There are a million different intricacies, mantras and mindsets that pulsate throughout this weird and wonderful league, but perhaps nothing is as important as bending without breaking. Flexing without fracturing. The Minnesota Timberwolves have had every right to fracture and break for a variety of reasons during this mixed-up and muddled campaign and they had every right to do it in this specific game. Through every inch of pressure the Atlanta Hawks applied to them, they withstood, though, they buckled without bursting.
The game ends 125-124. Getting a win is always the elixir to any ailment. Getting a win on a night where they welcomed back their longtime franchise pillar tickles the pickle that little bit more. Getting a win in a Western Conference playoff race that has enough mazy twists to wobble even the steadiest legs feels like a goblet overflowing with that magic elixir.
It didn’t always feel so fulfilling, though. It was a night where every run felt like a haymaker and every comeback surged the heart into the throat. It’ll be weeks before the postseason officially kicks off, but every night feels like prosper or perish and this game was certainly in that category. The Timberwolves had the run of the game, but the Hawks were pesky. Trae Young’s befuddling mix of talent and antics kept them in it on more than one occasion and, unlike the teams’ recent meeting, a bunch of his running mates were percolating as well.
So, as it has so often of late, it came down to the final sphincter-clenching moments. And, as it has so often of late, the Wolves ground it out. A 19-to-4 run to turn an 11-point deficit around, a few big stops helped stave off another Atlanta run, and a pair of free throws from Minnesota’s mainstay lathered the icing on the cake.
Most importantly, they bent but they didn’t break.
Mike Conley: 8/10
He’s a technician. He oozes class and calm and the kind of cocksure certainty in big situations that this team has often lacked. This wasn’t his best night as a wolf, it might not even be in the top handful considering how many throwback nights he has busted out since arriving, but he made the right plays at the right times and that’s been a consistent theme with him.
So, even on a spotty night where not all of his strikes landed, he still did his thing. The cool, calm and fucking collected thing. Nails a couple of off-the-bounce treys, organizes the offense clinically and without a single turnover next to his name, and then straps his big boy pants on and knocks down Minnesota’s final field goal, stemming Atlanta’s late-game surge with style and flair.
He was the perfect inclusion to this slipshod squad.
Finished with 13 points (52.8% TS), 3 rebounds and 6 assists in 30 minutes — +11.7 net rating.
Jaden McDaniels: 10/10
Once was a fluke. Twice can still be filed under the aberration category. Even three times can be written off as a flash in the pan. We’re past that, now. We’re firmly in the realm of a big fucking breakout. No more is he a gangly lump of clay, this is finely sculpted brilliance. We all knew it was going to happen eventually, but for the process to be expedited seemingly overnight is hilariously mind-blowing.
Everything is working. The dribble combinations are flowing into one another like big fucking lanky estuaries gushing into limby oceans. His touch around the rim feels silkier with every feathery floater that nestles into the nylon and the confidence in his mechanical jumper is clearly at an all-time high. He’s not only a capable offensive piece right now, he’s a legitimate axis for the entire team to revolve around.
And he still plays defense. His blood still pumps with the metallic thirst to lock up every high-usage baller in the Association. That frizzy-haired, flop-hungry, foul-baiting, coach-killing, no-defense-playing little dickhead was in McDaniels’ crosshairs in this one and, even with the usual dose of phantom fouls, McDaniels stifled his efficiency and forbade him from touching the ball on the final possession.
This is no fluke.
Finished with 25 points (62.3% TS), 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks in 36 minutes — -10.8 net rating.
Kyle Anderson: 8/10
If Chris Finch is the brain that controls this team, he’s the arms and the hands that twist the marionettes into place. He’s an extension of Finch and surely a teacher’s pet, there just isn’t a coach on the planet that wouldn’t covet the versatility that he possesses. This game was all about that versatility. He wasn’t the ship that will be highlighted by the game’s lighthouse, but without his ability to adapt and thrive in a dozen different on-court costumes this team would have shipwrecked.
Never take for granted how few players can oscillate between a genuine table-setting point guard, a rebounding big man who clears space under the basket and constantly taps boards into the waiting arms of teammates, a low-man helper in pick-and-roll coverage, and a slashing wing who can score in a billion funky ways off-the-catch. He needed to bounce between all of those roles in this game and without him doing each of them they don’t win.
Finished with 9 points (56.3% TS), 3 rebounds and 7 assists in 36 minutes — -7.1 net rating.
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