There is nothing to gain from volatility.
Those mountain peaks aren’t so joyous when the chasmic valleys below are so ominously deep. The pomp and pageantry are harder to enjoy when that volatility is ready to snatch it all away at any moment. This season was supposed to see the end of the untamed volatility. This season, solidity was the answer to the questions that swirl in an ever-present tornado around this team. But volatility is a pesky temptress, and the Minnesota Timberwolves have been seduced by her once again.
The game ends 127-113. A tale of two halves is quickly becoming a tiresome expression. A tale of two halves has morphed into a tale of the team. There is plenty of romantic prose to spin about that first half, it really was the very fabric of excellence, but it all feels a bit stale in retrospect. This is a results business and the result sings a forlorn tune; the Timberwolves won’t get the praise they probably deserve for their first half excellence because they don’t deserve an ounce of it.
It always felt unsustainable when Minnesota scored 79 points on 67.4 percent shooting from the floor and 66.7 percent from deep in the first half, but it didn’t feel that unsustainable. It didn’t feel like the exact inverse would happen in the second half and their 21-point third quarter lead would quickly evaporate and violently turn to a 19-point deficit within the space of two quarters. It didn’t feel like a meltdown was imminent and yet it always sort of does.
So it happened. And it’s not even unfathomable. This is a theme for both the players and the coaching staff and it’s all too fathomable. It’s still important not to shout sweeping declarations this early in the season, but the Minnesota Timberwolves test that theory to its very limits.
They say don’t get bitter, just get better. The fan base has every right to get bitter and the team has no choice but to get better.
Mike Conley: 2/10
Even in the first half, he was down the pecking order for contributors. When things were going well, he had a handful of his usual shrewd possessions, but he was getting roasted defensively on backdoor cuts and ball screens and it stood out like dog’s balls. He usually belies his age, but Father Time seemed to be dogging his heels from the first tip.
Then he was among the worst in the second half. And that’s a really low fucking bar. He couldn’t get anything going in the empty corner pick-and-roll sets. He missed a bunch of wide-open shots from deep and in his sweet spot around the rim. He was once again a mess defensively against Atlanta’s ball-handlers and movement shooters. And he never, not for a single second, found the calmness that he usually exudes.
This might have been his worst night in Wolves gear.
Finished with 6 points (33.3% TS), 2 rebounds and 3 assists in 28 minutes — -25.2 net rating.
Anthony Edwards: 7/10
It’s hard to put an exact number on his night. It’s been hard to put an exact number on his season.
His first half was a barrage of brilliance. In perhaps the best playmaking half he’s ever had, he was knitting the entire offense together with elegant wonder. There were skip passes to the corner, pocket passes that incited crispy ball-movement, and perfectly-timed extra passes to teammates more open than him.
And that was only the entrée to his scoring punch. It hit like a fucking haymaker to the jaw of the Hawks and it threatened to floor them for the entire night. The 3-ball was falling, the mid-range was money and used with clever sparsity. And he made a quartet of strong looks around the rim. He was everything we know him to be and more.
Then he wasn’t.
When things started to unravel, he joined the cause all too willingly. The playmaking completely dried up, the scoring became labored and of a vacuous nature, and he was a spectator as the volcano raged around him. He was the one to giveth, but he played his part in the taketh away.
That can’t happen anymore.
Finished with 31 points (72.3% TS), 5 rebounds and 7 assists in 38 minutes — -14.7 net rating.
Jaden McDaniels: 8/10
Considering it was his first game back from a tricky injury and he was clearly on some sort of minutes restriction, he played well. If there was a pecking order of putridness, he might be at the very bottom; and all of it was done with the coolest fucking afro in human history.
As much as they needed his defense on the vexing stylings of Trae Young — he did a fantastic job all night — they felt his offense more keenly. He started hot with a couple of triples and a thunderous transition hammer and the difference between the first two games was already palpable. He made a few more shots throughout the evening and looked good doing so.
A smarter coach than the lobotomized sideline stroller Minnesota had for the night would have probably shifted him onto Dejounte Murray earlier, but that’s not his fault. He did his job on Young and he made the most of his low-usage night on the other end.
It’s nice to have him and his big cool as fuck afro back.
Finished with 12 points (100% TS), 3 rebounds and 2 assists in 24 minutes — -14.5 net rating.
Karl-Anthony Towns: 3/10
At some point, he’s going to have to come to the party. Not for a stretch here or a quarter there, he needs to rock up and stay rocked up. He is a thorn in their side right now and it’s starting to really fucking sting.
His first half was good. Offensively he made his looks around the rim and made smart reads for his teammates out of post-up actions. His defense was an unfettered mess on the other end and it only got worse as the night wore on, but at least he had found some of the secret sauce his game had been missing.
Then, when they needed him as that stabilizing beacon of efficient and consistent offense, he disappeared. He floated away into the night like the wisp of unreliable smoke that he’s increasingly becoming. He made a catch-and-shoot trey late proceedings when the game was all but over and that was his only contribution.
When he asserted himself he missed easy looks but most of the time he didn’t even bother. His defense was a steaming pile of hot shit and Atlanta picked on him relentlessly. His team was drowning and he was there holding their head under the water.
Again.
Finished with 16 points (45.9% TS), 10 rebounds and 3 assists in 36 minutes — -10.7 net rating.
Rudy Gobert: 8/10
There’s a lot to worry about already in this larvae season. Almost too much. Strangely, Gobert himself isn’t one of those things. Even with a poor second half — every fucker had a poor second half — he was still among the best Wolves out there.
There were some very annoying misses at the free throw line and his hands let him down a few times, but in general he was one of the few who consistently played at a high level. His first half was beyond a high level, too. His first half was the stuff of Rocky Mountains and Salt Lakes. He finished possessions off at the rim on both ends and did it with fearsome intensity. That’s all they asked of him and that’s all he provided.
Even in the second half he kept pushing. He kept forcing Atlanta to foul. He kept rotating defensively even when his teammates had lost all interest in helping. He kept being him. That’s not going to be enough to stem the hemorrhaging — he’s not that kind of player — but it was enough to keep his stock going in the right direction.
Finished with 14 points (59.1% TS), 13 rebounds and 2 blocks in 31 minutes — -23.5 net rating.
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