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Best and Worst awards: Sixers vs. Timberwolves

    by Keith Pompey, The Philadelphia Inquirer
    Published 

MINNEAPOLIS – My look at some of the best and worst performances from the Minnesota Timberwolves' 100-95 victory over the 76ers Monday night at the Target Center:

Best performance: It was a no-brainer to give this award to Andrew Wiggins. The Timberwolves scored 15 of his game-high 32 points in the fourth quarter.  None were bigger than his pair of foul shots that gave the Timberwolves a 93-91 lead with 1 minute, 4 seconds remaining. Last season's rookie of the year also finished the game with six rebounds, three assists and two blocks.

Worst performance: There's no way that JaKarr Sampson could have avoided receiving this award. The Sixers reserve swingman missed all three of his shot attempts in 7 minutes, 45 seconds of action en route to finishing with one point. He looked overmatched on the court, even had a reverse layup blocked by Wiggins.

Best defensive performance:  This award goes to Kevin Garnett even though he didn't block any shots.  The Timberwolves power forward held Nerlens Noel had a lot with Nerlens Noel being held to seven points on 2-for-6 shooting. Garnett also finished with two steals and all 10 of his rebounds came on the defensive end.  The 21st-year veteran also finished with eight points on 4-for-5 shooting in 17:44.

Best performance by a Sixer: Jahlil Okafor had to get this one. The Sixers rookie center scored 25 points in 10-for-16 shooting.  Nineteen of his points came in the first half.  He also finished the game with 12 rebounds, two blocks, an assist and four turnovers.

Worst statistic:  This goes to the Timberwolves' three-point shooting. They made just 3 of 12 three-pointers.

Best statistic:  This award goes to Minnesota's foul shooting.  The Timberwolves made 25 of 27 free throws for 92.6 percent.

Worst of the Worst: The Sixers performance in the final 2:11. Okafor wasn't fed the ball during that stretch. Meanwhile, his front-court mate and team's leading rebounder Nerlens Noel wasn't even in the game. The Sixers missed five straight shots as the Timberwolves built a seven-point cushion with 12.7 seconds left.

Follow and contact Inquirer 76ers beat writer Keith Pompey on Twitter  @PompeyOnSixers and on Instagram at PompeyOnSixers.