Player Ratings: Game 10 | Golden State Warriors
Wolves win a weird one for their seventh straight.
Take it. Take it and run. Take and sprint away with a win in lining the pockets and a weird night in the rearview mirror. All that matters is wins, by any means necessary. In a league where games can often blend into one big lump, this one stood out from the first minute; in all of the good ways and all of the bad ways. Still, when the standings shake out at the season’s crescendo, all that matters is what is in that win column. This one will be there, so take it and run.
The game ends 104-101. It started with a bang. And a crash and a wallop. Jaden McDaniels refused to be punked by the bitter and withered ghost of Klay Thompson and Draymond Green ejected himself with his usual bout of idiocy, and all of a sudden any scouting reports were shredded and forgotten.
It was the Golden State Warriors and their now rowdy crowd who responded best to the carnage. Their second and third stringers led the game in spark, wit, and hustle from the moment the kerfuffle ended and it seemed Minnesota would wilt under the strange circumstances that beamed down on them.
It felt like that almost all evening. It felt like it did on many a night last season. While the Warriors deserve their flowers for the way they played, Minnesota couldn’t stop tripping over itself and that only poured fuel onto Golden State’s ever-burning bonfire.
By late in the third period, Golden State had pushed their lead out to a dozen and Minnesota looked like they were limping to an eerily similar loss. However, as it has in all areas thus far this season, the maturity — in a game that reeked of immaturity from all sides — shone through when the whips started cracking. They rallied, they defended, they stopped giving up offensive rebounds at an alarming rate, and they executed.
It was a game they should have won. But that’s not always how it works out in the league. Sometimes, cakewalks become dogfights. Sometimes, wins need to be scratched and clawed for. Consider this one of those. They made the big shots and they got the big stops and they walk away with a memorable win.
Mike Conley: 10/10
He probably needed to be a little more involved early when the circus was in full effect. He might not be the one who has perfected the highwire act or the one who has the gravitas to tame a lion, but he’s the ringleader of this team and he didn’t really take control when the game was crying out for it.
But you can’t ignore the ringleader for long. You can’t ignore Mike Conley. Not in the fourth quarter. Not when the game is there to be won. Not in the corner pocket. Bite bite. He takes a chunk out of the withering Warriors when it matters most. Splish fucking splash. Time to go home.
He’s never needed an inordinate amount of touches to leave his wise fingerprints on a night. He had his moments after the frenetic beginnings of this one, but he only really needed one touch to stamp his name into the annals of Wolves lore. Minnesota motherfucking Mike. Bite Bite. The Vet. Call him what you want, but make sure you call him a winner.
Finished with 13 points (94.5% TS), 2 rebounds, 8 assists and 2 steals in 30 minutes — +18.8 net rating.
Anthony Edwards: 9/10
Moments.
He’s always been about moments. Lately, he’s strung together those moments and turned them into one long thread of offensive mastery, but when the brilliance is spotty he always has the moments to fall back on.
This wasn’t his best night, let’s make that clear. In fact, for much of the evening it was trending toward a bad night. His jumper and overall shot-creation wasn’t really there and he wasn’t helping quell Golden State’s shot-making or offensive rebounding dominance. But there were still moments to be made. Moments to be created. Moments to live for and moments to die for.
He hoovers up a loose pass from that dirty little point gremlin and beats Andrew Wiggins’ plodding fuckery to the rim. He takes the offensive reins with five seconds left on the shot clock and buries a step-back sizzler to give Minnesota a late-game lead. And, in perhaps the most impressive display of growth in his infantile career, he crumbles Golden State’s defense on his own, ducks under Wiggins again, and then slings a game-sealing laser to the awaiting Mike Conley.
Moments.
Finished with 20 points (54.9% TS), 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals in 36 minutes — -14.8 net rating.
Jaden McDaniels: 10/10
Fuck being punked by a team full of former greats. If Klay Thompson wants to piss and moan about being terrible at basketball for the first time in his life then he can do it with someone else’s collar in his grasp. McDaniels has often been the face of Minnesota’s immaturity and volatility — rightfully so — but his fire burns bright and hot and his team needs it.
If that means he squares up to Thompson 90 seconds into a game, then so be it. If that means he has to be the one who proves that his squad isn’t going to get pushed around, so be it. Every team needs someone who plays on the edge and tonight he stepped over it for about as good a reason as one can.
Finished with his pride intact.
Karl-Anthony Towns: 10/10
It’s a hard character to play, this second option role. On some nights, like the previous one against the Warriors, he needs to dominate with limited touches and defer in crunch time. On other nights, he might have to do the same kind of dirty work he’s been doing as a rebounder and defender all season long and naught else. On other nights, he needs to step back into the spotlight and become the caped hero the team is crying out for.
He leaves this game with his cape fluttering in the wind and every part of his game back in working order — with a few extra bells and whistles attached.
When they needed him, he was there. All night. He was feasting as a driving bulldozer and post hub in the first half, mixing in the occasional triple into his gluttonous shot diet. And, since Edwards didn’t quite have his own cape on until very late in the night, he just kept fucking them up himself.
When the crucial fourth quarter rolled around, he showcased why he’s still the league’s most unique volcano. He spits slabs of lava all over the languishing Warriors with the kind of flair and skill that would make a fucking rainbow seem pedestrian. He nails a trio of 3-pointers, the final one to give the Wolves a one-point lead with a minute left, and weaves in a filthy mid-range jumper while moonlighting as a pick-and-roll ball-handler.
All of it while still defending well. All of it while working like a sheepdog on the glass while many of his teammates found rebounding a tertiary priority. He looked good with his cape back on. Dashing. Opulent. Familiar.
Finished with 33 points (59.4% TS), 11 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals in 42 minutes — +8.1 net rating.
Rudy Gobert: 8/10
I don’t know. For most of the night he was annoying offensively. Just fucking bugging me. His butterfingers were back, he always felt a little cumbersome in his role within the offense’s spacing, and he blew multiple easy dunks. He is prone to those things, but he wasn’t able to control things defensively as he has been of late so it all seemed a little magnified.
Then, as is a theme of the night, he rediscovered what makes him so truly special in the fourth quarter. Block party shit. Get out of my fucking paint shit. He served two Andrew Wiggins shots back down his throat and then finishes the night with one of the most spectacular defensive feats the season has witnessed.
When Chris Paul comes off the ball screen in acres of space and seconds left on the clock, Gobert’s got decisions to make. Decisions piling on top of fucking decisions. Instead of doing the normal, flesh-laden, mortal being thing and taking away either Paul’s jumper or Saric’s corner trey, he stunts at Paul and forces the perennial choker into passing to the corner, and then sprints out and blocks the dagger attempt.
He laughed in the face of tough decisions. He made them all. Everything everywhere all at once. He’s the best defender on earth. Not even an off-night can keep him down.
Finished with 9 points (42.3% TS), 13 rebounds and 3 blocks in 35 minutes — +8.3 net rating.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Howls and Growls to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.