They spoke about maturity. Harped on it. Drilled it into the heads of everyone invested in the Minnesota Timberwolves organization from the minute last season came to an abrupt end. Buzzwords can be left to drift into the void, never to be acted upon or remembered, or buzzwords can become buzzsaws, slicing into the psyche of those that need it and leaving an unhealing wound that festers in all the right ways. Maturity. Now we see the reaping of what was sowed.
The game ends 116-110. A win that radiated that maturity. A game that needed it, required it, demanded it. The Golden State Warriors are always a prospect unto themselves, they force their opponents to bend their schemes, principles and very nature. It takes a mature team to scythe through their brilliance and their antics to remain steadfast in an approach and concreted to an identity. Maturity, the Timberwolves have it right now and it doesn’t seem to be fading.
So, when things were going awry on the offensive glass and in the turnover column early, the Wolves stayed mature. When Golden State pushed their lead out to eight in the second period, that maturity never left. If anything, it only hardened. They doubled down on defense, they know it’s what defines them and so they kept poking at the pressure points. Eventually, great defense throttles all comers.
After halftime, that throttling began in earnest. Minnesota closed off Golden State’s motion offense, they suffocated passing lanes, found ways to maneuver around the gaggle of illegal screens set on every possession, and then contested the life out of the team who made long-range daggers an art form.
On the other end, they found enough of their offense to supplement the defense and build a worthy lead, relying on their star contributors to shoulder the burden while the team coalesced into the venomous defensive serpent it’s been all season long.
And that was it. Things got hairy in the closing moments, but it was just too little and far too late. Maturity won. Again.
Mike Conley: 8/10
He’s always there. Even when his night isn’t the kind of night you’d write home about, he’s there. Twisting his likeness into the evening by hook or by crook.
He wasn’t imperceptible for the first three quarters, he was still there making plays for others and keeping tabs on Andrew Wiggins’ lazy stylings, but when things started to devolve into a chaotic mess late in the game he popped his head above the parapets and fired off a quiver of the game’s most important arrows.
Two-man game, slithering off a Rudy Gobert side pick-and-roll, playing cat and mouse, luring the defense into his fucking web, then smoothly cutting the cord with a silky teardrop. A few possessions later, he gets Jonathon Kuminga — who’s all bluster and not an ounce of muster — on an island and drops him off at the rim with a high-arcing finger roll.
He’s always there.
Finished with 8 points (53.8% TS), 5 rebounds and 9 assists in 31 minutes — +9.7 net rating.
Anthony Edwards: 9/10
Imagine winding him up. Imagine, on purpose, setting a fire beneath him. Draymond Green must have found himself bored of standing in acres of space offensively, afraid to the core of shooting an open shot, wondering why nobody gives a flying fuck about him anymore. Channeling that boredom into prodding the bear wasn’t wise. You do so and that big bastard might just rip your fucking head off and spit out the remains.
Or, imagine being Dario Saric. Poor, lonely, scared of life outside of Philadelphia Dario Saric. Get out of the way, man. Make a business decision. Don’t jump. Stop jumping. Why are you jumping. See what you’ve done, now you’re plastered onto a poster for the rest of your life.
This wasn’t even a great Anthony Edwards night. The ball was too frequently sticky, he jacked up some bad triples as a result, and he wasn’t at his menacing best defensively. Still, he dominates the box score, he goes bonkers in the final minutes to bury the Dubs, and his moments of dazzle littered the night.
He’s one of the best around. Not one for the future. Not an up-and-coming stud. He’s here and he’s tearing shreds off everybody who steps in front of him.
Finished with 33 points (52.5% TS), 6 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals in 37 minutes — +20.3 net rating.
Jaden McDaniels: 10/10
This was a great test of box score versus impact. Steph Curry, the wizard that he is, still finished with 38 points as McDaniels’ primary matchup, and yet he was given everything he could handle.
Curry savored the moments when McDaniels wasn’t shadowing him like it was his last meal. And, while Curry was able to weasel his way into some scintillating buckets while being manned by Minnesota’s limb-laden hawk, McDaniels was unfathomably excellent at chasing him around every panel of hardwood. He slunk through every screen, got a long arm up for every shot, and managed to keep his fouling in check until the dying stages of the game.
What he did offensively, somehow, felt just as important. McDaniels made a catch-and-shoot jumper and a snaking layup early in proceedings, both buckets feeling important given Minnesota’s sluggish start. Then, when the screws really tightened up late, he had a stretch of crispy scoring sorties that helped see off the pressing Warriors.
He’s a freak. Don’t ever forget that. The best perimeter defender the world has to offer.
Finished with 13 points (81.3% TS) in 35 minutes — +11.0 net rating.
Karl-Anthony Towns: 10/10
This felt like the first time where everything just nestled into place for him so far this season. Heading into this one, even his good nights have been tinged with a grimy, sludgy style of play. Nothing has come easy. None of the puzzle pieces have seemed to fit.
Everything changed here. He was the perfect foil for Edwards, capable of grabbing the game by the scruff of the neck and carrying the offense for a long stretches in the first and third quarters while also deferring to his teammates when the game demanded it. And all of it done with a monk’s tranquility. No hooking or pouting or tantrums, just pure fucking buckets.
And defense. Defense defense defense. Fucking heaps of defense. He’s been great all season on that end but this was a level up from even that super-high baseline he’s been setting.
He was excellent when rotating over and protecting the rim, he smothered a Klay Thompson transition foray and even spent some time getting over screens to stop the aging Splash Brother from getting off triple tries. Lately he’s been doing his job — incredibly, mind you — but in this one he starred in his defensive role.
If he keeps playing defense at the level he has all season, he’s offense can become a footnote. A luxurious, wonderful, sumptuous footnote.
Finished with 21 points (68.5% TS), 14 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals in 37 minutes — +13.1 net rating.
Rudy Gobert: 8/10
Just a very weird night. Make no mistake, he’s the driving force behind Minnesota’s defensive mastery. Things work because he makes them fucking work.
He emits a fear into the air that burrows its way into the arteries of the opposition and infects the very fibers of their being. They refuse to challenge him at the coalface and when they do they get their shit sent back to sender. None of that changed against the vaunted Warriors offense. He deterred everything and blocked five shots as a constant reminder as to why they should stay away from his hunting grounds.
However, unlike the season at large, his offensive woes seemed to scar the team as a whole. To be fair to him, they kept giving him the fucking ball. Some nights, in some situations, with some certain qualifiers, that’s a good idea. On others such as this one, it’s almost a death knell. He couldn’t finish around the rim, his hands were clammy, and when he did get hacked he couldn’t finish his dinner at the charity stripe.
Still, the defense is so good. So so good. Life-changingly good. Franchise-altering good. That remains the most important part of his night.
Finished with 10 points (47.5% TS), 10 rebounds, 3 assists and 5 blocks in 35 minutes — +1.8 net rating.
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