On Monday night, the Minnesota Timberwolves ended their six-game losing streak with a decisive 124-111 win over the first-place Denver Nuggets. The outstanding play of the team’s most important young players was the primary catalyst for this win. Anthony Edwards led the team in points (29) and rebounds (10) and consistently made room for his teammates to shoot through drive-and-kicks, which netted him four of his five assists. Jaden McDaniels had a ridiculously efficient game shooting 9 of 10 from the field on his way to 21 points. Early foul trouble kept him from playing heavy minutes, but he still stuffed the stat sheet. He hit two clutch threes in the last six minutes of the game and tied Edwards for the team-high plus-13.
The win over Denver does not remove the dark cloud of anxiety the Rudy Gobert trade created, the lack of on-court chemistry thereafter, and Minnesota’s six-game losing streak. However, it is important not to let the team’s struggles overshadow the good developments that have simultaneously been happening. Much of the six-game losing streak was layered with silver linings due to the competition the Wolves played against and Ant’s ability to play up to his opponents.
Sure, two of the losses during the six-game skid were disappointing. Losing to the Detroit Pistons, who currently hold the worst record in the league and were without Cade Cunningham, hurts. It could be one of Minnesota’s worst losses of the season. Losing to the Miami Heat without their stars, Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, also was not ideal. However, four of those losses were to really good and mostly healthy teams who are all hunting for home-court advantage in the playoffs.
At 26-11, the Boston Celtics have the league’s best record, lead the league in offensive rating at an incredible 117.2, and have the 7th-best defensive rating at 110.6. Despite this, the Wolves played them tight until the fourth quarter and led 54-52 at the half. Had they not turned the ball over 5 times in the 4th quarter and gone completely cold from 3-point range, the game could have been won. Ant put up 30 points, six rebounds, four assists, and two blocks.
One of the other losses was to the New Orleans Pelicans (23-14), who are third in the West. The Wolves came out hot again and led 88-86 through the first three quarters. Despite Zion Williamson scoring 33 points on 10 of 14 shooting in the second half, the Wolves rolled with the punches until the last second and had a chance to win the game with a buzzer-beater. Ant performed well, putting up 27 points, six rebounds, two steals, and a block.
Similarly, the Milwaukee Bucks are 23-13, rank third place in the East, and likely have the best basketball player in the world on their team in Giannis Antetokounmpo. Still, the Wolves led at the half 61-50. They would have had a chance to win had they not gone cold from three again in the second half, shooting only 20%. Conversely, the Bucks caught fire, hitting 64.7%. Ant showed out with 30 points, 10 rebounds, four steals, and two blocks.
The Dallas Mavericks (22-16) are fourth in the West. The Wolves split the two games in a row they had with them, winning the first decisively. They played the second game close, again leading at the half before being out-executed in the 4th quarter. Ant recorded 27 points, 13 rebounds, and nine assists in the win. He had 23 points, four rebounds, and five assists in the loss.
Ironically, the Timberwolves and the Mavericks had almost the exact same record going into their two-game series. However, the Mavs’ win over the Wolves kicked off a seven-game win streak, while Minnesota suffered a six-game losing streak after the second Dallas game.
I understand that a loss is a loss at the end of the season. Moral victories don’t show up in the win column when playoff seeding is determined. However, it’s important to remember that the quality of the team you are playing matters when attempting to determine what any loss (or win) means about the quality of your team.
Ergo, if we are going to rip the Wolves for losing to the Pistons because of how bad they are, we should also be willing to give the Wolves grace for losing to four of the top eight teams in the league. Given that they led at the half in all of their games against those top teams, we should probably be giving them credit, especially with Karl-Anthony Towns, Taurean Prince, and Jordan McLaughlin out.
It may be fair to conclude that these losses mean the Timberwolves have no chance of being a top-four seed in the Western Conference this year. They’ve already played almost half the season and are running out of time to climb the standings. The top teams in the West have begun to hit their stride. Conversely, the Wolves still have a lot of work to do before they become the cohesive unit they need to be to avoid the play-in tournament, much less win a playoff series.
Still, their ability to compete with the best teams in the league signals that the Wolves’ future remains bright, primarily because of the outstanding play of Edwards, Naz Reid, and the rest of their young core. And the young core will improve over the next several years. Though their growth may not have come as quickly as the Wolves’ front office expected, given how much they traded away to get Gobert, improvement is still happening rapidly.
Ant has begun to take on more responsibility, and he’s done an incredible job with it. He’s starting to establish himself as the type of player who almost single-handedly gives you a chance to win every game he plays in, regardless of his supporting cast, and he’s still only 21. He doesn’t have the refinement to his game that Luka Doncic, LeBron James, and other superstars do yet, but he’s already incredibly impactful without it. If he gains that refinement and consistency, then the Wolves will continue to have a chance to win every night, no matter how weirdly the roster is constructed around him.
While this may not exactly inspire confidence, it should encourage you not to panic too much. There is plenty of time for the current iteration of the Timberwolves roster to turn things around in the long term. They still have a future superstar and several other incredibly talented young players to build around if they can’t.
