By Kyle Soppe
Memphis led throughout (only two lead changes) and showed the visitors no Love, defeating Minnesota 85-80 on Wednesday night. The Timberwolves went 1-1 during their power forwards suspension for going Ndamukong Suh on Luis Scola over the weekend.
The single biggest scoring difference in a quarter was in the fourth, where the Timberwolves outscored the Grizzles by seven.
This game saw 165 total points scored, 24 of which came via three pointer. In contrast, the Magic scored 51 of their 102 points courtesy of triples last night against the Heat.
The 31 total points scored in the second quarter was not only an NBA low for last night, it was also matched or outdone by a single team six times last night.
This was not a game for those who like scoring guards. The two starting guards for the Wolves (Ricky Rubio and Luke RIdnour) and the two guards who played the most for the Grizz (Mike Conley and OJ Mayo, they only started one true guard) combined to shoot 6/33 from the field.
Rubio, “testigo” if you’re hip with nicknames, grabbed seven rebounds and handed out only one assist. This was the first time in his short career that Rubio failed to tally at least as many dimes as boards. He connected twice from the free throw line and only once from the field, the fourth time in five games this month in which his FTM has equaled or surpassed his FGM.
With Kevin Love suspended, Minnesota failed to have any starter record over 10 rebounds for the second consecutive game. With Love in the lineup, that has only happened three times this season. In fact, this happened in less that 9% of the games in 2010-2011.
For Memphis, every player that attempted a three ball made one. Conversely, 75% of Timberwolves who jacked up at least one triple didn’t register a make.
Marc Gasol scored 12 points and shot under 33%. This is the first time in 35 days in which the Grizzles overcame a woeful performance like that from their all star center to win a game.
“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” The old adage proved true, as the Grizzles took 14 more shots, and despite shooting a lower percentage than the T-wolves, outscored Minnesota by eight points from the field.
Memphis out assisted the visitors and won, as was true for every single game last night.
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