Nemanja Bjelica’s role in this game, apparently, was to come in during garbage time and score enough points (14 in the final four minutes) to ensure that the Timberwolves didn’t end up with a completely embarrassing point total. Serbs will take this performance as a sign that Bjelica deserves more minutes in game three, and he probably does if he’s actually going to show up ready to score points, because there’s a certain high-profile star on the Timberwolves (named after a common household pet that has whiskers and little paws) who apparently doesn’t feel like exerting his will on the game or scoring points or doing any of that stuff.
If Harden had shot better than 2-of-18 from the field (not to mention Gordon’s 3-of-13 and Ariza’s 5-of-14), this game would have been such an embarrassing blowout that Minnesota would have been forced to remove itself from the United States and join Canada instead. Not even an entire quarter of Bjelica heroics would have been enough to save their dignity.