For the first time since 2004, the Minnesota Timberwolves have won a game in Toronto.
The largest single-city losing streak in franchise history is over. It almost wasn’t.
For a Timberwolves team that hasn’t been able to stay out of the trade deadline banter of the last week, with the ongoing Giannis Antetokounmpo saga and recent departure of Mike Conley, it’s a team that has looked the distracted part dating back to Monday’s stinker in Memphis.
Another porous defensive effort looked to be taking shape out of the gate. Posting a 138 defensive rating in Memphis, the Wolves matched that in the first act of Wednesday night, with an identical 138 first-half defensive rating.
At the end of the second quarter, the Wolves had allowed 30 points in eight straight quarters, a defensive threshold that coach Chris Finch called out on Monday night as being a problem.
For three quarters, the Wolves were unable to make much of a dent in the Toronto Raptors’ double-digit lead. Good offensive stretches would come and go much at the behest of Bones Hyland’s 20 points off the bench (8-12 field goals), but the five on the floor were unable to come up with the defensive stops necessary in order to get out in transition and knock out the point differential.
It all changed in the fourth quarter.
With the Raptors boasting the highest fastbreak point total in the league, it was a point on the scouting report to not get cross-matched too often in transition and allow Toronto to abuse mismatches.
For three quarters, they were able to do that effectively. But then the lineup of Donte DiVincenzo, Hyland, Jaden McDaniels, Naz Reid, and Rudy Gobert found their groove. They jumped in passing lanes, generated points off turnovers, moved the ball quickly on offense, and flipped the game on its head. Within five minutes, the Wolves went from down 16 points to down three.
It was a ball on a tee for the best clutch player in the NBA.
And man, did he deliver…
“Since Bruce Lee Died!”
Battling multiple injuries, including a nagging foot infection, Anthony Edwards admitted after the game that he’s playing a little more hurt than many might think.
If you watched him in the fourth quarter, it was business as usual.
With just nine points at half, the Wolves frontman seemed to be blending in with the funeral march of an effort being put on in what was shaping up to be a beatdown.
His team needed him. Downtrodden by trade news and speculation, and one of the mature leaders of the team now gone in Conley, it was on Edwards to emotionally guide this team through the rest of the game. A rollover after Monday night would have a sulking team coming out on Friday unpredictably.
Thankfully for the Wolves, he answered the call. The aforementioned DiVincenzo – Hyland – McDaniels – Reid – Gobert group parlayed into a vintage Edwards performance.
Prodded by a Toronto crowd hellbent on poking the bear, Edwards played into it. Draining a 3-pointer and waving towards the crowd to ramp up the noise, Edwards would glide up and down the floor, killing the Raptors slowly with each possession down the stretch. Each time touching the ball, another cut to a Toronto team that led for the vast majority of the game.
With 13 fourth-quarter points, all of which came in the final 5:09 of regulation, Edwards grabbed the game by the throat and assured his team that everything was going to be ok.
It was a message they were all looking for, and the franchise player delivered.
Emptying the Notebook
1). I cannot finish writing this article in good conscience without calling out how poor Julius Randle was defensively. In a recent article by Chris Hine about Randle, he and Chris Finch both described him as a bit moody. In the last few games, I’d wager that has been on full display. With trade rumors circling, it’s been another point in the season in which the former Knick has regressed into his selfish offensive ways that take the flow out of the offense, and seems to give half of the effort on defense to round out a hard product to watch in the aggregate. To pile on, Randle is shooting 31 percent from three in his last 15 games on five attempts. While he’s maintained his effectiveness in getting to the rim, his shot not falling at the same clip is clearly impacting the other end, and it’s a frustrating watch knowing what he can be capable of on that side of the ball.
2). Jaden McDaniels continues to be unshakable. His future in Minnesota is the subject of much speculation around a potential Giannis trade; he stared it in the face and put 19 points up on 8-13 shooting on Wednesday night. Also, a major piece of the lineup that pulled the game within reach, his on-ball defense against Toronto’s crafty perimeter players in Brandon Ingram and Immanuel Quickley were equalizers. He elaborated after the game on his name coming up in rumors, but it didn’t seem to impact him much north of the border. Just awesome stuff.
Up Next
The Wolves will head back to Minneapolis and experience the trade deadline from the comfort of their own homes. They’ll start a six-game homestand that sandwiches the All-Star break, starting with a reacquaintance with the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night.
The Pelicans have been the subject of a few league-wide chuckles, with rumors circulating this week that their front office believes they have a playoff-caliber roster and will hold pat with their core players at the deadline.
They’re currently 13-40 and sit second to last in the Western Conference.
Tipoff on Friday is slated for 7:00 PM CST.
