The Minnesota Timberwolves took the tarps off the upper-level seats behind the baskets, and the crowd of 19,478 created a skull-cracking cacophony before Game 1. It didn’t matter that the Phoenix Suns had swept the regular-season series, including a 125-106 win a week earlier. It was the playoffs. No time like the present.
The Target Center jumbotron panned to Mike Conley, 36, who knows that the Wolves have a unique opportunity more than anybody. Next, it focused on Anthony Edwards, who oozes charisma. Karl-Anthony Towns flashed a million-dollar smile. Rudy Gobert seemed mildly amused.
Jaden McDaniels? He looked like he always does.
During McDaniels’ rookie season, Britt Robson called him a samurai in sheep’s clothes. “The defensive performance of Jaden McDaniels on a basketball court is a perpetual, potential coup d’etat, a sudden seizure of power just waiting to happen,” Robson, who has covered the Wolves for various publications since 1991, wrote in 2021.
“The waiting may be the most remarkable thing about it. At first blush, McDaniels’ presence is gangly and nonchalant, his visage sloe-eyed and sleepy, the muscle tone unflexed and on pause. But it’s a clandestine ruse, a deceptive cloak over a ruthless competitor who is in fact hyper-alert and almost haughty in his vengeful arrogance.”
Not much has changed about McDaniels since then, including his expression. He has developed as a player, honing his defensive game and improving his scoring. And he grew two inches. But he’s still the silent assassin that he was as a rookie. Still, he announced himself in a big way by finishing with 25 points and eight boards in Game 2 against Phoenix.
“A lot of it just starts from being a big presence on the glass,” said Chris Finch. “Just getting there, playing with a lot of force, finishing strong around the basket, being confident in his shot. The job he’s doing on the other end of the floor, fighting through every single screen, getting hit a bunch. I thought he had a special performance tonight.”
Reticent with a dash of nonchalance, McDaniels hides in the fog of war, waiting for an opportunity to strike. He’ll steal the ball from an unsuspecting player or block an opponent who doesn’t go to the basket with enough force. McDaniels will also occasionally throw down a ferocious dunk or corkscrew around the defense for a layup.
Finch would like to see McDaniels attack the basket more, especially to get rebounds.
“Yeah,” Finch said when a reporter asked him if he wanted McDaniels to grab more boards. “[For] 250 games.”
The Wolves are a different team when McDaniels scores and rebounds. Opposing defenses can’t shut down Edwards, Towns, Gobert, and McDaniels. And McDaniels creates more offensive opportunities when he scrapes glass.
“It’s the playoffs,” McDaniels, who had five offensive rebounds in Game 2, sheepishly replied when a reporter asked him about Finch’s comments. “We got to win, just doing anything to win. He be on me the whole regular season about offensive rebounds. You see tonight, he’s right.”
Two years after they couldn’t put away the Memphis Grizzlies, the Timberwolves have developed a killer instinct. They’re starting fast and finishing strong.
Phoenix led 32-31 with 10:26 left in the second half of Game 1, but the Wolves never relinquished the lead after that. Suns coach Frank Vogel called a timeout down 111-91 with 3:37 in the fourth and emptied his bench. Minnesota started Game 2 on an 8-0 run, and Vogel called his final timeout down 93-76 with 7:51 left in the fourth quarter.
Games 1 and 2 haven’t been blowouts. The Suns have occasionally pushed the Wolves, and it took a herculean effort from Edwards in the third quarter to win Game 1. But Minnesota’s supporting cast has been the difference against Phoenix’s top-heavy roster. Nickeil Alexander-Walker was a difference-maker in Game 1; McDaniels lifted them in Game 2.
The Wolves can’t change their game in Phoenix. They must continue playing with the same grating defense and wear the Suns down. McDaniels won’t score 25 every night. Still, he can grab rebounds and make an impact defensively. They won’t show him on the big board during intros in Phoenix, but McDaniels won’t notice. He’s focused, ready to eliminate opponents shrouded by the din of battle.
