Basketball
The Minnesota Timberwolves reportedly sacked head coach Tom Thibodeau only hours after winning Los Angeles Lakers 108-86. Ryan Saunders will serve as Interim Head Coach on the NBA side, according to The Athletic.
Glen Taylor on why he fired Tom Thibodeau but not Scott Layden: "I think it's just different. I hold Thibs accountable. He's the coach. The things that Scott was responsible for, I thought he had done a good job."
— jace frederick (@JaceFrederick) January 7, 2019
Thibodeau, 60 years old, joined the team in 2016, with a record 96-107, of which this season was 18-21. Last season he helped the Wolves make a record of 47-35 and their first playoff in 14 years.
Glen Taylor on the firing: "I just don't think we are where we had hoped to be and where we thought we could be. We just made the decision to make a change and see if we can get back on track and into the playoffs, here. That's our goal."
— jace frederick (@JaceFrederick) January 7, 2019
Before that, he was the coach of the Chicago Bulls from 2010 to 2015 and won the Bulls ' first season coach of the year honors.
Karl-Anthony Towns scored 28 points, 18 rebounds and four blocks on the court for the Timberwolves, who raised their home record to 14-6 with the Lakers win.
In the first half, Jeff Teague scored all his 15 points and ended with 11 assists for the Wolves. Lance Stephenson had 14 points for the Lakers, who fell to 1-5 without LeBron James, a superstar, who hadn't played since he tightened his groin during the Golden State Christmas Day win.
With the missing Rajon Rondo (right finger surgery) and Kyle Kuzma (bruised lower back) backup point guard, the Lakers performed mostly lethargically.
It was the biggest losing margin in 20 games since the November 27 defeat in Denver was 117- 85. D'Angelo Russell also scored 28 points in other games as the visiting Brooklyn Nets won the Chicago Bulls 117- 100 in the quarter.
For the fourth straight game, Russell scored at least 20 points, matching his longest career. This is the 12th win for the Nets in 15. So, without much focus on defense, the team was continuously underperforming, and Timberwolves who used to be known for their strong defense certainly was going to make certain changes, which started with Tom Thibodeau being sacked.
