Washington Wizards fall to the Timberwolves, 116-111
By Sununu Bah
On Tuesday, the Washington Wizards fell to the Minnesota Timberwolves, as Karl-Anthony Towns scored a season-high 37 points.
On Tuesday, the Washington Wizards were looking to bounce back against Minnesota, after their crushing loss to the Heat. However, Washington fell back to their old habits–inability to close out games–losing to the Wolves, 116-111.
Washington took command of the lead with just under six minutes to play in the second quarter and didn’t look back for most of the game, but a key fourth quarter drought led to their second straight loss.
Minnesota, after being down 91-98, held Washington to a three-minute drought during their explosive 14-0 run to take a seven-point. Karl-Anthony Towns led the way for the Wolves with a season-high 37 points and 10 rebounds.
After beating Washington, Minnesota has bounced back from am initial three-game losing streak with two big wins. The other win was Golden State on Sunday. They will be on the road Saturday against the Spurs, who may be expecting the return of their superstar Kawhi Leonard.
While the Wizards seem to be heading in the opposite direction.
Gortat’s poor play continues
Marcin Gortat had no answer for Towns who had his way with the Polish Hammer. Towns made all of his free throws, 8-for-8. Knocked down all of his shots from three-point range, 3-for-3, while shooting an efficient 13-for-17 from the field. Gortat was held to six points and two rebounds.
Gortat, who wasn’t in any foul trouble at any point during the game, has been playing poorly of late. Resulting in his minutes being dropped by five from his season average of 25.6 minutes.
For the month of March, Gortat is shooting a horrendous 34.3 percent.
Porter fades away
Washington desperately needed their forward Otto Porter Jr. to step up, and for the most part he has delivered. But it was an off night for Porter, as the goods did not reach it’s destination.
Even without the Wolves’ best perimeter defender–All-Star Jimmy Butler– being out, Porter struggled to find the basket.
He made only four of his 13 attempts, including no made threes, for a pedestrian eight points.
Morris picked up the slack
Markieff Morris had perhaps the best game of the season, scoring a season-high 27 points, including 3-for-5 from beyond the arc. With two starters under 10 points, his performance was much-needed.
Bradley Beal finished the night with 19 points, while Tomas Satoransky had 15.
Washington will have to clean up their act soon, as they will be on the road on Wednesday to take on the Boston Celtics, which will be televised on ESPN.