Friday’s home tilt with Portland will mark the Timberwolves’ third straight game played sans Anthony Edwards.
Minnesota has won the first two by a combined 48 points. And, frankly, that’s nothing new this season.
The Timberwolves are 8-4 this season without Edwards, not including a win over the Pacers in which the star guard exited with an injury in the game’s opening minutes. Minnesota is 8-2 in their last 10 without Edwards, with seven of those wins coming by double digits.
How is that possible?
Opponent quality has to be noted. The wins in that span have come over Golden State (twice), Utah, Phoenix, Milwaukee, Brooklyn, Charlotte and Sacramento. Of that group, only the Hornets and Suns sport winning records.
But there certainly have been themes among the wins and approach, as well.
The Timberwolves tallied a season-high 39 assists in their rout of the Jazz on Wednesday at Target Center. Over their last 10 games without Edwards, Minnesota is averaging 29.9 assists per game. For reference, that would be the second-highest mark of any team in the NBA if extrapolated over the full season.
The defensive performances have been stout, as well. Only once in the last 10 games without Edwards — who’s been one of the team’s most inconsistent defenders this season — have the Wolves allowed north of 111 points in a game.
Sharing the ball on one end, while being stingy on the other, is an ideal brand of basketball, and one Minnesota assumes as its own without its best player. That’s a product of a deep, experienced roster.
No Edwards, who is dealing with knee inflammation, simply means more playing time for the likes of Bones Hyland, Ayo Dosunmu, Jaden McDaniels and Donte DiVincenzo. That’s not necessarily a bad thing for Minnesota on certain evenings.
“We have a pretty experienced seven, eight guys. So, we feel our floor is pretty high,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “Ant is obviously a ceiling raiser amongst everything else he means to our organization, but we’ve got good players and we’ve got experienced guys, too, guys that have been around.”
Sure, Minnesota loses 30 points a night when Edwards — who will miss at least Minnesota’s next two contests, and likely more — is out of the lineup. But Finch has always maintained that dispersing additional shots is “one of the easiest things people will step up and do.”
Julius Randle certainly doesn’t look put out by having to possess the ball more, nor does McDaniels.
There is a difference, of course, in being heavily utilized offensively when shots are created so easily against defenses as porous as Utah’s on Wednesday. The true value in star players is the ability to create and produce against some of the league’s top defensive units, particularly late in games when offenses are generally forced to boil down to isolation.
Minnesota missed Edwards’ shot making in a January loss in Houston, for instance.
But, on the whole, the Wolves have shown they can keep the ship steady for extended periods of time without their best player when that’s required.
“We expect to win regardless of who’s out there,” Finch said. “But certainly, we’re a far better team when we’re complete.”