Trail Blazers 111, Timberwolves 84: Hopefully You Were Sleeping

A 10:30 NBA Summer League tipoff is for the real sickos.

Did you decide to be a normal person and go to bed instead of watching the Minnesota Timberwolves second to last Las Vegas affair? No problem.

With Joan Beringer sitting out his second consecutive game with back tightness, it was another game in which the production was going to need to spread out among a couple guys that could vye for some minutes at the end of the bench this upcoming season. Because of that, there are a handful of things I kept an eye on in this game.

1.) Can Rocco Zikarsky show me anything? The 7’4 sophomore had an extremely disappointing Summer League heading into Monday. Lacking presence defensively at the rim and shooting 27% from the field (14% three), it would be easy to head into the season feeling discouraged about where Zikarsky is at, even though he isn’t in line for consistent minutes.

2.) Could Isaiah Stewart see a few go down? One of the best shooters in the draft, Stewart had a rocky debut, going 0-9 from deep. He joined the Wolves quite literally on the fly (he was unable to practice with the team until the trade that brought him to Minnesota was approved), so perhaps some comfortability could make him seem a little more at home in his second game.

3.) Zyon Pullin has been the Wolves best player by a mile, outside of perhaps the sole game Beringer was a part of in which he shined. Is he able to stay consistent and further cement himself as the emergency point guard on the bench for the Wolves this season?

Zikarsky went on to answer the call in the early stages. Finally finding his stroke from deep. he hit his first two threes and was able to free himself up rolling to the basket. Showing some of his offensive potential, it’s abundantly clear he still has a long way to go defensively. Finishing the first half with a team-high 10 points, he also struggled mightily to rebound the basketball, even while being he tallest person on the floor. Facing off against a big in Portland’s Yang Hansen, someone perhaps a little closer to getting consistent NBA minutes, Zikarsky was a team-low minus 20 in the first half. He ended the game with 18 points on 13 shots, and would do him to well to stack a couple of these perofrmances.

Stewart continued his struggles, following up his 0-fer performance from deep on Saturday night without registering a field goal on Monday (finished with two points coming at the free throw line). It’s impossible to bury Evans with how little time he has had to understand the Wolves’ offense, but an assertive performance in the Summer League finale would go a long way. He’s getting nice looks and moving well without the ball…now he just needs to see a couple go in, as many young players do in order to find some confidence.

The only obvious takeaway from this game is that Pullin is the only borderline rotation player on this team. He continues to show a pretty complete skillset as a guard, but could play with a bit more pace and have a little more confidence in his jumper. That said, his willingness to get downhill is something the organization clearly likes about him.