Milwaukee Bucks: Takeaways From Win Over Minnesota Timberwolves
By Adam Coffman
Big KAT’s Big Night
It shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise based on how he’s been playing lately, but the Bucks big men had absolutely no answer for Timberwolves’ center Karl-Anthony Towns.
Averaging 26.1 points and 14.3 rebounds over his last 10 games, KAT punished Milwaukee’s centers all night long, ending up with 35 points and 14 rebounds on a sizzling 14-for-21 shooting, including nailing three of his five attempted three-pointers.
The less-mobile Greg Monroe and John Henson had trouble matching his foot speed and shooting touch on the perimeter, while Thon Maker only saw five minutes of court time.
Luckily for the Bucks, Towns didn’t have a ton of help. Milwaukee’s stable of rangy wings were able to limit Andrew Wiggins, averaging a hair over 27 points in his last 10 games, to just 11 points on 3-of-13 shooting.
The Bucks have shown a commitment to doubling the ball whenever it goes into the post, so it was curious to see the Timberwolves avoid posting up Towns more frequently than they did. He’s usually a deft passer out of double teams, but finished with just one assist and four turnovers.
Few NBA teams have the pieces necessary to shut down the Wiggins and Towns attack, so perhaps stopping one of them should be considered a victory in itself for the Bucks.