A 42-point blowout wasn’t just another win for Jimmy Butler and the Philadelphia 76ers who, along with the rest of the NBA, had Tuesday’s matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves circled on their calendar.
The 149-107 trashing of Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins, and the remainder of Butler’s old teammates was a statement.
While the Timberwolves have become a different group since the Butler trade — most recently given the firing of head coach Tom Thibodeau — Butler and his 76ers teammates played with a vengeance Tuesday night.
“That wasn’t no normal game,” said Timberwolves point guard Jeff Teague after the game. “Jimmy wanted to beat us. We all know that.
“Joel Embiid wanted to beat KAT. That ain’t a normal game. There ain’t nothing normal about that game. That was a game we all had marked, and they dogged us.”
The Sixers came storming out of the gates, pouring in 81 first-half points, eventually equaling their greatest margin of victory in the last 10 years. Butler efficiently scored 19 points on 80 per cent shooting from the field, and after the game, the four-time all-star took to his Instagram page in an attempt to close the book on his T’Wolves saga in a very Butler-like style.
Bernie Lee, a Toronto-born dreamer and now Butler’s agent, also took to Instagram in attempt to turn the page, however, in a much more reserved manner than his four-time all-star client.
“‘Thank you for riding this roller coaster,'” Lee wrote. “‘This concludes the end of this ride please exit to your right and collect all personal belongings.’ Onto the next one more prepared because of the last”
Butler’s teammate, Joel Embiid, though, had the best post of the night, alluding to the incident with Butler that took place at T’Wolves practice.
For context, while still a member of the Timberwolves, Butler had teamed up with a group of bench players and training camp invitees to scrimmage against the starters, all while verbally abusing teammates, coaches, and apparently turning to the team’s GM Scott Layden at one point, stating, “You can’t f– win without me, Scott,” before storming out of the gym after winning the game with the reserves.
But all of that is what Butler, who has the option to opt-out of his current deal at the end of the season, hopes to leave in the past.
The 76ers have gone 18-8 with Butler in the lineup since acquiring the star guard in a high-profile trade with the Timberwolves on Nov. 12. They currently sit fourth in the Eastern conference, four games back of the first-place Toronto Raptors. While he may not outright say it, he’s in a better position than he was in with Minnesota, and Tuesday’s night’s thumping was a fitting way for Butler to put the final stamp on his T’Wolves tenure.
“As long as we’re winning, I’m not worried about too much of anything,” said Butler after the game. “When we’re not, that’s a different story.”
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