By Nick ‘McFly’ McAndrews
Despite four Timberwolves scoring in double-digits, and two recording double-doubles, Minnesota could not hold off Carmelo Anthony and the visiting New York Knicks Friday night at the Target Center.
Anthony took advantage of Wolves second-year forward Derrick Williams’ inexperience. Anthony totaled 36 points and nine rebounds and it became clearer with each possession that Williams just could not defend the superstar.
“He’s one of the best scorers in the NBA, if not the best,” Williams said of Anthony in the locker room after the game, “The only thing you can do is try to contain him, you’re not going to stop him.”
Yes, Williams’ inexperience showed in the first half. He was on the verge of big plays the entire time, but he just could not execute. Perhaps the most glaring mistake was his backcourt violation on a key inbound in the first quarter.
Court awareness is something you should certainly have figured out as an NBA player—especially one who was selected with the second overall pick in the draft.
But then, should he really be expected to defend Anthony? We’re talking about perhaps the best pure scorer in the Association, a guy who’s averaging nearly 30 points per game this season and who’s averaged over 24 PPG his entire career. Is it really fair to expect a second year guy to compete with that?
As point guard Ricky Rubio began to come out of his shell in the game, Williams began to turn it on. Williams was on the receiving end of several Rubio assists late in the game, including a highlight-reel alley-oop that brought the entire arena to its feet.
The two young stars combined for 15 points in the fourth quarter and 37 of the team’s 94 total points, but it wasn’t enough to hold off Melo as he put his team on his back in the 4th and rallied his team to victory.
It’s hard to imagine D-Will ever comparing to Carmelo, but with a healthy Rubio dishing him the ball on highlight-reel plays every night, his future is looking brighter by the game.
