It’s funny how vibes work. An ever-shifting tapestry that can rocket to the highest peaks of emotion and plummet to the deepest ones. The Minnesota Timberwolves embrace those highs and endure those lows with the kind of volatility that could send the average fan into a perpetual tailspin. This day in Wolves World embodied the franchise’s churning instability. The dopamine hit of a new and better-fitting point guard, the reward of a first-time All-Star, and the reality check of a crushing on the court. Vibes can be a treacherous bitch.
The game ends 128-107. Yuck. The Memphis Grizzlies are a good team, they might even be a great team, but they’ve been rancid of late and the Timberwolves have proven before that they can compete and overcome them. So this was a stumble. A faceplant. A vibe check.
The Wolves hung around for a while. They clung to the last thread of hope for a couple of quarters. But the holes they left for Memphis to barrel through were too gaping. They were chasms. They were gashes in the very fabric that makes this team capable of winning games. They were atrocious defending Memphis’ fast-paced and smashmouth halfcourt offensive actions, their own ball movement became more stagnant and stodgy as the night progressed. And, in the final blow, which was no surprise to anybody, the Grizzlies outmuscled and outhustled them. We’ve seen it before, we’ve seen the Wolves find a way to circumvent that physicality battle, but this was a thumping.
Now, it’s time to get the vibes back on track.
Mike Conley: 4/10
Welcome to the party. Sometimes that party is rocking. Beerbongs and molly hits. Other times the party fucking stinks. Unfortunately, in his first night in Minnesota’s multicolored jerseys, he entered the latter. He wasn’t the reason they lost, you could even see the outline of the shooting, steady playmaking, and increased defensive attentiveness compared to his predecessor that will make him a sweet pickup, but he parachuted into a fucking volcano and could do naught to avoid the lava splash.
Finished with 9 points (57.1% TS), 3 assists and 2 steals in 26 minutes — -15.3 net rating.
Anthony Edwards: 3/10
It’s easy to take his greatness for granted. And sometimes it’s hard to envision what it’s like when he has a stinker. Then it happens, a night where his big chiseled aircraft never quite gets off the runway. And it’s not fucking fun. His off-night wasn’t the reason they lost, but the team wasn’t able to firefight with Memphis without his inferno punch.
The shots weren’t dropping from outside the paint. He was fouled incessantly without an inch of relief from a crew of officials who only had eyes for Ja Morant and the rest of their weird little Memphis lovechildren. And, in the end, Edwards fizzled out, with a lack of scoring ideas and a complete dearth of referee respect marring his night.
Finished with 17 points (44.7% TS), 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks in 39 minutes — -22.7 net rating.
Jaden McDaniels: 2/10
Continued the theme. Just a fucking stinker. Shredded relentlessly by Morant, he couldn’t stop the guileful guard from puncturing the paint or knocking down long-range jumpers. On the other end, McDaniels couldn’t take the immediate step up into D’Angelo Russell’s scoring void. He bricked all eight of his 2-point tries and his two spot-up treys did nothing to save his night.
Finished with 6 points (30% TS) and 3 rebounds in 23 minutes — -23.1 net rating.
Kyle Anderson: 6/10
Received a weirdly low allotment of minutes — potentially to save his creaky back from crumbling again — and that cratered the team’s chances of winning. They need Anderson. They need his wily weirdness and his Swiss army knife versatility. He provided that in his restricted burn, knocking down jumpers and being one of the few players who could force those fucking zebras to blow their whistle, but he wasn’t able to inject his role player impact enough to turn the tide of the evening.
Finished with 12 points (87.2% TS), 6 rebounds and 2 assists in 17 minutes — -12.6 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.