The Wolves continue against the Pistons | NBA

Deprived of Cade Cunningham, hit in the hip, Detroit deluded for half time before cracking in the 3rd quarter, to lose 128-117 at home. Wolves got off to the best start with an 11-0 lead to lead 21-11 after just five minutes. Jared Vanderbilt and Anthony Edwards make the difference, and we think the Pistons are going to have a very bad evening. Except that the entrance of Frank Jackson will completely wake them up, and they will even take control at the buzzer of the 1st quarter on a tap from Saddiq Bey.

Killian Hayes distributes the game rather well, and the Pistons stand up to Wolves. On the Minnesota side, Taurean Prince confirms that he is in great shape, and it is he, at the last second, who allows the Wolves to return to the locker room with only two points behind (67-65). The rest will be much more complicated for Detroit… Inevitably, the absence of Cade Cunningham is felt, and especially the Wolves finally decide to defend. Result, a 9-0 completely changes the face of the match, with the Edwards-Towns duo at the helm. Chris Finch’s players escape (90-85), and Jaylen Nowell takes care of driving the point home (99-91). The Pistons are looking for a spark, but Malik Beasley insists and the gap reaches 14 points (110-96). The Minnesota bench clearly makes the difference, and the Prince-Beasley tandem is well placed to extend the lead to +16 (117-101).

There are seven minutes left to play, and now all you have to do is manage. The Wolves will still have some scares since the Pistons will return to -5 less than a minute from the end. But Towns will make the difference by countering Saddiq Bey then Jerami Grant. Wolves finished 6-0 to win 128-117.

WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER

Wolves make the break. Firmly installed in 7th place in the Western Conference, Towns teammates are now closer to 6th place held by the Nuggets than 9th place by the Lakers. For the first time since October, Wolves are two wins above 50%

The complicity of the Prince/McLaughlin duo. They haven’t played together at the Nets, and yet the two find each other with their eyes closed. McLaughlin is a real leader-passer, rather good defender, and he is perfect to lead the “second unit”. Whether Prince or Beasley, they are served in the best conditions, and they also combine a 9 of 11 to 3-pointers. As for McLaughlin, he finishes with the best +/- (+19) hard game.

TOPS/FLOPS

✅Karl-Anthony Towns. He first misses an open shot to kill the match, but then he makes up for it with two big counters. He celebrates his 3rd All-Star Game selection with a new full game at 21 points and 14 rebounds. Like other insides, he could ditch the 3-pointer and focus on mid-range work.

✅The Wolves bench. The Pistons cracked in the 3rd quarter against Minnesota substitutes with players who seem to know each other by heart. It defends, it runs and it is above all skilful. Under the panels, Naz Reid is difficult to move. In the lead, McLaughlin focuses on passing, and the Prince-Beasley duo hit the mark.

✅ Frank Jackson. Another replacement shone, and it is to be found on the side of the Pistons. His aggressiveness compensates for the discretion of Killian Hayes, and it was he who launched the Pistons as soon as he entered the game.

✅Saddiq Bey. It is the quiet strength of the Pistons with accuracy and volume of play. He can also get others to play, and he stood up to Anthony Edwards, a “sophomore” like him.

⛔Killian Hayes. Certainly four assists and two blocks, but we expect so much more from him in attack. Cade Cunningham absent, he had the opportunity to show himself in the direction of the game. A good passage at the start of the 2nd half, and then much more.

THE FOLLOWING

Detroit (12-39) : back-to-back against the Celtics

Minnesota (27-25) : Sunday reception of the… Pistons

Pistons / 117 Shots Bounces Players Minimum Shots 3 points LF O D T pd party Int bp CT +/- Points Rating J.Grant 32 7/16 3/8 3/5 0 5 5 1 2 0 3 2 -4 20 14 S. Bey 33 8/21 3/11 2/4 6 7 13 8 2 1 1 0 -3 21 27 I.Stewart 32 5/9 0/0 0/0 5 8 13 1 2 0 1 0 +4 10 19 C.Joseph 31 2/6 1/4 2/2 0 4 4 6 5 0 3 1 +1 7 11 R.McGruder 17 2/4 2/4 0/0 0 1 1 2 3 0 0 0 -2 6 7 K.Olynyk 15 2/8 0/4 0/0 1 1 2 2 4 1 1 1 -11 4 3 T.Lyles 18 4/6 1/2 4/4 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 -10 13 9 F.Jackson 27 8/14 5/11 4/5 1 2 3 3 2 0 1 0 -9 25 23 K. Hayes 20 1/4 0/1 0/0 0 1 1 4 2 0 3 2 -13 2 3 H. Diallo 15 1/3 0/1 7/8 0 3 3 0 1 1 0 0 -8 9 10 Total 40/91 15/46 22/28 13 32 45 27 24 3 15 6 117

timber wolves / 128 Shots Bounces Players Minimum Shots 3 points LF O D T pd party Int bp CT +/- Points Rating J.Vanderbilt 24 5/6 0/0 3/4 1 5 6 0 3 2 2 1 +8 13 18 J. McDaniels 32 4/8 1/4 1/1 1 1 2 2 3 0 0 0 -3 10 10 A. Edwards 34 9/21 2/9 5/5 0 3 3 1 3 1 2 0 0 25 16 K.Towns 36 6/15 0/4 9/10 3 11 14 4 0 0 5 2 +4 21 26 P.Beverley 29 4/8 2/3 1/2 1 5 6 7 1 2 1 0 -3 11 20 T.Prince 24 8/13 5/6 2/2 2 4 6 1 5 1 2 0 +2 23 24 N.Reid 12 1/2 0/0 0/0 1 1 2 3 1 0 2 0 +7 2 4 J.McLaughlin 16 0/1 0/1 2/2 0 1 1 8 0 2 0 0 +19 2 12 Mr Beasley 20 6/9 4/5 2/2 0 1 1 2 0 1 0 0 +13 18 19 J. Nowell 13 1/4 1/2 0/0 0 1 1 1 2 2 0 0 +8 3 4 Total 44/87 15/34 25/28 9 33 42 29 18 11 14 3 128