Game Story
Six days ago, the Minnesota Timberwolves were the talk of the NBA discourse after a ridiculous 19-point comeback over the San Antonio Spurs. It was filled with late game drama and a photo finish. Most of the talk was about the duel between two of the faces o the league, as Anthony Edwards slayed Victor Wembanyama. Since then, Edwards has nursed a nagging toe injury the past two games. Wembanyama, on the other hand, stewed over the loss while battling Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
You can bet Wembanyama had this game circled as an opportunity for revenge.
Don’t believe me? Despite a pedestrian five minute stint in the first quarter, the Frenchman went on a tear in his 10-minute second quarter rotation. The Wolves began the game admirably despite missing Rudy Gobert due to a minor hip injury and losing Naz Reid, who started in his stead, just minutes into the action with a left shoulder issue. Jaden McDaniels and Anthony Edwards took charge, combining for 15 of the teams 22 points in the opening stanza to maintain a one-point lead, but San Antonio had a response.
The Wemby Show was in full effect when the second quarter began. It started with a parade to the charity stripe. It built up with an impressive step through shot. It all culminated in a trio of three-point makes, each more and more video game-esque. It seemed like in a blink of an eye, the Spurs sprinted ahead by 25.
Yes, it’s true that Wembanyama was on a heater. However, the Wolves were just as guilty allowing him to get hot. There was a ton of defensive miscommunication on one end and selfish one-pass, or no-pass, basketball on the other end. Minnesota was simply getting outclassed in every category.
Wolves Head Coach Chris Finch certainly got into his team between halves.
Joan Beringer, who was playing meaningful minutes in basically the second game of his career, was called up to join the starters in lieu of Gobert and Reid in the second half. Boy, did he answer the call. The 19-year-0ld had a number of hustle plays to either score or save possessions on both ends. It could essentially be summed up by this offensive rebound where he was initially ruled out of bounds, but it was overturned upon review.
His energy seemed to change the entire momentum of the game. There was a moment where Edwards finished a tough layup and came up limping, immediately asking to get subbed out of the game due to a left knee issue. Despite that, the Wolves kept it pushing. McDaniels took control of the wheel with a flurry of game-changing plays. He somehow blocked a Wembanyama mid-range jumper, then later gave one to Stephon Castle as well.
Minnesota lost the second quarter 22 to 48, but won the third quarter 40 to 27.
There was still plenty of work to be done. Through all of their hard work, the Wolves still trailed by a dozen to start the final quarter. The momentum they built in the previous stanza was still pulsing. A McDaniels block. A Beringer block. Randle bully ball. It was a beautiful crescendo of a comeback that was capped off by a flurry of Edwards three pointers, each more and more video game-esque.
That’s right. An old fashioned duel was unfolding behind our very eyes between Edwards and Wembanyama.
The final minutes of the game was straight out of a Rocky movie. The two superstars hit each other with haymaker after haymaker. Last Sunday, it was Edwards that had the last word. This Saturday, it was Wembanyama. A go-ahead mid-range jumper was coupled with a block on Beringer in the final minute of play.
There was quite a bit of late game shenanigans, including Edwards pushing his point total to a new career high of 55, but his final half court heave was never online. It felt like a crushing defeat in the heat of the moment, considering the Wolves battled back from a franchise-tying 25-point deficit, but just couldn’t top the immovable object that is Victor Wembanyama.
When you zoom out and take a breath…
- They were on the tail end of a road-road, back-to-back.
- The opponent is one of the best teams in the entire league.
- They were fully healthy, while Minnesota was down both a Defensive Player of the Year candidate and Sixth Man of the Year candidate.
- We all got to witness the continued and impressive progress of the center of the future.
- The evolution of their two-way All-Defensive Team talent was on full display.
- The two All-NBA starters showed a ton of heart to engineer a late fourth quarter lead.
We got this.
Box Score
Comment of the Night
Up Next
The Wolves get a couple days off as they travel to visit the Utah Jazz on Tuesday, January 20 at 8:00 pm CT. This will be the third matchup between the two teams, as Minnesota won both their prior contests. Surely, Jazz fans will be excited to welcome Rudy Gobert, and more importantly, Joe Ingles back to Delta Center if they’re available. The game will be broadcast on FanDuel Sports Network.
