The Minnesota Timberwolves secured a guaranteed playoff spot early this morning with their win against the Indiana Pacers and a Houston Rockets victory against the Phoenix Suns. They will be heading to a postseason series for the fifth straight season, all under the guidance of Chris Finch.
With this secured, Minnesota looks to be resting players up to get them ready for the 3-6 matchup in a week and a half. They ruled out Anthony Edwards, Rudy Gobert, Ayo Dosunmu, Julius Randle, and Mike Conley before
the game. On the opposite side of things, Jaden McDaniels is making his return from the left knee injury that forced him to miss six games over the last couple of weeks. Joe Ingles is starting in this one as well, with his family still living in Orlando, and he will be at the game.
The Orlando Magic are appreciative of this rest, sitting in the 8th seed in the East and two games out of 5th, while also only a half-game up on the 9th-seeded Hornets.
With all the players out, Joe Ingles entered the starting lineup to get a chance to play in front of his family, who still live in the area. Different guys were getting a lot of opportunities for the Timberwolves and converting with ease early on. Jaden scored the first six points of the game in his return, Donte and Bones both added a couple of 3-pointers, and Naz Reid had a couple of smooth finishes.
Little defense was played on either side, as the rim defense for the Wolves was lacking without Gobert. Despite that, Minnesota was able to continue to get good looks. Nine points from Paolo Banchero helped fuel the good offensive start for the Magic and powered them to a 34-32 lead at the end of one.
The Magic continued a great stretch to close the first and into the second quarter with an extended 14-0 run. The Timberwolves responded with a 13-3 run of their own on the back of Naz Reid, who finished the half with 15 points and has looked a lot better in the last couple of games after going through a rough, extended shooting stretch.
Outside of Naz, the Timberwolves struggled to generate offense in the second quarter, only finishing with 21 points in the frame despite a thunderous TJ Shannon dunk that had the bench on their feet. The Magic kept finding ways to get good looks and took control late in the quarter. They led 63-53 at halftime.
Minnesota started the third and immediately cut the deficit with some hot 3-point shooting. The flurry brought them close to making it a game despite being shorthanded, but as the shooting cooled off, the Magic saw their opportunity.
Some defensive lapses, along with a cold shooting streak and a healthy dose of turnovers, led to a massive Orlando run. The Timberwolves had a few chances to cut into the lead, but they blinked and all of a sudden the Magic were up by 20. Paolo Banchero continued to lead the way for the Magic with 20 points at the end of the third, while Terrence Shannon Jr. kicked into gear as he has continued to string together some good performances with a couple of makes from beyond the arc, including one to beat the buzzer at the end of the quarter.
While the Magic had seized control of the game, no one had told TJ Shannon that. He continued to attack and add to his totals for the game while trying to spur a comeback attempt. This attempt would be in vain, but Joe Ingles still got a few more minutes in front of his family, including a 3-pointer at the end of the game, which is always good for the vibes.
Jaden and Joe Re-insertion
Jaden McDaniels had missed the last couple of weeks with a knee injury that was considered week-to-week, and while there was always optimism that he would return specifically for the postseason, it was great to see him back out there being impactful.
It’s always good to have a ramp-up period before the playoffs begin when coming off an injury. He scored 18 points on 8/16 shooting and seemed to be finding his rhythm as the game went along. Along with Jaden, Joe Ingles was inserted into the starting lineup as well. Ingles spent a year in Orlando before coming to Minnesota, and his family still lives there and were able to watch him play tonight – and he hit a few shots along the way, including a make from deep right over Mo Wagner at the end of the game.
Naz Catching a Rhythm
Naz Reid has had a poor stretch since a shoulder injury plagued him from early in February. He struggled to find his rhythm, and his usually fluid shooting and finishing seemed hindered by the pain he was experiencing. He’s now strung together back-to-back good games where the nifty footwork and good-looking jump hooks have returned to his game.
He scored 15 points and kept the Timberwolves’ offense afloat during stretches while the game was still competitive. Even if the game went south, it was good to see him finding his way back after an extended stretch of poor play.
Terrence Shannon Jr. Gaining Steam
Now, it may be crazy to have only positives from a game where the Timberwolves lost by 20, but all of these things were worth talking about and are great things at this point in the season, where you are finalizing depth charts and trying to get guys into rhythm.
TJ Shannon may not be a part of the playoff rotation, but it has been great to see him put together a good stretch of games after his bad start to the season. He struggled, then was injured, and then struggled again, but this game was the latest in a line of good performances for him. He’s playing free and, more importantly, playing fast. Every time he gets the ball in the backcourt with some space ahead of him, he is attacking it with confidence and looking to get to the rim.
Too many times have you seen him tentative or second-guessing himself on what to do, but he was full steam ahead in this one. TJ scored a career-high 33 points and added five assists to his tally, dropping a 5/7 line from behind the arc.
Up Next
In a once marquee matchup that may have lost some of its prestige, the Minnesota Timberwolves will head to Texas to take on the Houston Rockets. With the Wolves now locked into the sixth seed, they may decide to sit players like they did tonight.
It is a later 8:30 PM CT tipoff. Fans can watch the game airing nationally on Amazon Prime Video, as well as locally on FanDuel Sports Network.
