I’ve made no secret of the fact that I want to see this Wolves team shooting the three. Aside from Pekovic post-ups and Love’s free throw generating, it’s the team’s best way to outscore opponents. Ricky Rubio is a big reason for this. His other-worldly court sense manifests itself with a steady supply of could-be assists to standing spot shooters. It’s up to those guys to bury enough treys to make it work.
Last night, it worked. Three-point champion Kevin Love led the way. 15 of his 42 points came from behind the arc. Love’s 42, 10 & 4 (with 0 turnovers) is pretty insane. What a great game in front of his hometown fans.
But it wasn’t just Love. Wes Johnson was 2 for 2 on threes. Martell Webster (21 points and 8 rebounds) was 3 for 5. The team combined for 12 threes on 23 attempts; a 52.2 percent clip.
This was a fun game for a lot of reasons beyond the barrage of three-bombs. It had intensity, which nearly boiled over when D-Thrill mixed it up with Crash Wallace in a late-game encounter. Talk about a growing-up moment for the rook. Martell Webster played a magnificent game, producing points and rebounds and even blocking a couple shots. If Martell can be the “solid” wing that we thought we were getting, that will certainly help. It is no coincidence that his breakout game came at the expense of Wes Johnson playing time (9 minutes, despite making his only two shots–though he did have 4 fouls. How is that even possible?)
Another tough one tomorrow night when Lob City comes to Target Center, looking for revenge. Let’s hope they are as unsuccessful in this pursuit as San Antonio was before them.
Season Record: 19-19
Punch-Drunk Wolves 
I hope this is a game Martell can build on, but I fear it’s another of those “anomalies” we’ve been seeing recently from Beasley, Williams, and the like. If he can give us anything at all on the wing, we become a dangerous team.