Minnesota Timberwolves: Ricky Rubio Impresses Despite Narrow Loss to OKC Thunder

In Minnesota's season opener Monday night, the Timberwolves suffered a narrow 104-100 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Kevin Love and Michael Beasley led the team in scoring with 22 and 24 points, respectively.  Kevin Durant tallied 33 points en route to a Thunder "W."

Despite only scoring six points, Ricky Rubio dished out six assists and caused the most buzz in his debut. ESPN blogger Zach Harper described the rookie sensation as follows:

"[Rubio] controlled the game in ways you can’t really expect of a rookie point guard in his first game [...]. He knew when to excite the crowd with bounce passes [and] he knew when to slow down the game [...]."

Derrick Williams, drafted No. 2 overall in the 2010 NBA Draft, scored 13 points off the bench. It was actually a play between the two rookies that drastically changed the game tempo early in the fourth quarter. Rubio served an outlet pass to Williams for a reverse slam dunk, giving the Wolves a 79-78 lead.

According to Timberwolves writer Mark Remme, the "Target Center felt more like a playoff atmosphere than an opening night contest."

Although some basketball fans believe forward Michael Beasley should be traded to create room for Williams, I disagree—at least for now. Williams needs a little more time to develop, and the two can be great assets to each other.

Beasley tallied 1/4 of Minnesota's total points, even putting down a dunk to tie the game at 98 with 2:02 remaining.

Minnesota and Oklahoma City each shot nearly 45 percent from the field, and the teams were neck-and-neck for a majority of the contest. The Timberwolves allowed only three Thunder players to tally double-digits, but Durant exploded as usual with 33 points and three rebounds, and Russell Westbrook added 28 points and six assists.

As Harper said, "Yeah, the 'Wolves ended up losing tonight. But it kind of feels like they won."

If you're a Timberwolves fan, you probably understand the point Harper is striving to make. He continues in the blog:

"

To watch what happened with the Minnesota Timberwolves on opening night is to understand just how important this loss was toward a change in the culture of basketball in the city of Minneapolis. Sure, they had a lead late in the fourth quarter and ended up losing out on upsetting the Oklahoma City Thunder. Nobody really expected them to win coming into the game.

"

There weren't many people that would have predicted only a four-point deficit in a game between Minnesota (keep in mind, the team has totaled less than 40 wins over two seasons) and a playoff-caliber team like OKC.

There's a new era coming to Timberwolves basketball, and the sold-out crowd at the Target Center testifies to the fans' faith and excitement in this roster.

As Beasley said postgame, "That's one of the best teams in the league, if not the best. And we took them down to the very last seconds of the game."