starters in this game had three or more fouls. The only one not to register a single foul all night was Derrick Williams. Hold your brains in. As result from all those fouls, both teams combined for 76 free throws, 44 for the Wolves.

Tom: I also cover the Boston Celtics, so I can say this with all sincerity: Treasure the fact that the Wolves aren’t completely tied up in the trade deadline rumors. It’s nice to be able to watch a game without wondering “Is this the last time I’m going to see Ricky Rubio in a Timberwolves uniform? How about Pekovic?”

Derek: I don’t know why, but I’ve never noticed that Pek does not have much in the way of shot blocking ability. He only averages 0.8 on the season, 0.7 on his career, and 0.9 Per 36 Minutes for his career, so I knew he wasn’t going to be accused of being elite in this area. I realized this tonight when a smaller player drove the lane against Pek and Pek managed to move his feet to stay in front of the 76er. When the player rose up for the shot, Pek just put his hand up to hope to alter it, instead of timing it to leave his feet.

It’s a skill that you either have or you don’t, but being a poor defensive playmaker while being a good defender is better than the other way around.

Next up: Wolves head to Oklahoma City to play the Thunder on Friday night, 7 pm.

Three Positives:

Jonah: Derrick Williams’ career has been far from satisfying like that feeling of eating a salad for dinner. And ever since he’s been granted the truest opportunity to start and make a difference, he’s struggled to become the NBA-ready, go-to guy. Until this one. Williams was huge, putting up 24 points on 17 shots and grabbing a career-high 16 rebounds. He and Rubio led the miraculous comeback late in the fourth quarter and extended the game as long as they possibly could. They fell short in the end but the Wolves wouldn’t have been anywhere near close if it weren’t for Williams enormous and dominating performance (Finally.)

Tom: I’m writing after Derek and Jonah, so I’ll just encapsulate both their positives within my own. It’s interesting watching Ricky Rubio and Derrick Williams develop chemistry. Kevin Love is clearly the best player on the Wolves, and Ricky Rubio is clearly the other player Minnesota plans to build around, and rightly so. His abilities are flashy, fun, useful and somewhat unprecedented.

But Williams’ skill-set almost seems better suited for Rubio’s. Love thrives on isolation plays and pick-and-pops. Williams thrives on soaring through the air and getting to the rim. While Rubio is certainly capable of running pick-and-pop plays with Love, it almost seems like a waste of his talent…like putting Heinz Ketchup on a $50 steak. What doesn’t seem like a waste: Rubio floating a perfectly-timed alley-oop over the rim so that Derrick Williams can slam it down.

Derek: Yes, he shot just 3-13, but Rubio played 40 minutes tonight, and flirted with a triple-double with his 18-9-10 statline. It’s great to see Rubio able to log heavy minutes once again and play well (shooting efficiency aside).

Three Negatives:

Jonah: Keeping the Jazz bigs out of the paint is no easy task, especially for the limp depth in the Wolves’ frontcourt. But getting outscored 54-30 in the paint is pretty embarrassing. The success at getting to the free throw line might make up for the large margin in some minds but not mine. Nikola Pekovic and Williams have to do a better job of holding down the paint on their own offensive end.

Tom: If you told me before the season that Minnesota’s starting shooting guard in the final game before the All-Star break would be averaging 11 points with a season eFG% of .648, I would have thought that Alexey Shved was playing up to and surpassing our wildest expectations. But he isn’t. Mickael Gelabale is (in an admittedly limited sample size).

Shved, for his part, has been struggling immensely. He doesn’t look comfortable handling the ball within the offense, nor does he look comfortable firing up jumper after jumper (he’s 24% from 3-point range in his last 13 games). After his initial success, it’s hard to watch him slip down the depth chart.

Derek: 12: Number of points the Timberwolves bench managed to muster up tonight.

43: Number of points the Jazz bench managed to put up tonight.

To be fair, the Timberwolves’ bench isn’t exactly loaded with scorers to begin with, but the guys that can contribute in that aspect — Alexey Shved and JJ Barea — were a combined 2-14 shooting. Off night, but certainly the bench’s performance tonight did little to off-set the Jazz’s dominance in the paint.

Two Observations:

Jonah: Chris Johnson got some burn, albeit just one minute at the end of the game. #FreeCJ

Tom: Minnesota’s transition defense was really bad, especially late. The Jazz shot 9-11 in transition, according to Synergy Sports, but two of the plays came late in the fourth quarter. On both of them, four of Minnesota’s defenders were running up the floor in a slow pack, leaving the point guard (Rubio once and Ridnour once) on an island against three on-coming Jazz players. In both cases, the Jazz acted too quickly for Minnesota to foul, and in both cases, Utah ended up with an easy dunk.

Next up: The All-Star Break puts a wrinkle in the NBA action, so the Wolves won’t be back on the court until next Wednesday, when they play the 76ers at 7 pm.

Two Positives

Jonah: Luke Ridnour posts his second 20-plus point performance in the last three games. He’s been the most sound, consistent scoring option nearly all season long. Whether that’s a good thing or not, it’s been working for the Wolves because they lead to rare wins like this.

Tom: Guys who were struggling to make it in the NBA make for fun stories when they start to find a niche, and Mickael Gelabale is finding a serious niche with the Wolves. Starting in his second consecutive game, Gelabale scored 11 points on just four field goal attempts and posted the team’s highest +/- of +16. Extremely efficient numbers for the T-Wolves newest guard.

Two Negatives

Jonah: Derrick Williams got himself into foul trouble in this one but does that really warrant just 16 minutes for the newly-starting power forward? He made the most of his time on the court with 12 points and a +/- score in the black. But he needs to find a way to keep himself on the court, keep engaged in the game and impress Adelman just enough to keep him there. Not an easy feat.

Tom: Don’t get me wrong, I loved seeing Ricky Rubio climb over double digits in his assist count tonight as much as the next guy. But Rubio turned the ball over quite a bit down the stretch and finished with seven turnovers overall. 10 assists or not, seven turnovers is entirely too many.

Two Observations

Jonah: JJ Barea came back tonight after missing last night’s game with a tweaked foot. He didn’t contribute much (five points, 2-4 shooting in just 15 minutes) but Barea is and will continue to be an offensive focal point for the duration of the season. Face it, do we really have a better option?

Tom: I mentioned above that it’s fun to see Mickael Gelabale finding a niche. Less fun is seeing Gelabale’s fellow niche-finder Chris Johnson get yet another DNP-CD tonight for reasons that continue to escape me. Terry Porter’s rotations in Rick Adelman’s absence were an utter nightmare in a lot of ways, but at least he found minutes for Johnson, and Johnson rewarded him by playing shockingly good basketball. I’m not saying that Chris Johnson’s PER of 24.8 isn’t a product of a small sample size (because it is), I’m just saying that until Johnson STOPS producing at that level, wouldn’t it make sense to, you know, let him produce?

Next up: The Wolves face the Utah Jazz at the Target Center on Wednesday. Game starts at 8.

Two Positives:

Jonah: For the fourth straight contest Luke Ridnour posted a shooting percentage better than 50%. Last night, Ridnour shot 7-13 from the field going for 17 points, making his two-game total a combined 37 points. Ridnour’s been hot on the rumor mill and it’s certainly a shame but I guess there’s no better time for him to start warming up and allow the other end sweeten the deal in order to obtain the veteran point guard.

Tom: Aside from Luke Ridnour, I have very little positive to say. Mickael Gelabale played well. Chris Johnson deserves more minutes. You guys know the drill.

Two Negatives:

Jonah: Timberwolves shot 15 free throws in the first quarter and only managed to finish the game with 25 total attempts (Not to mention they only converted on 16 of them). The first quarter was closely competitive with the Wolves only behind one but similar trends and feelings set in as the Wolves lost grasp of any chance at coming back. Failing to stay aggressive and force their way back to the free throw line was a large part of that.

Tom: Every time the Wolves take a step forward, they seem to take a much larger step backward. For example: A moral(ish) victory against New York on Friday vs. a total and utter loss against Memphis. We can talk about losing the turnover battle (19-13), the rebound battle (36-33), the assists (30-24) and the 3-pointers (just like every other night). But individually, none of these things are the issue. The problem is that when a team loses every single one of those categories, even if it’s by a little bit, all of them add up. And when all of them add up, you get a final score like 105-88.

Two Observations:

Jonah: Mickael Gelabale in Andrei Kirilenko’s presence, although not quite the stat-stuffing, court surfing monster that AK is, has had a solid 10 game stretch, especially in terms of shooting. He’s now shooting 54% from the field in the last 10 contests, chipping in 14 points on 7-10 shooting in this one. The story goes on and on for the Wolves in terms of injuries and lost opportunities but at least able-bodied role players such as Gelabale are doing their part to keep things interesting and, perhaps most importantly, fight for the right to stay in the NBA.

Tom: Nikola Pekovic played 30 minutes and took just five field goal attempts. Only one of those field goal attempts happened in the second half. Worse: He accounted for just one of the P&R Roll Man opportunities for Minnesota. If you aren’t using Pek’s massive pick-setting body and solid footwork on offense, there’s really no reason to have him out there. He’s a very good offensive player, but if the team doesn’t utilize him correctly, he’s not going to do much.

Next up: Wolves stay on the road to take on Cleveland tonight at 6 pm.

Two Positives:

Jonah: What I’ve observed since Ricky Rubio’s minute limit was lifted is how slow he is out of the gates. He misses a lot of shots and never seems completely comfortable within the flow of the offense, yet he still commands. Tonight was no different, in that he began 0-for-3 from the field but then started to calm the jitters and find himself within the flow. He put up one hell of a line of 18-11 and it could’ve been so much better, going just 6-14 from the floor and an ugly 5-9 from the free throw line. What sprung his numbers was his ability to sprint off an inbounds pass and blow past everyone on the court on his way to the hoop. It led to free throw galore and really threw the Knicks off-kilter. That speed is what he’s been lacking since returning from his ACL injury, which only signifies the knee is getting better and better each and every day.

Tom: Dear Rubio-Williams alley-oops: I missed you terribly.

Incidentally, this is a gorgeous play. The Wolves used to run these little fake-screen slips last year, but I can’t recall another occasion in which Williams moved so confidently without the ball. And WHAT a pass from Rubio. He floats it at exactly the right height for exactly as long as it needs to float. Wonderful to see those two working together again.

Two Negatives:

Jonah: It’s hard to fault Derrick Williams directly for Carmelo Anthony’s big night but his defense didn’t exactly hinder the cause either. He was tough in the post — for the most part — and seemed to get a hand in Melo’s face on the perimeter. But if you really break it down, it didn’t matter who was covering Melo; it was just another one of those nights.

Tom: I would second Jonah’s comments that Williams couldn’t have done much against Melo, since nobody can do much about Melo on a night like tonight. I would also add that, once again in this broken record of a season, the Wolves were 1-13 from 3-point range. More on this in my observation.

Two Observations:

Jonah: Greg Stiemsma is the new bad boy in the NBA. It began with subtle chips and tons of jawing and slowly progressed to the point where Matt Barnes and company couldn’t stand Stiemer’s ways. Amare Stoudemire was Stiemer’s next victim, who got T’d up after schooling Stiemer in the post — multiple times, might I add — and then showed off by backing into him in an attempt to show him up.

Tom: If the Wolves keep up this level of 3-point shooting (they are currently averaging .302 on 3-point attempts), it would be the 16th worst 3-point shooting season since the 3-point line was added. The Wolves would also be the only team in the bottom 20 that wasn’t from 1990 or earlier, when teams were still adjusting to the fact that a 3-point line existed.

Except for the Wolves, the lowest team from 2000 on is, somewhat ironically, the 2009-10 Lakers, who also won the championship. They are ranked 32nd at .341.

Next up: Wolves soiled their chance at winning some on this homestand and now head on the road beginning Sunday in Memphis at 5 pm.

Positive:

Jonah: As painful as it is to watch, Ricky Rubio’s game is slowly but surely transforming before our eyes. He’s tallied 25 assists in the past two games, including 11 tonight, and is starting to grab a hold of this offense. Unfortunately, the personnel still leaves something to be desired but he’s making due to with as best he can. Now his shot selection is still putrid but at least he’s trying. I’d argue his shooting is a result of the lack of help offensively and the fact that no one outside of Dante Cunningham and occasionally Derrick Williams can knock down a catch-and-shoot jumper around the perimeter. Therefore he’s forced to make something out of nothing way too often, and we definitely saw that against the Spurs.

Negative:

Jonah: You won’t win any game if the opposing backcourt puts up 59 points on 37 shots. Behind Tony Parker and Danny Green, the Spurs were able to abuse the Wolves with a balanced, inside-out attack. The Wolves’ weak-side defense was never quick enough to bail out Rubio on a slashing Parker and they always seemed to leave Green roving the perimeter wide-open. It was just an all-in-all ugly effort from the defense.

Observation:

The Wolves really missed Andrei Kirilenko but Mickael Gelabale made a great bid to tip management’s hand in deciding his fate for the rest of the season. With his second 10-day contract coming to a close, the Wolves are still faced with a lack of bodies let alone abilities, and Gelabale is a stronger fit — and need — than, say, Lou Amundson at this point in the season. Here’s to hoping they find a way to keep him for the duration of the season.

On Twitter, Kent Youngblood noted the amount of shots Nikola Pekovic was missing at the rim. And then Derek went on to say that he’s shooting around 65% at the rim on the season. And then I resorting to responding, “It should be higher than that, given his stature and talent level.” Last night, Pek missed three of his seven attempts at the rim. There’s two different ways to take this: A layup in the NBA is never a gimme. It’s always contested with a hand or even a full-on body check. Or you can take the side that, sure, layups aren’t easy but you’re a pro. You became a pro because you’re especially good at making close shots like that, despite the contact underneath. Take either side you want but I still agree with Youngblood. Pek can’t miss that often from that close to the rim. Not if he wants $12 million or more a season.

Next up: The New York Knicks visit the Target Center Friday night, 7 pm.

Two Positives:

Jonah: For those who waited around long enough through the slum of a game that was the first three-and-a-half quarters, congrats because this one really got interesting fast. In typical Rubio fashion, he led the Wolves clawing their way back into a game they had no reason being in. The end result: an especially entertaining game that went down to the wire. Too often, though, have we been through this tale before. At what point do we start docking these heroic “comebacks,” that usually end up falling short, a negative rather than a positive?

Tom: Despite the final play, Dante Cunningham had an amazing game and it would be doing him a massive disservice to point only to his 23 points on 11-17 shooting. Instead, let’s point to his tough defense which included three steals, one of which turned into an easy basket for JJ Barea that brought Minnesota painfully, agonizingly close (97-96 with 36 seconds remaining). It was good to see him playing with passion and energy, because for much of the game, he was the only one doing so.

Two Negatives:

Jonah: Forget about everything that happened up to the point where the Wolves cut the lead to two. Rubio brought the ball up, dribbled down the baseline, around the paint and then through, seemingly looking to hit Pekovic for an easy lay in, but instead ended up tangoing around with the taller Aldridge the whole way through. He was left to heave up a desperate floater that was partially blocked. Aldridge misses two free throws after that and the Wolves have life again. They run a play to get Dante Cunningham open for a mid-range jumper — his go-to on this night — that was contested by no other than Aldridge yet again. Why even give Aldridge the chance to go after those two chances? Maybe they were both great plays by Aldridge but the Wolves never should’ve put themselves in a position to challenge him in the first place.

Tom: The final turnover tally: 28-12. You would assume that, in a game decided by two points, the team with 28 turnovers would lose. Not so. Portland was every kind of sloppy, and although the Wolves came close to capitalizing late, they had dug themselves such a deep whole that not even 28 turnovers could pull them out.

Two Observations:

Jonah: Time and time again, Wesley Matthews as donned himself the “Timberwolf Hunter,” with his weapon of choice being the long ball. He went 4-8 from deep in this one and tallied a total of 22 points, second on the team behind LaMarcus Aldridge.

Tom: After losing seemingly 2,560 of their last 2,561, it’s a little bit staggering to me that, despite their 18-27 record, the Wolves remain 12-10 at home. 6-17 on the road is an absolutely brutal total.

Next up: San Antonio comes to town Wednesday night, 8 pm.

ONE Positive:

Jonah: As fans, we can count positives on one hand most nights, especially amongst this last month. This game provided handfuls of positives instead of singular benefits. I’ll start with Dante Cunningham, who ended up going a perfect 9-9 from the field for 18 points. He even posted a plus-27 plus-minus. It was the efficient shooting game the Wolves needed to make a dent in the current losing streak. A win wasn’t going to come with a passive performance on either end, the type of wait-and-see game they’ve been used to. Rather the Wolves turned exceptional defense into opportune offense. Dante Cunningham was the epitome of that style.

ONE Negative:

Jonah: Two games in a row we see Nikola Pekovic post rather sub-par games. Either he’s still lingering with minor injuries or he’s just not feeling the flow of the game, his stats don’t relate to his normal efficient performances. Too many dropped balls in the paint and not enough aggression/finesse on his post moves. I’m not worrying but it’s certainly noteworthy given his stature as a low post scorer and a sure-handed center.

ONE Observation:

Jonah: Andrei Kirilenko’s legacy is as a stat-stuffing monster, a box score mogul. Against the Lakers, AK47 managed to score 12 points but failed to grab one rebound. Tonight he scored another 12 but managed to snatch down six boards. He’s at his best when moving without the ball and attacking the rim for lobs and rebounds.

Another quick observation, did anyone else feel like this win was identical to what the Gophers basketball did against Nebraska last Tuesday? A desperate team needing a moral victory gets to play an inferior team to beat up on a little bit. A win is a win no matter who it’s against, which is why this one still means a lot to the players in the locker room. It’s a moral booster.

Next up: The Trail Blazers comes to Minneapolis on Monday, 7 pm.

Three Positives:

Jonah: This game was essentially made of two runs. The first by the Lakers, who shot ridiculously efficient from the field in the first, and the second, where the Wolves’ grittiness brought them within four in the fourth quarter. The rebuttal run by the Wolves was awfully impressive, given the current state and make up of this currently squandering team. Much of it was due to the uptempo pace that Ricky Rubio ignited by running the court, leading breaks, etc. It was a small glimpse of the Unicorn from last season. It’s reassuring to know that the magic is still within.

Tom: I think Zach Harper said it best on Twitter (@TalkHoops) as the final moments ticked away: “Wolves are on a 64-46 run right now. Unfortunately, there was that minor 61-32 Lakers run to start the game.”

I suppose we could count Minnesota’s 3-point shooting as a positive. My random Timberwolves 3-point generator (take any number between 2-5 and any number between 15-22, squish them together and have Minnesota’s 3-point FGs for any given night) doesn’t apply for this game: The Wolves shot a very efficient 10-22 for 45% from 3-point range. Nice to see at least one night that wasn’t a total wash for Minnesota from behind the arc.

Derek: Chris Johnson, you guys. 3-4, 8-5-2 in 11 minutes and just one foul and turnover. I know we’re still in small sample size territory, but the fact that he’s still productive as the sample grows is something I’m watching.

Three Negatives:

Jonah: The biggest issue I had with tonight’s game was Adelman’s stubborness to make a switch on defense after such a poor showing in the first half. I mean, try something, anything. He threw out a small lineup of JJ Barea, Alexey Shved and Rubio at one point to no avail. He left Luke Ridnour to fend for his own guarding Kobe Bryant the majority of the first half. Once he decided to make a real change by switching to a 2-3 zone, it was just too big of a hole to dig out of. A lot of it was the lack of intensity and sheer effort on defense that left Lakers open for numerous open jumpers — they went 10-13 from three to start the game. But I really was surprised and disappointed by both the coach and players’ effort on that end.

Tom: Basketball-Reference.com lists Chris Johnson’s points per 36 minutes at 19.3. I’m not saying that Johnson would be averaging 19.3 ppg if he got 36 minutes to play, but I’m not saying he wouldn’t either. Actually, yeah, I’ll say that he wouldn’t, never mind. But he deserves more than 11 minutes, especially when he puts up eight points on four shots and five rebounds in those minutes. Come on, Rick. #FreeChrisJohnson.

Derek: Every Timberwolves blogger tonight is going to talk about this being a tale of two runs, which Jonah covered nicely in the positives. I want to use this space to bitch about the free throw shooting. The Lakers shot 18-25 for 84%, but the Wolves went 8-18 for 44%. Additionally, eleven points was the margin of victory. I’m not expecting them to make all of them, but 44% is going to make your comeback effort much more difficult at any level of basketball, nevertheless the NBA.

Three Observations:

Jonah: Mike D’Antoni was asked about the Wolves’ zone defense in the second half that led to some awfully poor shooting by the Lakers, and he responded, “It made us think.”

How this man is head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers right now is beyond me.

Tom: Even with Pek’s return to the lineup, the Wolves allowed LA to win the boards 57-40. 57 rebounds! Especially damaging: 17 of those rebounds were offensive. In the end, second chances opportunities killed Minnesota. You know, along with everything else.

Derek: I know Kobe is just a competitive person in general, but did anyone else get the impression from his on-court body language alone that he really, really doesn’t like losing to the Timberwolves. I mean, he tried to fight Pek for a rebound and only gave up the pursuit once Pek started throwing ‘bows to fend off Kobe.

Next up: Home stand continues as Wolves take on Hornets Saturday night.

Three Positives:

Jonah: The return of Nikola Pekovic and Alexey Shved was highly anticipated. Without them the Wolves obviously suffered from sheer lack of talent and general bodies to sustain any run let alone carve out a win. In their comeback tonight, they led the way with 29 combined points on 13-28 shooting. It wasn’t the greatest numbers game for either of them but their presence alone was enough to spark a few different runs and at least make the game interesting down to the wire. They’ll be the key to any kind of run down the stretch of this season. It won’t be easy but they’ll be overwhelmingly helpful if the team musters up enough grit and determination.

Tom: “WELCOME BACK, RICKY!!!!” -Me, sobbing as I watched this pass on repeat.

Derek: You know how you make your crappy 3-10 shooting night all but disappear? Make 7-8 free throws! It really makes Andrei Kirilenko’s statline standout a little more than it would otherwise, perhaps.

Three Negatives:

Jonah: This is supposed to be Derrick Williams’ moment. Everyone’s looking for an outstanding game night in and night out because of the lofty expectations are starting to align with the right timing. But you’re never going to impress when you commit five fouls in just 13 minutes of work. He committed three in the first half and also hit his first two and only shots of the game. Then he started the second half, picked up a quick one on a hold after DeAndre Jordan bullied him in the restricted area, and then slapping at an Eric Bledsoe drive. Maybe it’s not his fault given the fact that Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan form perhaps the most difficult to guard frontcourt in the Association, but picking up five that quickly puts you in rookie Pek territory, a place no man wants to go. It was ugly.

Tom: The pick-and-roll is integral to every NBA offense, and Minnesota is no exception. With a big man like Pek who is capable of setting monster screens and who also has excellent footwork moving to the basket, the Wolves SHOULD thrive in P&R opportunities. Not so. Minnesota’s four potential point guards (Rubio, Ridnour, Shved and Barea) accounted for nine of Minnesota’s turnovers and (in a related story), 31.3% of all P&R plays tonight ended in a turnover. I probably don’t need to tell you that that’s not a good number, but I will anyway: That’s NOT a good number.

Derek: Jonah mentioned it above, but I just can’t get past Derrick Williams’ 5 fouls in 13 minutes. I get that Blake Griffin is a tough cover, but Blake drew the foul twice. Somehow he got matched up against Eric Bledsoe, who drew the foul. I missed the Bledsoe foul, but was it a poor rotation, the result of a missed assignment or what? I ask because I’ve thought all season long his awareness and defensive instincts had improved, so this is concerning, but it one game. In case you’re wondering, the other two were involving DeAndre Jordan.

Now that the dead horse has been ceremoniously beaten, here are a couple others: The Timberwolves gave up too many offensive rebounds, and gave the Clippers too many extra possesions; that makes it tough to close games. And…never mind. I was gonna mention their three point shooting tonight, but consider that deceased horse already beaten this season.

Three Observations:

Jonah: Ricky Rubio’s starting to get more comfortable initiating the offense and even hitting some jumpers every now and then. But it’s the wide open missed layups that still get my blood to boil. He did yet again tonight against the Clippers after the abomination of an attempt the last time LA was in town.

Tom: At least the Wolves play the Lakers on Friday. The Lakers are 5-18 on the road and have lost eight in a row away from Staples with their loss to Phoenix and SUPER COOL BEAS! who won the game down the stretch for the Suns. It’s prime Laker-losing-streak snapping time.

Derek: Blake Griffin is good at basketball.

Next up: The big, bad Lakers come to Minneapolis Friday night, 8:30 pm. It’ll be televised nationally on ESPN.