"Paint defense was like 7-Eleven": Minnesota Timberwolves coach with quote of the year as team struggles vs Zion Williamson
The Minnesota Timberwolves were struggling in their matchup against Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans and they find themselves down by seven by halftime. This team leads the NBA Western Conference standings but they have been off-tuned in this road game.
Trying to get the side of things from the T-Wolves, assistant coach Micah Nori probably gave the quote of the year with his interview:
"KAT was very good but our paint defense was like 7-11, open 24 hours especially when Rudy [Gobert] is off the floor with the foul trouble," said Nori.
The Minnesota Timberwolves eventually lost the game by a wide margin of 14 points, 121-107. Karl-Anthony Towns led the team with 17 points and 12 rebounds while Mike Conley and Naz Reid each had 17 points.
Plagued with fouls, Rudy Gobert was subpar adding only six points, eight rebounds and two blocks in 25 minutes of playing time. The Timberwolves played without Anthony Edwards, who is still nursing a hip injury.
Meanwhile, the New Orleans Pelicans saw a dominating performance from Zion Williamson with 36 points on 13-of-17 field goals. He got help mainly from CJ McCollum providing 23 points while Brandon Ingram tallied 20 markers.
Minnesota Timberwolves coach Chris Finch rues foul calls on team and Rudy Gobert
The Timberwolves just lost their fifth game in the 2023-24 season and their record now falls to 17-5. Even with the loss, the team still maintains its status as the best team in the Western Conference.
Looking at the game, coach Chris Finch saw that free throws were the main reason why they lost. In his opinion, some of the calls were soft, especially how Pelicans center Jonas Valanciounas was aggressive in the paint drawing fouls:
"The story was 40 free throw attempts and 19 of them in the third quarter. I think 27 in the second half so a lot of fouling and a lot of foul calls," said Finch. "I got to look back and look at the fouls- given the way [Jonas] Valanciounas hits you first like all the time, it felt like some of them are- a little soft out there."
The Minnesota Timberwolves have a chance to bounce back and shrug off the loss when they head out to another road game on Dec. 14. Up on their calendar will be Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks before they return to their home court on Dec. 16 against the Indiana Pacers.