Wolves Defeat Pistons in Detroit to Continue Their Winning Ways

In one of the highlights of the season, the Timberwolves outlasted the Detroit Pistons at the Palace of Auburn Hills in overtime. In a see-saw battle, the Wolves came out on top, showing that they are capable of grinding out a victory against one of the best teams in the league.

Grinding it out. That phrase has been uttered by every player on the roster, along with the coaching staff, countless times already this season.

As has been reported ad nauseum, the Wolves won three consecutive overtime games, followed by a one point loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. These wins may not be pretty, but what counts in the end? A notch in the victory column. With the win in Detroit, the Timberwolves record now stands at 20-16, which is only three games behind the division leading Utah Jazz.

On opening night, Mark Madsen summed up the season before it even started…

“You know, for us, if we get caught up in what the media is saying and the pundits and the so-called ‘experts,’ he stopped, suddenly. “The only expert, in my opinion, is the box score and do we have more points than our opponents? When it’s all said and done in the standings, are we where we want to be for playoff position? Those, to me, are the experts. The people that claim to know the game, you can’t predict this league. You can’t predict chemistry. Chemistry has no definition.”

That chemistry that Mad Dog spoke of is starting to be shown to the basketball world recently. With the recent streak of good play, which started with their game January 1 against the Charlotte Bobcats, the Wolves have had high assist totals. In the seven games since the assist totals have been 26, 27, 21, 29, 23, 21 and 19 today against one of the top defenses in the NBA.

The bond that this team has built recently will be put to the test next week when they go on the road for five consecutive games. Now, the focus must shift to Atlanta. After a nice win in Detroit, the Wolves cannot afford a let down against the Hawks.

Now that the national media is actually giving Minnesota some credit recently, the team must not lose their momentum leading up to this tough stretch of road games.

We are coming up to a very telling time for this team. Grinding it out. Continuing to find a way to win. One objective. It takes five.