Wolves Come Up Short Against Spurs

The last couple of times the Spurs and Wolves played, KG outplayed Tim Duncan by a wide margin. San Anotnio still won both games. Tonight, Duncan won the matchup. But the outcome was the same. The Wolves led early, but trailed starting from the 2nd quarter. They stayed close, cutting the lead to 4 poitns several times in the 4th quarter. But then there was another run of bad shooting from the floor. The Wolves stopped scoring and the Spurs stopped missing, and the game slipped away over a short but explosive 2 minute stretch near the end of the game.

I know you're not supposed to beleive in moral victories, but there was a lot of good that came from this game. Ricky Davis played well again (although not quite as well as last night) and Mark Blount had a great game. Ricky Davis did a lot of little things that seem to bode well for the future. In the 3rd and 4th quarters, he was the one bringing the ball up much of the time. That's refreshing since he's also a primary scoring option. It means the Wolves avoid situations that arose in the past when Wally or KG would be unable to get the ball down the stretch. Earlier in the game, Davis showed good passing ability on both flashy and normal passes. That's also a great plus he brings, as Wally was an average passer at best. Mark Blount showed good touch from outside, nailing several jumpers when his man left him to double KG. That should help a lot down the road. And Garnett played great again on both ends, including in the 4th although I'd still like to see him take a few more shots in crunch time. Overall, I thought the Wolves played well, and I'm still excited to see how well they can play consistently in the next few weeks.

One big positive I saw in this game was the defense of the Wolves second unit. Once again, they played ferocious help and rotate defense. They were outscored by the Spurs, but they are without a doubt more athletic now. At least in these first couple of games, that has made a big difference for them. Justin Reed played his first minutes for the Wolves and played quality one on one defense. Mark Blount also played good defense. Maybe he's just motivated from the trade, but I really like what I've seen from him so far. Maybe a team like the Wolves where he can get his shots will be a good fit for him and keep him active and energetic. This game was as satisfying as a loss can be and was another solid step in validating the trade. Now, let's see the next several steps all come by way of victories.