MILWAUKEE _ The Timberwolves opened a stretch of back-to-back games Friday in New York, without Karl-Anthony Towns, against the NBA's dregs. They ended it Saturday against the NBA's royalty.
But it took a while for the expected to happen.
Again without Towns, against a Milwaukee Bucks team with the best record in the league, with a bench playing out of its mind, the Wolves hung with the Bucks for three-plus quarter before the Bucks pulled away for what turned out to be a 140-128 victory.
The game was played at a pace guaranteed to take a toll on a team playing for the second time in two nights. And it showed for the Wolves down the stretch.
Still, the Wolves led by two entering the fourth and still led by two when the Bucks went on a 9-0 run _ one that ended with Giannis Antetokounmpo's two free throws with 8:40 left in the game _ put the Bucks in control for good.
The Wolves were outscored 33-18 over the final 12 minutes.
Taj Gibson broke the drought at the other end, but Antetokounmpo scored again, then Khris Middleton _ who scored 20 of his 28 points in the second half _ hit a 3 to put the Bucks up 10.
That the Wolves (28-31) kept it that close against the rested Bucks (45-14) was a surprise in itself.
Thank a Wolves bench that scored 67 points.
Gibson scored 20 points. But, off the bench, Derrick Rose scored 23, Anthony Tolliver hit five 3s on the way to 17 points, Luol Deng had 10 and Tyus Jones nine.
Antetokounmpo finished with 27 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. Middleton had 28 points. All five Bucks starters were in double figures.
By the time the fourth quarter was 7{ minutes old the Bucks, on an 18-2 run, had a 129-115 lead.
When the first quarter started, it was the Antetokounmpo show. He scored the Bucks' first 11 points as Milwaukee sprinted to an 11-6 lead. That lead grew to eight before the Wolves started firing back.
With Tolliver hot off the bench, the Wolves, down eight, outscored Milwaukee 16-9 the rest of the quarter to pull within 35-32 entering the second, thanks to 18 points from the bench.
The Wolves started the second quarter on a 13-8 run _ with Tolliver hitting two 3s _ to take a 45-43 lead and the rest of the half was a back-and-forth affair. Down 69-64 late in the half the Wolves scored the final six points of the quarter to take a 70-69 lead. Rose had four of those points, the last two on a floater in the lane at the end of the half.
The third quarter was much the same, with the Bucks jumping out to a small lead and the Wolves reeling them back in.
Again, it was the bench. The Bucks went up 107-101 late in the third on a 3-pointer by Malcolm Brogdon. But the Wolves finished the quarter on an 8-2 run, with Rose's three-point play with 3.9 seconds left in the quarter putting Minnesota up 109-107 entering the fourth. This despite 15 points from Middleton in the third quarter.
With the prospect of difficult travel, it doesn't get any easier for the Wolves, who return to play for the third time in four nights in Monday's game against Sacramento.
