That wasn't what I expected (both in terms of outcome and who was making jumpers)

As I posted yesterday, my expectations for the Wolves last night against Boston were low. OK, they were barely off the floor low. I had some things that I needed to get done after work last night, so I got home about 8:30 and started watching the game on my DVR.

I expected to watch until it got out of hand and I was willing to just shut it off at some point. Well, that never really happened. I totally get that the Celtics were in the second half of a back-to-back and that the Wolves were a little rested. But I still didn't expect Minnesota to lead by double digits at a couple of points and give Boston all they wanted.

There's much that can be talked about from this one -- Pecherov finishing with a career high, the Brewer "jump ball" at the end of the game, the fact that KG is still a loud-mouthed punk, that Rajon Rondo was the best player on the floor when Boston closed the gap in the third quarter and more -- but I have one major takeaway from this game.

That is that Big Al was ventured outside of what Jim Petersen likes to call "the painted area." I'm not sure if he needed some sort of visa or needed to renew his passport, but we saw Big Al in some very different spots on the floor. He made three jumpers in the 19-20 foot range, one in each of the first three quarters. He took three more in that same range (excluding the shot at the buzzer). 

This to me was clearly the biggest positive moving forward. Because while the loss seemed inevitable (which it was), I am interested to see if Al continues to take and make shots from outside of 15 feet. If it happens, he is going to have an easier time getting to the basket. There was one play when Al caught the ball on the wing about 12-14 feet from the basket. He pump faked, Kendrick Perkins bit and cruised past him for a layup or dunk. If Al hadn't made a couple of longer jumpers, there is no way that Perkins falls for the pump fake. He holds his position and the ball quite possibly gets rotated out. 

While Al has struggled with his health, we're starting to see (at least I think) more of what will be the real Al. He has averaged 35 mpg over the past three games and averaged 21 ppg in that span. He has also shot the ball a little better from the floor.

What will happen from here? That's difficult to tell. Friday night's home game against Milwaukee is very winnable and pretty crucial in my mind. But if Al can continue to make a few jumpers per game, both he and the Timberwolves are going to be better.