“You can’t go 82-0 if you don’t start 1-0.” – LeBron James (paraphrasing)
Expectations were high, and the degree of performance was even higher. On opening night, your Minnesota Timberwolves dusted the Miami Heat by a final score of 131-106. This game got out of hand for Miami in the third quarter and Minnesota never looked back. The new Wolves jerseys were hotter than the otherwise electric introduction of Giannis Antetokounmpo, whose historic 35-point debut will be forgotten amidst the drubbing
by the hands of Anthony Edwards and his new supporting cast.
There is not, in truth, a ton of room to poke holes in this performance from the Timberwolves. It was seamless and fluid. This team played like they’d been playing together for a few seasons at minimum. It was an encouraging start to a season where many naysayers will claim that newcomer LaMelo Ball does not impact winning.
However, the result of this game against a retooled Miami Heat team would suggest that sustained success is on the way.
Anthony Edwards
The headline for this section does not need much else. What more can you say?
Edwards finished the game with a massive 45 points on 16 of 29 shooting from the floor, including a sterling nine of 17 mark from three-point range. His 10 rebounds capped off a sensational double-double. It was just another electric performance.
All of the offseason chatter about Edwards feeling more at home without primary ballhandling duties seemed to ring true. At no point in the game did Ant look uncomfortable moving off-ball and finding his shots. Much of this comfortability can be attributed to the play of LaMelo Ball and the schemes drawn up by head coach Chris Finch to ensure that Edwards can be fully unleashed this season.
Ant cashed in on his open looks. He will likely continue to do so. It figures to stay this way for the foreseeable future.
The sample size is obviously small, though this type of offensive output from Edwards is exactly what president of basketball operations Tim Connelly had in mind when making the seismic trade for LaMelo Ball. Anything else on top of this is just gravy as the opposing teams will have to scramble to adjust to the shot-making potential of the Wolves starting backcourt and reserves.
The Timberwolves as a whole shot 42% from deep even without heavy minutes or volume from projected deep shooter bench players Ayo Dosunmu (29 minutes, one for three from perimeter) or Bones Hyland (three minutes, one for two 2 from perimeter). If Minnesota can keep this momentum up against a physically imposing and big team like Miami, the sky would appear to be the limit for this squad.
At halftime in the game, folks around me at Dangerous Man brewing had commented how it had been a “sneakily quiet 20+ point scoring night” from Ant. His 45 point double-double made sure that his performance was anything but quiet. He now joins Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain to be the only players to score 40+ points in multiple season debuts.
Non-Rudy Rebounding Fears Temporarily Averted
The new-look Miami Heat are big. What their roster lacks in guard play they make up for in sheer size and intimidation.
A starting frontcourt of Antetokounmpo, Bam Adebayo, and Andrew Wiggins appears huge on paper. These are three huge forwards with all the athleticism in the world that should suggest they dominate on the glass. This was not the case on Wednesday night, as the Timberwolves out-rebounded the Heat 52-34.
Edwards himself had the aforementioned 10 rebounds, and Gobert contributed 15 boards. Even the slender Jaden McDaniels, who had a stellar and efficient game offensively, had eight rebounds against this gigantic Miami team. The Heat had no answers for the size and length of the Timberwolves, who allayed any offseason concerns about roster size and physicality in the departure of Julius Randle and Naz Reid.
It remains to be seen whether or not this rebounding effort can sustain across different matchups, though it is encouraging to see Minnesota dominate the glass against a team that should, on paper, exploit this apparent weakness in the Wolves roster.
Miami is, of course, also adjusting to a radically different roster makeup this season. They will likely work out the kinks and, pending the health of Antetokounmpo, become a dominant team on the glass and in the paint. However, tonight was not that night.
Brief Concerns
While I did say it was difficult to poke holes in Minnesota’s performance, it is not impossible. There are a few areas that the team could still clean up in order to lead to more complete games.
The first thing that comes to mind is the offensive involvement of Rudy Gobert. While his usual offensive efficiency was not needed tonight, his five-point output on zero for two shooting left a lot to be desired.
It is well-documented that Gobert is wholly incapable of creating offensive looks for himself (barring turnaround fadeaways in game sevens). This leaves the onus on other players to facilitate clean passes and lobs for him to contribute to scoring in the paint. Though it was not necessary for Gobert to be an offensive force in this game, much of the sustained success of this team will be predicated on him being at least somewhat of a factor on the offensive end.
We are all aware of the prolific passing capabilities of LaMelo Ball, and we have seen other players on the roster be unafraid to give Gobert lobs during the preseason. Expect more of that to come as the season progresses.
The Timberwolves will also need more out of new power forward Trey Lyles (one point on zero for one shooting, one rebound, and three fouls), who did more cardio than contribution in his 13 minutes of play. Lyles did not look out of place, though he will have to give more than that in order to maintain his spot in the rotation.
If Lyles cannot withstand the pressure against bigger teams like the Heat, expect Jaylen Clark or newcomer and preseason darling Cody Williams to slowly increase their minutes in the rotation. We are a long way off from Williams rotation minutes becoming a reality, though a team with legitimate championship aspirations like Minnesota will have little room to spare in giving minutes to players that are contributing meaningfully.
Up Next
The Timberwolves play another game against the Eastern Conference in the same state. They visit Paolo Banchero and an Orlando Magic team fresh off of a close defeat to the Atlanta Hawks thanks to a 31-point performance from our old friend Nickeil Alexander-Walker. Catch the game on Friday, October 23rd at 6:00 PM CT on DAZN-MIN.
