It’s still probably too early to deem the sky to be falling. But it might be a good time to find some suitable shelter. Even if the sky doesn’t end up toppling and suffocating the disastrously disappointing Minnesota Timberwolves, there is a shitstorm that is beyond just brewing. This shitstorm has already started bucketing down. And, without a paddle in sight, the Wolves need to find a way — any way — to seek refuge.
The game ends 129-117. There are so many problems it’s tough to pinpoint which one or which combination is doing the most damage. As it stands, every time the Wolves wallpaper a growing crack, another one appears. Those cracks only become easier to pry open by a team like the Phoenix Suns, even without their hall-of-fame floor general Chris Paul and their forward sniper Cam Johnson. They’re so well-oiled, and the Wolves are lacking even a drop of oil in their machine.
Now, Chris Finch and his team of strugglers are in a spot of bother. Several spots of bother. Everywhere they turn there is bother. Up next, they get a playoff rematch with the gritty Memphis Grizzlies before a frightening date with Donovan Mitchell’s steamrolling Cleveland Cavaliers. Time to turn this ship around or get drowned in its wake.
D’Angelo Russell: 7/10
This was a bit better. It’s easy to launch him back under the same bus he has willingly crawled under all season, but this was a performance that hovered around not-fucking-terrible-again and even spiked into respectable for pretty large chunks.
Let’s be frank, his lackadaisical defense will always weigh down this team’s potential like a big swinging anchor, and watching him stand on the sideline like a stoned turtle while his team plays four-on-five isn’t ideal, but he can contribute. We haven’t seen him link with Gobert in the way he did before this outing — the pick-and-roll actually seemed like something that could work one day — and he took smart shots and made them at an honorable clip.
Still need more, but it’s nice to see him scrape himself off the hellscape floor he has been residing on.
Finished with 20 points (63.5% TS), 2 rebounds and 6 assists in 38 minutes — -5.4 net rating.
Anthony Edwards: 2/10
The problem with him, when he is playing this way, is that he is the barometer of the team. He’s the metronome. The beating heart and the pumping blood. When he is flat, when he is nowhere to be found mentally and physically, this whole thing just fucking stinks. They need his joy, they need his bounce, they need his spark. For now, they’re getting none of it, and boy does it feel that way.
It’s not just that his shot isn’t falling — shots don’t always go in and 21-year-old gunners naturally endure peaks and valleys — but he just doesn’t seem to want it like he usually wants it. His insane blend of power, shot-creation and Hollywood personality are all drifting aimlessly in the wind. Whether he is trying too hard to fit in, or he is irked by the new offensive dynamic, or if he truly just can’t be fucked, something has gotta give.
Finished with 11 points (37.6% TS), 3 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals in 35 minutes — -2.7 net rating.
Jaden McDaniels: 9/10
He danced in the rain while everybody else got swept into the River Styx. He has been a roller coaster this season, but this was that really cool bit at the top just before you fucking freefall again. It’s hard to fathom when considering this game as a whole, but there is an argument to say this was the best game of his career. Perhaps, the most replicable as well.
There was no outlier long-range shooting to pump steroids into his performance. That was replaced by smart and constant cuts, hard attacks past closing defenders, and a bunch of offensive rebounding exploits. He also chipped in with a handy batch of crisp passing reads and, defensively, pissed into the wind gallantly against the tornado that is Devin Booker.
Deserved more than a teamwide thrashing for his efforts.
Finished with 24 points (78.3% TS), 8 rebounds and 3 assists in 38 minutes — +8.4 net rating.
Karl-Anthony Towns: 3/10
Started the rot. He wasn’t the only thing rotting, the whole fucking franchise seems to be crumbling from within, but he started it on this particular night. In what seems like an ancient lifetime ago, the Wolves were actually competing in the first half of the first quarter. That’s when that voltage started straying, spewing the team’s fortunes in every direction along with it.
Three first-quarter fouls, two dumb turnovers, a barrage of slumped shoulders and pouted faces. It’s a huge overstep to blame him for another teamwide clunker, but it feels like a death knell when Minnesota’s best player enters with that sort of attitude. And, when that same supposed leader finishes the night with just seven shots and barely an iota of defensive effort, things start to feel a little grim.
Finished with 11 points (62.8% TS), 8 rebounds and 4 assists in 28 minutes — +8.9 net rating.
Rudy Gobert: 8/10
Much like McDaniels, it’s probably hard to see how good he was through the muck that was this game. Even when he is loping around like a fucking slow-moving oak tree, his impact can be underrated. Along with his trio of blocked shots, he altered a mountain of Phoenix shots at the rim and blew up a bunch of coverages with his positioning. Without him, the Suns might have got to four digits in the scoring column.
He also, kind of quietly, dominated offensively. He timed his rim-dives well all night, he caught the ball and finished well from those dives, and he was such a handful that Phoenix had to resort to consistently fouling him (to which he largely converted the free throws). His teammates need to rise with his tide, but if he plays like this going forward then these creases might iron out quicker than expected.
Finished with 25 points (78.9% TS), 11 rebounds and 3 assists in 30 minutes — -9.2 net rating.
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