MINNEAPOLIS — Nothing was outwardly different Sunday night at Target Center that was indicative of the shift in the organization's fault lines that occurred Saturday when former MLB MVP Alex Rodriguez and billionaire Marc Lore agreed to an exclusive letter of intent with Glen Taylor to buy the Timberwolves.
Rodriguez and Lore are expected to be in attendance for Monday's game against the Nets, and that will be the first time the Wolves' two newest fans will see their team in person in addition to the few thousand who were let back into the building for the first time last week.
Sunday was another day in the bumpy rebuild the Wolves hope will be complete by the time Rodriguez and Lore are set to take over the franchise fully from Taylor in 2023.
The Wolves at least gave their fans something to cheer for the second consecutive home game in a 121-117 victory over the Chicago Bulls, a game the Wolves led for most of the night and held on late, in part by going 25-for-25 at the free-throw line.
D'Angelo Russell made the most of his limited minutes with 27 points, including a three-pointer to put the Wolves ahead 114-106 with 3 minutes, 11 seconds to play. Russell's three came after coach Chris Finch successfully challenged an out of bounds call on the Bulls' previous offensive possession.
Karl-Anthony Towns added 27 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists with his three biggest points coming to give the Wolves a 119-113 lead with 43.8 seconds to play.
Former Wolves guard Zach Lavine (30 points) would cut the lead to 119-117 with 11.3 seconds remaining but Towns iced the game at the line, where he went 8-for-8.
Russell came off the bench for the fourth consecutive game as the point guard still easing his way back from left knee surgery, and Russell was hitting some difficult shots early on. A contested 21-footer, a shot the analytically minded Wolves would otherwise detest, went in to give the Wolves a 22-13 lead in the first.
The Wolves held the lead while Towns rested, something that has been an issue when Towns has sat of late. The Wolves have tended to fold in those situations but they maintained a lead through the end of the first 29-26.
The Wolves kept up their stellar shooting into the second quarter even before Russell re-entered the game and picked up where he left off in the first quarter.
The Bulls got within 47-43 halfway through the second quarter when the Wolves and Russell took over the rest of the quarter. A quick 9-4 spurt that featured a Rubio three before he gave way to Russell pushed the lead back to nine. Russell hit a three from the corner and had a pair of free throws to push the Wolves' lead to 13 with three minutes to play in the half.
LaVine had nine as a few fans in Target Center implored "Zach, come home" while the Wolves were shooting free throws at one point. The Wolves carried a 66-55 lead into the half.
The Wolves shot 54% for the first half as the bench went a collective 11-for-13. In addition to Russell making five of six attempts, Naz Reid had 11 points on just three shot attempts.
The Bulls scored eight of the first 10 points of the second half. But Rubio was about to pick up where Russell left off in the first half. Rubio hit a trio of treys to push the Wolves lead back to 79-68. Rubio connected on his first five three-point attempts of the game.
But the Bulls took advantage when Finch went to his bench and Chicago cut the deficit to 91-87 entering the fourth. The Bulls would cut it to one on multiple occasions but the Wolves kept them from taking the lead with Towns providing some firepower to extend the lead back to five. He and Russell would create enough points down the stretch to secure the victory.
Reid finished with 18 points for the Wolves, Rubio had 17 and Anthony Edwards added 15. Nikola Vucevic scored 18 points for Chicago.
