T’wolves’ Towns dominates Hornets; Graham has another big game off the bench
Minnesota Timberwolves big man Karl-Anthony Towns was going to be a problem any night for the Charlotte Hornets. Minus Charlotte’s starting center, Towns was a nightmare.
Towns finished with 37 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists as the Timberwolves recovered from a 15-point, first-quarter deficit to thump the Hornets 121-99 at Spectrum Center. The Hornets played without center Cody Zeller, who had an excused absence for personal reasons.
Coach James Borrego said pregame he anticipates Zeller rejoining the team for Sunday’s first road game against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Good buzz
Backup point guard Devonte Graham was as good in Game 2 as he was in Wednesday’s season-opening victory over the Chicago Bulls.
After finishing with 23 points and eight assists Wednesday, Graham scored 24 Friday. Graham is now 12 of 16 from 3-point range this season.
Terry Rozier, the starter at point guard, had foul trouble Friday, opening more minutes for Graham. But Rozier ended with a double-double of 11 points and 10 assists.
Bee stings
The Hornets blew a 15-point, first-quarter lead largely due to 12 turnovers and 17 fouls in the first half. These are the mistakes intrinsic to a young team, but the Hornets have been low-turnover and low-foul for several seasons. They had plenty of other flaws, but they didn’t beat themselves in these ways.
Building blocks
Rookies Cody and Caleb Martin both got their first regular-season minutes in the NBA on Friday. The Martin twins were the primary beneficiaries of the minutes that opened from Nic Batum being out a couple of weeks with a broken finger. Caleb — the undrafted of the two Martins — had a stronger preseason, but second-round pick Cody was injured for part of the run-up to the regular season.
Beyond the numbers
Only two of 13 active Hornets didn’t play in the first half: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and rookie Jalen McDaniels.
It was clear that Kidd-Gilchrist, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2012 draft, wasn’t going to play much this season. Borrego said in September he wasn’t going to concern himself with contracts or salaries (MKG makes $13 million this season) in dolling out minutes. This team is deep in a youth movement that Kidd-Gilchrist doesn’t fit.
Borrego shouldn’t be viewed as a bad guy for this; he has been transparent about what he’s doing and why he’s doing it. But it’s sad just how on the periphery Kidd-Gilchrist finds himself.
