“The first real conversation that we really had, when I asked him, “What do you want to be in this league? I was just happy I was able to contribute to the team’s success”, said Towns, who hit six of 10 shots”.
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Kevin Durant scored 22 points in his first regular-season game since February.
Here were a few of the postgame quotes from the players regarding playing so soon after losing their coach, friend and family member.
Wolves rookie center and top draft pick Karl-Anthony Towns debuted with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
But it doesn’t seem like the future legends are in a hurry to call it quits just yet. Something that we’ve been doing a lot this week. The Timberwolves will say goodbye to their president, their coach, their minority owner, whose boundless optimism and prescient maneuvering was reviving interest in a dormant franchise. Jayhawks assistant Jerry Green had a wood carving that could either read “WE” or be turned upside down to read “ME”. “Even though he’s gone, he will stay with us forever”.
Sam Mitchell: “I’m just proud of our guys”. The kind of people we have around here, we all want to win. Coach [Flip Saunders] would’ve been proud of them [with] the way they played, the way they battled, the way they played together.
ABOUT THE KINGS (0-1): Star center DeMarcus Cousins had 32 points and 13 rebounds in the season opener and also stunned onlookers by going 4-of-5 from 3-point range.
“Coach brought us all here for a reason. I know he’s looking down, and he’s proud of these young guys and the way they fought”.
A very emotional night very everyone. Hibbert did his part but got little help on defense other than from Randle.
The Rubio doubters were silenced, for one night at least. Now it’s time to see what the players around him can do. That includes the offseason and after practice. Nobody can forget the controversy surrounding Bryant’s usage and injury previous year, so the opener was perhaps a sign to expect less and less as the season wears on. In the first five games, he shot 20-for-47. In the four seasons that Rubio has played so far, the highest field goal percentage he shot is 38. National Basketball Association coaches are wearing pins to honor Saunders throughout the season.
“If he plays like that, it’ll be a special season”.
After watching Rubio go through his ups and down during his career, last night was pretty fun to watch – mostly because he deserves success for as hard as he works.
It’s probably nothing to worry about long term.
“I keep it next to my desk at home”, Terry said. “I just felt good out there”.
When it was over and the Lakers had missed a buzzer-beating shot that would have won the game, Rubio kissed his finger and pointed to the sky while teammate Kevin Garnett did the same as the Wolves pranced off the floor in celebration. He finished with 24 points, but it took 24 shots and he made only eight of them in 29 minutes.
The Black Mamba has been reported to act as a mentor to the newcomers, with sources claiming that Kobe Bryant zeroed in on D’Angelo Russell.
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The game vs. the Portland Trailblazers will begin at 7 p.m.
