DETROIT _ It began as a promising evening for the Timberwolves in Detroit on Wednesday, as the Wolves led by 16 in the first quarter, but by the end, the wheels had come off in the Motor City.
A nightmarish fourth quarter, which featured a questionable ejection for forward Taj Gibson, precipitated a 131-114 loss for the Wolves at the hands Detroit, who has won six of its last seven.
Gibson was assessed a flagrant-2 foul, which carries an automatic ejection, while battling Pistons center Andre Drummond for a rebound with 10:07 to play and the Pistons ahead 101-90. Gibson appeared to make incidental contact with Drummond's face before the rebound, but officials determined it was severe enough to warrant Gibson's ejection. Perhaps playing into the assessment was Drummond's reaction to the foul. His Pistons teammates had to hold Drummond back from going after Gibson, who the Wolves held back as well. After the fracas cleared, officials tossed Gibson and assessed a technical on interim coach Ryan Saunders.
Detroit had already grabbed control of a game the Wolves had led big early. After taking a 90-88 lead into the fourth quarter, the Pistons scored the first nine points of the final frame and went up 11. After Gibson's ejection, they put the Wolves away with a 14-3 run. Drummond finished with 31 points and 15 rebounds while Luke Kennard had 21 off the bench. Karl-Anthony Towns scored 24 and wanted an early exit from this game, fouling out with 6:54 to play. Andrew Wiggins scored 18.
As they did against Oklahoma City, the Wolves got off to a strong start against Detroit. Towns set the tone early defensively with two blocks in the first few Pistons possessions while he picked up where he left off offensively with eight first-quarter points. The Wolves defense limited the Pistons to 35 percent shooting in the quarter, although Blake Griffin and Drummond missed their share of shots around the rim. The Wolves were up 35-22 after the first.
But the Pistons got their offense in gear late in the second quarter as the Wolves went flat. Taking advantage of lax Wolves defense, the Pistons went on a 14-2 run over a span of 2:29 to momentarily take a 57-55 lead. Luke Kennard had seven points during the stretch as he tallied 13 off the bench in the first half. The Wolves were able to re-claim the lead headed into the locker room as Wiggins and Towns each finished with 13. Wiggins had an efficient half, shooting 6 of 8. The Pistons shot 15 of 23 in the second.
But the Wolves' lead was tenuous, and Detroit took control late in the third quarter, grabbing its first five-point lead of the night as Drummond continued to assert himself inside. He had 25 through three quarters. It didn't help the Wolves that Towns got in foul trouble. He entered the third quarter with just one foul but picked up three more and went to the bench. From there, Detroit sent the Wolves home with another road loss, their fifth straight.
