Despite a tough 116-115 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday, Anthony Edwards emphasized the importance of the Minnesota Timberwolves’ resiliency. The team was down 13-0 within the first few minutes of the game and trailed 34-14 entering the second quarter. But Edwards wasn’t interested in focusing on the early deficit.
“The start was bad,” Edwards said postgame. “We know we gotta get better. But I think it’s all about the finish.”
Edwards, who struggled with just two points on 1-for-5 shooting, two turnovers, and no assists in his first nine minutes, wasn’t one for moral victories, but he did express pride in his team’s fight.
“We fought, so I’m proud of that,” Edwards added.
When asked about the Timberwolves’ need to improve in the second half of the season, Edwards pointed to two specific areas: boxing out and improving the energy at the start of games.
“We are terrible [in the first quarter] every game,” Edwards explained. “We come out just low-energy. The second group comes in and gives us energy. So I would say the starting group has gotta come out with more energy, like we want to play the game of basketball, like we love the game. And rebounding. We gotta rebound.”
The Timberwolves’ struggles have been evident in their lineup changes. On January 6, head coach Chris Finch inserted Donte DiVincenzo into the starting lineup, moving Mike Conley to the bench. This move sparked a brief uptick in the team’s performance, with DiVincenzo scoring a season-high 28 points against the Warriors and the Wolves winning four of their last five games before the loss.
However, the Timberwolves have struggled with spacing, particularly with the four-man combination of Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, Julius Randle, and Rudy Gobert. Through 40 games, the team has scored 111.6 points per 100 possessions with that group, but their point differential remains just +1.5 per 100 possessions.
Last season, with Karl-Anthony Towns in place of Randle, the Timberwolves enjoyed better results, including a +7.9 point differential for the same lineup.
Despite the challenges, there has been a slight improvement in the new starting group, as evidenced by their +17.2 point differential in the first few games after the change. While that number has dipped slightly to +10.3 after the Warriors’ loss, the Timberwolves’ starters have generally been more effective recently.
“We didn’t lose an opening stint after the change went into effect until Wednesday,” said Edwards, emphasizing the need for consistency in the starting lineup.
The Timberwolves find themselves at a crossroads. Sitting at 21-19 and ranked eighth in the Western Conference, they are just 2½ games ahead of the 12th-place San Antonio Spurs and 2½ games behind the fifth-place Los Angeles Clippers. The team, which was 29-11 at this point last season, is still trying to figure out how to make all its pieces fit.
For the Minnesota Timberwolves to make a serious playoff run, they’ll need to maintain their improved offensive play, sustain momentum from their new starting five, and, most importantly, avoid more sluggish first quarters.
