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It may not have looked like much, but it was honest work.
Coming in as 13.5 point favorites over a tanking Memphis Grizzlies team, Tuesday night shaped up to be one of those matchups for a Minnesota Timberwolves team and fanbase that have been tortured by lack of effort and defensive intensity against teams trying to lose.
I specifically like this Grizzlies team. They may not be good, but they have a lot of solid basketball players that play hard, are assignment sound, and beat teams to loose balls. With a host of shooting to backup the additional things they do on the floor, it furthered a potential letdown spot for a white-hot Timberwolves team coming off of a big win in Denver.
But contrary to what’s been much of the narrative over the last couple months, the Wolves came away with a win in which they displayed all of their sides, good and bad.
Shooting 18 percent from three at the half, the Wolves’ percentage from the field mirrored their first half effort level. They turned the ball over on the first play of the game, and found themselves in a double digit hole multiple times before the went to the locker room at the end of the first half. Anthony Edwards was the only player that took double-digit shots, and the second option in Julius Randle was off to a shaky start.
For much of the game, it felt like writing the same story over and over again. But coming out for the second half, a switch flipped for the Wolves, primarily in the form of their top two offensive options.
A Diversion From What You’re Used To
“We played like ass today,” a serious Anthony Edwards said, standing next to his locker after the game. “But we can’t complain about wins.”
Both can be true. From a pure field goal perspective and turnovers in transition, sure, the first part of that could be sound. But the biggest issue with the Wolves game after game against teams like Memphis is the lack of hustle and true ball contain.
“We were better on the ball [in the second half],” Head Coach Chris Finch said. “We were tighter on switches…first half we were pretty loose.”
A tale of two halves, and it culminated with an Anthony Edwards masterclass sequence to largely cap things off at the end of the game.
Many of the bugaboos that plague this team from an effort perspective often run downhill. When things are lackadaisical, you can often point to Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle. When they turn around, the opposite is often the case.
Randle posted just 6 points on 2-6 shooting in the first half with a team low -9. He’d go on to score 17 in the second half and bookend it with a +10.
“Another really good all-around game…he did an outstanding job playing with force,” Finch added. “He was really instrumental in that third quarter for us in finding a rhythm.”
An important piece coming out of the first half down five points in what could have very well been 20 had Memphis not been as overmatched from a talent perspective as they were. Randle flipping the switch not only signifies that he can do just that, but also be able to adapt to the game as it goes in front of him.
It’s part of what can make him so frustrating to fans watching and sounding off on every social platform they have access to. His impact and ability to take games over is obvious; but how often does he want to make that impact?
Edwards speaks for himself. While his hunt for 40 points made a Timberwolves 17-point lead disappear towards the end of the game, shots will always fly from his direction. As long as they go in, he stays relatively engaged and gives you selective defense when it matters; it just highlights the variable nature that this team possesses, and it runs downhill.
On Tuesday, they bucked the trend.
Emptying the Notebook
1). Ayo Dosunmu still has a way to go to get comfortable, but things continue to look better as he assimilates his style on both sides of the ball. Talking to him after the game, the theme of still getting used to things continued to come up. No matter what question was asked, at some point he would mention that he is still working on getting comfortable. Who could blame him? It’s been nine games. But I do still think it’s worth talking about at this point. While things have been markedly better since Dosunmu has come into the fold, it still begs the question how much growing is left within the current team construct, and how that raises the collective ceiling.
2). The Kyle Anderson thing is really interesting within this team’s rotation. The Chris Finch jokes about playing him a lot will fly as they may, but in a night where Rudy Gobert got in foul trouble earlier on, the versatility of what Finch can do with his frontcourt collective was on full display. Specifically, Anderson can help offset the Nez Reid/Julius Randle frontcourt minutes that have a tendency to go south in games where the Wolves need to get stops, and allow Naz and Randle to play next to someone that’s a little better defensively, whether it be Anderson or Gobert. I’m sure Slow-Mo will get minutes on a nightly basis, but I think that fluctuation will be interesting, and give Chris Finch options based on what the game is showing.
Up Next
The Wolves will continue the homestand on Thursday night and host the Toronto Raptors. The last time the two teams played, Anthony Edwards and company scored their first win north of the border since 2004.
The Raptors have been playing close to .500 basketball recently, and look to be a formidable challenge with the expectation of the Wolves being able to take them down at home.
Tipoff is at 7:00 PM CST.