On January 10, Beijing time, the Timberwolves won four consecutive victories by defeating the Rockets, and the Rockets swallowed a losing streak. After this game, the Timberwolves rebounded against the Clippers to enter the top eight of the West. The Timberwolves led the Rockets by 10 points in the first quarter, and the Timberwolves scored 11 points in the second quarter after the two teams opened up to 21 points, it can be said that the entire second half was garbage time, the Timberwolves had led by 23 points after the third quarter, and the two teams entered the training time early in the last quarter.
Carl Anthony Downs was so good in this game that even Rockets reporter Kelly Iko praised Downs on Twitter, saying that Towns now has his own way and has already scored 17 points in the first quarter, which is a long night. Towns actually scored 18 points in the first quarter (7-of-10, 2-of-3 three).
In the second quarter, Downs only played 5 minutes, 1 of 1, 2 of 2 free throws, 4 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist, and scored 22 points at halftime, and the shooting rate was as high as 8 of 11, in other words, Wood had been beaten by Towns, and Wood only scored 5 points on 2-of-5 shooting in the first half. After entering the third quarter, Downs let wood shoot a lot of shots, and Wood had 17 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 blocks in the third quarter.
Towns in the third quarter did not hesitate to let go, on the offense he did not serve anyone, 6 of 12 in a single quarter, 3 of 3 three-pointers, 15 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists, 29 minutes in the third quarter, 14 of 23, 4 of 6 three-pointers, 5 of 7 free throws, 37 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 1 steal, shooting 60.9% from the field and 66.7% from three-point range. With 6 minutes and 24 seconds left in the final quarter, Downs returned to the game again, originally thinking that the Timberwolves would not let him go, but did not expect to be a regular rotation.
Towns' 37 points in the third quarter was the second highest score in the third quarter of his career, which was also the fifth time that Towns scored 35+ in the third quarter of his career, and he was the player with the most 35+ in the third quarter of The Timberwolves' history (five times).
Towns was too efficient in this campaign, 37 points in the third quarter, these 37 points were Towns' new season high scores, and in the last quarter, Towns scored 3 points in a row to complete the first 40+ of the season, with 2 minutes and 33 seconds left, Towns was replaced, 33 minutes in the game, 15 of 25, 4 of 6 three-pointers, 4 of 40 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists and 1 steal, shooting 60% from the field and 66.7% from three-point range.
One local Timberwolf media outlet wrote: Remember when someone wanted to trade Carl-Anthony Downs? This passage is a satire on the media and journalists and some fans who suggested that the Timberwolves trade Downs for reconstruction.
Text/Yan Xiaobai