When the Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves play, their games are fast becoming classics. Minnesota won for the second time in a week, and it didn’t take a 35-foot Andrew Wiggins jump shot this time. Instead, a timely Jimmy Butler helped propel the Timberwolves to their third win of the year, now with two against their division rival Thunder.
NBA scores 2017: Timberwolves have the Thunder’s number and 6 more things from Friday
We had a fight! We have no more winless teams! And more!
Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports
It really is nice to have someone like Butler on your team. In the final 4:09, Butler scored nine of the Timberwolves’ 12 points. His final field goal came with 1:08 left, driving baseline with Steven Adams waiting for him at the rim. It looked like Butler had nowhere to go, and then he barreled into Adams, simply a beast of a man, and moved him backwards. Somehow, he managed to get the layup to go, too. He finished with 25 points on 10 shots for the game.
Karl-Anthony Towns had a better defensive game than the past few, which is an extremely optimistic sign. Meanwhile, Oklahoma City fell to 2-3 despite shooting 50 percent in the game. They’re still figuring things out, like the final possession, where Carmelo Anthony and Russell Westbrook ran action off each other needing a three-pointer to tie the game. It’s not quite clear why George, a better shooter than them both, wouldn’t be involved in that.
Talk about a heated game, this one was.
It appeared to be predicated off this play. Draymond Green claims innocence, saying there was nothing that came before this gif starts that would have set Bradley Beal off.
But Draymond also feigns innocence extremely well, so who knows.
The best part of the scuffle was this random old man
Beal’s reaction is incredible.
Washington blew this game down the stretch
The Scotty Brooks offense was back at it on Friday, especially on one play where John Wall dribbled out nearly the entire shot clock and ended up launching a nearly impossible three-pointer. The Wizards’ normal actions simply broke down, and Wall himself looked as uncomfortable as he ever does on a basketball court.
The Wizards led by 10 entering the quarter. If not for some bailout Otto Porter Jr. threes, they might have lost by a lot more than three points, like they did. (Talk about Porter! He had a team-high 29 points on 7-of-9 shooting.)
The best team in the Eastern Conference is ...
THE ORLANDO MAGIC! Finally!
We can dive into the Magic’s success and how sustainable it is at a later date — me, you, and the computer next Monday? It’s a date? — but for now, let’s enjoy this surprising open to the season. Still, Orlando is talented. I love Jonathan Isaac and Aaron Gordon next to each other in the frontcourt.
The Rockets shot the fewest two-pointers ever
That’s attempted, not made, but still. They were 22-of-57 on three-pointers, and just 16-of-28 inside the arc.
There are no more undefeated teams!
Congratulations are in order to the have Knicks, who beat Brooklyn.
Friday’s scores
Rockets 109, Hornets 93 (The Dream Shake recap | At the Hive recap)
Magic 114, Spurs 87 (Orlando Pinstriped Post recap | Pounding the Rock recap)
Nuggets 105, Hawks 100 (Denver Stiffs recap | Peachtree Hoops recap)
Knicks 107, Nets 86 (Posting & Toasting recap | Nets Daily recap)
Timberwolves 119, Thunder 116 (Canis Hoopus recap | Welcome to Loud City recap)
Warriors 120, Wizards 117 (Golden State of Mind recap | Bullets Forever recap)
Raptors 101, Lakers 92 (Raptors HQ recap | Silver Screen & Roll recap)
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