The Minnesota Timberwolves faced a favorable opponent in their first game after the All-Star break. They were playing a shorthanded Dallas Mavericks team that just traded Anthony Davis. They would be without Rookie of the Year favorite Cooper Flagg after they ruled him out with a foot injury.
This is pretty familiar territory for Minnesota, facing an undermanned, under .500 opponent.
Ideally, it should be a straightforward victory, but for the Wolves, it rarely is.
And that was the case again on Friday night.
Minnesota came out hot, scoring 40 points in the opening quarter and creating a 15-point lead. They were up 12 at halftime. But as the game went on, Minnesota’s lead slowly diminished. Dallas looked hungrier, and the scoreboard would soon reflect it.
Newly-acquired Mavericks guard, and Apple Valley’s finest, Tyus Jones, was causing Minnesota’s defense issues. As was Naji Marshall, who’s having one of the best seasons of his career.
Klay Thompson also got hot – making shot after shot as he did for so many years with the Golden State Warriors. With the odds stacked against them, Dallas’ role players looked ready to become the next team to pull off the upset against Minnesota.
But then, Chris Finch called a timeout – something he has been criticized for not using in the past when faced with similar situations. The team needed to regroup, and after a short rest, they responded as Finch would have hoped.
Minnesota came out of the timeout with an Anthony Edwards 3-pointer – signaling the start of a dominant end to the quarter for the All-Star game MVP.
The Wolves made their mark on the defensive end down the stretch. Whether it was contesting shots around the rim, chasing Thompson around the three-point line, or finishing defensive possessions with a rebound, Minnesota’s requisite level of intensity had returned.
That kinda played out in Rudy Gobert‘s absence. Every player on the floor was ready for the moment, and they finished the game victorious. While Edwards may have earned the headlines, Friday night could have signaled a step forward for the team.
But then came Sunday night. The Philadelphia 76ers came into town after suffering a 126-111 loss to the 16-42 New Orleans Pelicans the night before.
Like the Mavericks, the 76ers were shorthanded. Paul George is serving a 25-game suspension, and Joel Embiid was out with a knee injury. Minnesota had an opportunity to move up the standings after the Houston Rockets lost the night before, and the Denver Nuggets did the same against Golden State earlier in the day.
Instead, the Wolves looked sloppy for most of the night.
The Timberwolves were without Gobert and Naz Reid, two significant losses on each end of the floor. With the lack of depth at center, Finch allowed rookie Joan Beringer to start and garner an increased role throughout the night.
However, the Wolves couldn’t overcome Rudy’s absence. Beringer picked up two fouls early in the first quarter and couldn’t establish himself in the game. It also doesn’t help that at this point in his career, Beringer tries to block everything, and the 76ers have several guys willing to attack the basket.
Andre Drummond’s rebounding presence also proved to be a difficult one for the rookie. It just wasn’t Beringer’s night.
“It certainly hurt,” Finch said regarding Beringer’s foul trouble, “but that wasn’t the sole reason for the result.”
And Finch’s right, it never is one player’s fault. Jaden McDaniels and Julius Randle failed to knock down quite a few open 3-pointers. Anthony Edwards also turned the ball over seven times, one short of his season-high, and many of them were unforced.
More than anything, the Wolves failed to establish a defensive presence on Sunday. The Sixers got what they wanted when they wanted it. It led to monstrous performances from Philadelphia’s backcourt of Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe.
So the Timberwolves would have to run up the score to win. Still, the typically offensively potent Wolves went cold. As a team, they shot 30% from the 3-point line, and missed shots led to poor defense on the other end.
Whether it’s been New Orleans, the Brooklyn Nets, or the Utah Jazz, the Wolves have had trouble putting teams away. It’s cost them playoff positioning; they are the No. 6 seed in a loaded Western Conference.
Ed. note: I’ll put a picture of the standings here.
The Wolves would be closer to the 3-seed, which the Denver Nuggets occupy, if they closed out more games.
While these games have been frustrating to watch for Wolves fans, the feeling is mutual for Finch and the Wolves players. Earlier this month, Gobert publicly vented about the team’s defensive effort.
“We’ve seen (lack of defensive effort) many times since I’ve been here,” Gobert said. “There’s no sense of urgency, if the players don’t have accountability then someone else has to give accountability to the players. For a team that wants to play for a championship, the effort is unacceptable.”
That manifested again in stretches against Dallas and consistently against Philadelphia. If the Wolves want to make another playoff run, they have to be more consistent with their attention to detail every night.
It’s been a transition year for the bench after moving on from Nickeil Alexander-Walker in the offseason. Depth is a concern going into the final stretch of the season as the Wolves hope to avoid the Play-In Tournament. The hope is that Ayo Dosunmu and Bones Hyland can round out a strong eight-man rotation for Minnesota.
When asked what the Wolves need to show down the stretch, Reid kept it simple.
“Defense,” Reid said. “Our identity is defense, and we all know that.”
It’s important that the Wolves maintain composure going forward and don’t allow losses like Sunday’s carry over to other games. The Wolves showed they can salvage a game on Friday. However, they can’t make a habit of losing games sloppily and expect to go on a run again come April.