This is what it feels like when it clicks. This is what it feels like when all of the frayed threads that make up this Minnesota Timberwolves team weave themselves together to create a stunning tapestry. There are, as a fan, no better nights than these ones. No finer tapestry to look upon. This isn’t a rivalry, but there will forever be tendrils of connection binding the Utah Jazz with the Wolves after the offseason trade. Forever a reason why this matchup will be fun to watch. Forever a reason to celebrate a win like that.
The game ends 118-108. It’s hard to argue or downplay any part of that one. The Jazz are peskier than pesky, possessing a troop of smart, talented and hungry talents — a few of them clearly harboring some residual resentment after the Timberwolves shipped them out a few months ago. Even without the reborn and reinvigorated Lauri Markkanen to lead them, they entered the night favorites and understandably so. But, the Wolves came for a fight. They came for a scrap. They came with unsheathed weapons of their own.
From the first tip that was obvious. This wasn’t going to be one of those low-energy, low-fun nights. This was the Wolves in all of their flair and fervor. They spent the first quarter playing stifling defense and drifting along at a reasonable pace with the ball in their own hands. Then, they twisted their spurs and suffocated the Jazz in the second quarter with more of the same defensively and a penchant for run-and-gun smashmouth offense, waltzing into halftime with a well-earned 15-point cushion.
Utah don’t go away, though, and Minnesota don’t often string together 48 minutes of unblemished ball. The storm was always brewing and, with the Vivint Arena crowd baying like a pack of ravenous dogs, the lightning was always going to strike at some point. That moment came in the third quarter, when Utah’s defense tightened and Jordan Clarkson, Malik Beasley and Walker Kessler gave them some offensive thunder. All of a sudden a game in blowout territory turned to one in danger of slipping away.
The Wolves just needed to weather that storm. Let the rainclouds wash over them and avoid being fried to a crisp by the lightning strikes. As soon as they saw that sun peak over the clouds, they pounced. A special last quarter for their point guard steals the show, but the on-a-string defense and quick decision-making to fracture Utah’s zone defense were starring sidekicks. They end the night bathing in that sunlight, laughing at a peeved Jazz team who will be citing unwritten rules and ruing missed opportunities.
D’Angelo Russell: 10/10
Like a killer in the shadows, hunting your every step. Snarled occasionally throughout the first three quarters, giving you enough to know that he is indeed there and packing blades long enough to fell a fucking elephant. Then the fourth quarter rolls around. His quarter. His domain. His kill zone. All of a sudden, he is no longer shadowed. No longer in the background. He’s there, brandishing the weapon, hacking Utah’s head off and hanging it in his trophy room with his other vanquished enemies.
That was something absurdly remarkable. One worth trapping in your memory cage and holding in captivity forever. Six long-range shanks to the heart of Utah. No missed strikes. Nothing wasted. He shattered their zone coverage into a billion tiny pieces and then did it again and again and again. Importantly, he never pressed, he just got off the ball and moved into open pockets of space, allowing the ball to find him again. When it did, he shot with composure and assuredness.
He is all chunks of arctic ice and stalagmites and avalanches. Completely and utterly iced out.
Finished with 30 points (93.8% TS), 3 rebounds and 2 assists in 36 minutes — +5.3 net rating.
Anthony Edwards: 5/10
Had a weird night. Indeed, it was a quiet night by his lofty standards that are only climbing loftier and loftier by the day, but it was never a night lacking energy or endeavor. Sometimes the shots don’t go in, and outside of two really big buckets that acted as an intermission between Russell’s fourth-quarter Broadway hit, they didn’t for him in this one.
Still, he was always around. He has a tendency to float on the fringes when he isn’t scoring with his usual pizzazz, but he bucked that trend. He got to the line a handful of times, he was burned a few times guarding the scurrying rodent that is Malik Beasley but he was mostly stout and effectively handsy on defense, and he had no problem deferring in smart ways to the hot hand in the closing minutes.
The scoring will return, but this was about as good a showing as you can have while deafening the masses with the clanging of missed shots.
Finished with 14 points (42.1% TS), 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals in 34 minutes — +17.2 net rating.
Jaden McDaniels: 5/10
He wasn’t necessarily poor, but he is yet to find the pre-illness stardust that he was sprinkling consistently a few weeks back. Jordan Clarkson wasn’t a great matchup for him, which is weird because McDaniels has slapped manacles on shiftier, smarter and saucier guards than him, but he just couldn’t find his cuffs in this one. He is still a gangly grim reaper on that end, but his scythe seems rusty and awkward to hold at the moment.
Offensively, he had better moments and more of them. Only two of his seven attempts didn’t nestle in the nylon, and his makes all seemed to come in a timely fashion. A corner trey, a self-created mid-range jimbo, and a hesitation move on Walker Kessler that reminded you this kid is still oozing with offensive potential. He isn’t quite back yet, but he is creeping closer.
Finished with 11 points (60% TS), 3 rebounds and 2 assists in 32 minutes — +3.5 net rating.
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