Expectations are a funny thing. A fickle thing. Everybody knows about them but nobody quite understands them. They hover above every franchise and their tendrils creep into every game. The Minnesota Timberwolves have been fighting off the weight of expectations all season long, embracing them and being crushed by them in equal parts, but a game against the loaded Boston Celtics is one where expectations are unusually low. A win would be a huge boost but a loss was always baked into the expectations. But expectations are a funny thing, and it feels doesn’t feel unreasonable to expect a game to be decided by the actual players on the court.
The game ends 104-102. Things happened. There was great defense from both teams, there was stodgy offense from them as well. There was big shot-making down the stretch and there were two teams fighting tooth and nail for very different reasons. But, most of all, there was the looming shadow of a game ripped away from one side and handed on a shiny silver platter to the other.
It’s stupid to dismiss the actual basketball that unfurled — there is always the argument that if the Wolves were good enough to win they could have done so no matter what extenuating circumstances swirled around them and it’s hard to deny that — but it’s also impossible to ignore the fucking ridiculousness from an incompetent at best and deeply biased at worst officiating crew.
When tearing into the fibers of this game, that was the story of the night. It’s the hulking elephant filling every crevice of the room.
Soft technical fouls went one way only and handed points to the Celtics. Obvious fouls were overturned for no good reason and handed more points out. Out of bounds calls were given to the away team consistently all night long, in spite of who actually touched it last. And, as the Wolves continued to drag their bloody ankles out of every bear trap that the zebras laid in front of them, they were made to watch helplessly as Boston head coach Joe Mazzulla sprinted 70 feet out of his coaching zone and screamed at the referees on the court before his team committed several unpunished jump ball violations in the biggest possession of the night.
The Wolves made their mistakes. They always do. Missed free throws continue to be a venomous fang sunk into their collective throats and they are clearly missing their scoring punch from Karl-Anthony Towns. However, they shot better than their opponents from every area of the floor, they had more rebounds and more assists and more second-chance points and more points in the paint. That’s usually enough.
Usually.
Mike Conley: 2/10
There’s a pretty consistent theme around him and the team’s fortunes as a whole right now. If he scores, they win. If he drops a fucking deuce as a scorer, they lose. Some of that weighty burden is heaped on him because of the awkward roster construction and the big Towns-sized hole in the fabric of this team, but those circumstances are what they are. When he fails to slither into the lane for floaters, knock down treys, or moonlight as the crafty playmaker then he is only exacerbating this team’s wonky nature.
Finished with 7 points (47% TS), 5 rebounds and 2 assists in 30 minutes — -1.8 net rating.
Anthony Edwards: 9/10
Tossed at the end of the night. Might have asked what the moneyline was and why those little weird fucks were trying so hard to hit it. Might have asked how Tim Donaghy got his job back. Questioned their integrity, apparently, as if there was a shred of it remaining. Before he asked what everybody was thinking, he was good. Really good. Not blow your fucking socks off great, but he continued his role as Atlas holding up the weight of Timberwolves world.
His late-game triple try was ill-advised and stunk of youthful stupidity, but he had knocked down a fistful of jumpers throughout the night and his ability to snake his way through Boston’s staunch defense and finish tough looks at the rim kept Minnesota in the game during the closing minutes. He was willing and crisp as a playmaker all night long and he was a smooth cog in Minnesota’s defensive machine for the entirety of his hefty minute load.
He’s proven himself time and time again, now he just needs some help and some maturity to insulate his bubbling greatness.
Finished with 28 points (63.1% TS), 10 rebounds and 7 assists in 38 minutes — +3.7 net rating.
Jaden McDaniels: 7/10
Loved his aggressiveness on both sides of the ball. He’s going to get called for fouls — and it’s no surprise that this crew dropped the whistle guillotine on him — but he shackled Jayson Tatum when they were lined up and he was consistently attempting to prod and poke at Boston’s defensive shell with his janky dribbles and ungainly finishes.
His missed corner pocket trey late in the proceedings really fucking stings now and it’ll still sting later, but this team is better when he is willing to be the one who takes a chunk of the offensive usage and the responsibility to score.
Finished with 14 points (54.3% TS) and 5 rebounds in 33 minutes — -3.1 net rating.
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