The Minnesota Timberwolves were dealt a bad hand. When D’Angelo Russell joined Karl-Anthony Towns, Jordan McLaughlin and Taurean Prince on the sidelines, the cards were all twos and sixes and mismatching suits in the Wolves’ deck. They did what they could with those cards, but up against a Los Angeles Clippers team who possess a pair of aces and a bevy of face cards to insulate them, the Wolves were always doomed to bust.
The game ends 99-88. A rock fight that only the purest of basketball enjoyers could cherish. Even then, this one was ugly. Minnesota needed that ugliness, a free-flowing Clippers team would have pummeled them into a realm that is hard to escape, but even with the uncomely nature of the evening the shorthanded and problem-laden Wolves were unable to make hay.
Despite the injuries and overextended role players, the same issues haunted Minnesota. They don’t shoot enough 3-pointers and when they do they don’t go in. They rebound as if the ball was made of molten hot lava, and they waste too many possessions by making the simple look extraordinarily complicated.
Jump shots, rebounds, and turnovers. The triumvirate of terror that has dogged this team’s steps the entirety of the season. Without their franchise cornerstone and their most in-form player, those things were only shoved further under the magnifying glass. In the end, they lose the rock fight. They held on for three quarters, but the fourth-quarter flurry of boulders sat them down and they were never able to get up. Three straight losses, a rudderless identity, and a Western Conference that only grows in stature by the day. Sigh.
Austin Rivers: 5/10
The most Josh Okogie motherfucker alive. Spends his night impressing with his ability to chase through screens, guard players who are bigger and stronger than him, and make handsy defensive stops. Those things are super important for a team who often looks like it would rather do anything aside from that. With Rivers in D’Angelo Russell’s place in the starting unit, the Wolves looked like a team who could legitimately gnaw at the bones of any offense.
But, he gives it all back on offense. A bunch of jab steps that lead absolutely nowhere, a 3-point shot that doesn’t pass the sniff test, and a penchant for holding onto the ball for far too long and creating no advantages with it. Full-blown fucking Okogie. On that end, it was all too obvious that the Russell chasm was enormous.
Finished with 5 points (31.7% TS) and 2 assists in 29 minutes — -13.0 net rating.
Anthony Edwards: 7/10
Started with a cascade of buckets before Tyronn Lue and Co. realized that they should be doubling him every time the rock touches his hands. None of these other fucks are going to beat you. Get the ball out of Edwards’ hands and live with the results. Shrewdly obvious.
To be fair, Edwards played the part forced upon him well. As long as he wasn’t spraying weird lob attempts to Rudy Gobert. Whenever there was a sliver to squeeze through, he did. He split double teams, converted on some ludicrous rim-attacks, and got to the line seven times to go along with a couple of 3-point makes. When those crevices weren’t open, he moved the ball quickly and decisively, taking what the defense gave him. If his teammates could make shots, we might be speaking even more glowingly about how he handled constant two-on-the-ball pressure.
Finished with 19 points (55.6% TS), 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals in 33 minutes — -14.3 net rating.
Jaden McDaniels: 7/10
A strange player to rate. If you go back and watch his game (the first half especially) it quickly stands out how ridiculously absurd he was defensively. All the way back to his best. Not only was he dousing Kawhi Leonard in the flames of a thousand suns, he was covering for his devil-may-care teammates on an every-play basis. There were the two steals where he completely obliterated dribble handoff actions and swooped through like a fucking pterodactyl, but there were even more lateral movements through screens, crisp closeouts, and spectral shadowing of drivers.
But, as has been the case with him of late, he just can’t find that same magic on offense. Where once, for a long stretch to start the season, he was knocking down corner treys and roasting defenders alive when attacking closeouts and diving to the rim, there were only shaky drives and bricked jumpers. On a night when Minnesota needed a second fiddle desperately, his distinct lack of offensive magic stood out like dog’s balls.
The defensive output will tip the Ratings scales his way, but it doesn’t remove the fact that they needed more from him.
Finished with 6 points (27.3% TS), 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals in 36 minutes — -14.9 net rating.
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