If it was purpose that interim head coach Sam Mitchell sought Friday night, then the Timberwolves obliged him one night later with Saturday’s 132-118 victory over shorthanded and road-weary Brooklyn at Target Center.
One night earlier, Mitchell benched his starters for most of the second half in a lopsided loss at Milwaukee and said before Saturday’s game that mentioned not a thing to Andrew Wiggins, Karl-Anthony Towns and Ricky Rubio, among others, about it because his actions said all.
On Saturday, they met a Nets team that rested starters Brook Lopez and Thaddeus Young at the end of a long seven-game road trip and led it by as many as 23 points in the third quarter before they repelled the Nets for good in the fourth quarter for the victory.