MEMPHIS, Tenn. _ On Friday night, the inevitable happened in the Timberwolves season _ they were officially eliminated from playoff contention.
On Saturday, they conducted business as usual on the court in Memphis at the FedEx Center, the location of one of their most excruciating road losses this season in February when a late foul on Josh Okogie with 0.1 seconds remaining resulted in the game-winning free throws for Justin Holiday. It began a three-game winless road trip that was one of the Wolves' last gasps of staying in the playoff chase.
"Every loss your stomach hurts," interim coach Ryan Saunders said. "You don't sleep well. They all hurt, but that one hurt a little more."
By this time of the season, the Wolves were past the hurt as they defeated Memphis 112-99.
Before the game those who in the locker room were loose, chatting about the NCAA Tournament, and Saunders spent practice Friday expanding on what the last 10 games could mean for the Wolves going forward.
"If we just stay strong through the adversity, just keep pushing forward, something great can come out of it," Saunders said. "I don't know what that great looks like. I don't think anybody ever does, but the same thing goes in life that goes in basketball. Something good can come out of adversity if you just stay together and just keep pushing forward."
That next step forward came Saturday with Taj Gibson again out of the lineup because of a left calf strain. Andrew Wiggins had 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting while Karl-Anthony Towns went for 33 points and 23 rebounds, the seventh time this season he has scored at least 20 points and grabbed 20 rebounds. The Wolves outscored the Grizzlies 35-18 in the third quarter to take control of the game.
The effort was there from the start for both teams, who now have incentive to tank the rest of the season, but neither team terribly efficient offensively. Both teams shot under 40 percent for the first half with Memphis taking a 50-49 into the halftime break.
Towns battled foul trouble early in the game, picking up two fouls in the first quarter. With Towns on the bench, the Grizzlies were able to get their biggest lead of the half, 25-17 with 2:25 to play. Towns wasn't the only big man who got in foul trouble. Both Jonas Valanciunas and Joakim Noah for the Grizzlies began hacking away, combining for seven fouls. Noah got his money's worth with four before he left the game because of a right knee injury. However, after Memphis went up eight, the Wolves closed the quarter on an 8-0 run to tie the score.
After a close second quarter, the Wolves got some separation in the third. The Grizzlies led 54-53 with 9:30 to play, but the Wolves would score the next 15 points over 2:48. Dario Saric hit a pair of 3-pointers after not making any shots prior to that run. Okogie continued his improved shooting with a 3 while Towns had six points during the burst. The Wolves would increase their lead to 19 later in the quarter as Towns was on the bench with four fouls. That because Wiggins was able to find room to operate and capped off the strong quarter with a three-point play. He had 12 in the third.
The Wolves stayed ahead of the Grizzlies by double digits for most of the fourth quarter on their way to the win. If only they had played like this back in February.
