Timberwolves 116, Suns 104: Life Without Ant

They made you sweat a little bit for it, didn’t they?

The Phoenix Suns came into Target Center on the tail end of a back-to-back, playing in Boston and losing to the Celtics the night before. Making things more intriguing was was the Minnesota Timberwolves relation in the standings to Phoenix. Separated by just two games, a loss would creep the Wolves closer to play-in territory in the middle of a rocky stretch.

Even with Anthony Edwards out for the Wolves, his squad was still 3.5 point favorites.

One of the most durable players in the league, Edwards’ timetable was revealed Tuesday afternoon as a re-evaluation in 1-2 weeks. Without their heartbeat, a source of energy and production was going to need to reveal itself. Early on in the game, that source was non-existent.

Blitzing pick and rolls lazily and leaving the rolling big wide open, oftentimes reserve big Oso Ighodaro. Ighodaro is averging jsut under 5 points per game this season. He started out the game 5-6 from the field and paired it with 10 points. He wasn’t doing anything outside of the norm; simply setting screens and rolling hard.

More to Ighodaro’s big start was a Wolves team that seemed lost without their best player, standing in a circle pointing at each other in trying to figure out who would inevitably set the tone.

Answer? Bones Hyland.

Not only did Hyland get his jumper working early, he also did his part in instilling pace into the Wolves offense, making in synonymous with rhythm and allowing the Wolves to ease into the game offensively. Though the Suns held a near double-digit lead for much of the first half, the home team was able to pull it back down and strolled into halftime with a one point lead.

Notable adjustments were made on the hard roller Phoenix was sending to the basket. Rudy Gobert stayed down in coverage defensively, and it forced the Suns, specifically Jalen Green, to hoist shots. Green finished the game 3-17 from the field.

Pair an increase in defensive involvement from Minnesota with a Julius Randle second half surge and the drag race down the floor that Hyland and Ayo Dosunmu created, it was a night that came up aces for the Wolves after a less than ideal start.

Goosebumps Once Again

Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle had been going through another awkward stretch on the court.

Over their last six games together, they carry a -4.0 net rating. Uncharacteristic yes, but the product on the court was much worse than what the net rating simply gives you.

Prone to falling into your-turn, my-turn offense where one starts taking shots when they feel like the other isn’t passing as much, therefore taking flow out of the offense, was starting to rear its head.

It’s never ideal when your best player goes down and needs to miss time, but in this situation, it might be beneficial for Randle to take the reigns in order to get his confidence back for Edwards’ return and a playoff push. Heading into the Oklahoma City game, Randle had hit on just 27 percent of this threes since the new year. Over the last two games now, Randle is shooting 62 percent.

But according to Head Coach Chris Finch, it’s not the shot in which he’s seen the biggest sign of improvement for Randle over the last couple games.

“His decisiveness,” he said. “The ball is finding him earlier in the offense, and I think he’s also trusting the next play a little more too.”

Randle said after the game that not much changes with Edwards not in the lineup. It’s hard to imagine that being the case. Randle has played extremely free over the last two games, and a tough third quarter from Edwards in Oklahoma City took rhythm out of the offense when he had the hot hand.

“Regardless, I gotta be aggressive,” he said.

I don’t want to sound like this is at all a slight on Ant. But sometimes, when that production gets taken out of the lineup in a group of talented players, it can force new solutions to arise, and perhaps that production can be replaced in the aggregate by good ball movement and free flowing offense that Edwards can work to ingrate into upon his return.

Randle finished the night with 32 points, marking the first time this season he’s finished with back to back 30 point games.

Emptying the Notebook

1). Jaden McDaniels activity on offense while Edwards is out is a non-negotiable. He was an efficient 6-12 from the field for 16 points, but I would have loved to see him a little more active. Granted, he had his hands full guarding Devin Booker (to which he got called for a couple really tough fouls), but this stretch of games is one where i’d like to see Jaden start demanding the ball. The ball being in his hands is one of the best forms of offense this team can put together.

2). This game showed the problem the NBA has on its hands from a game flow standpoint. It was after 9:00 (CST) and the game still had time left in the third quarter. Due to flagrant reviews, coach challenges, and regular timeouts, there were several times in which eye-rolling pauses were taken to make everything was set up perfectly on the floor. Look, I appreciate the effort that the NBA has put in in making sure the determinations on the floor are correct. However, it’s getting to a point where it’s taking pace out of the game, which is one of the best parts about the game itself. I hope there are tweaks that can be made in the next couple offseasons (think the Sky Judge the NFL has, or a shot clock getting put on how long a game stoppage takes for a challenge. Just a couple thoughts.

Up Next

The Wolves will bring in an easier challenge for a back-to-back on Wednesday night against the tanking Utah Jazz. The Jazz will be without Lauri Markkanen, and are literally trying to lose. It would be very hard to blow that one, let alone at home.

Tipoff at Target Center will be at 7:00 PM CST.

Highlights