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Andrew Wiggins. Ricky Rubio. Karl-Anthony Towns.
Those are the three players charged with leading the Minnesota Timberwolves from the depths of the NBA. And if the canny court sense and quick-hit passing ability on display here is a sign of things to come for the ‘Wolves young triumvirate, it will only be a matter of time until Wiggins, Rubio, and Towns achieve that arduous task.
And for a majority of Wednesday’s matchup with the Orlando Magic, it looked like they’d continue on that path to success with yet another road win in the season’s early going. Even as the teams traded points in crunch time, Minnesota’s young guns were still making a bigger mark on the game than anyone else – well, except for Evan Fournier.
With Nikola Vucevic sitting out the second half’s entirety due to Scott Skiles’ discretion and Victor Oladipo missing its majority, the Magic’s wildly underrated playmaker led his team to a 104-101 overtime victory against the Timberwolves. Fournier scored 26 points overall and 18 after the first two quarters, six of which came on a pair of huge three-pointers as the game hung in the balance.
Elfrid Payton played his best game of 2015-16 for Orlando, too, while Tobias Harris also made his ultra-physical presence felt. Despite the outcome of Wednesday’s contest and even the performances of Fournier and Payton, though, it was difficult to come away thinking Orlando was in a better position long-term than Minnesota.
Not that Skiles or anyone else on the Magic cares.
