Personally speaking, I absolutely love the NBA Cup. Its sponsors may morally repel me, and it is the exact type of sideshow that the ABA would’ve thought of to avoid the cold grip of bankruptcy. It is really
and truly the closest equivalent we have to fighting bears at halftime. It is precisely because it is so useless and stupid that I enjoy it so much. Who was this for? How many years will it take for the general public to understand it? Has it even raised viewership at all?
All of that is secondary to the sheer stupid whimsy that comes with the gaudy courts and the late-game intensity in pursuit of point differential. Every matchup turns into a game of Mousetrap. Here comes the click of plastic gears in the form of nonsensical groups. Here’s the corniest ads you’ve ever seen. Here’s the falling basket of a competitive game that was often a double-digit deficit. I love it all. I understand none of it. I am having a wonderful evening.
Through all the whimsy and joy of this stupid setup, there was even more to like about the Minnesota Timberwolves, but only if you missed the first half. While the first two periods were defined by missed opportunities to take advantage of turnovers and Collin Gillespie doing his best Garrison Matthews impression, the end of the second quarter and the start of the third were defined by a dead sprint to eliminate the lead that the Phoenix Suns had initially built.
Notably, and most excitingly, after two straight bad games, Anthony Edwards finally looked like himself by completely knifing through the Suns’ defense en route to what seems to be routine for him in Phoenix.
His counterpart in Devin Booker was seemingly flummoxed by the Wolves’ defense. He spent the entirety of the game in foul trouble and managed to hit double-digit turnovers despite his impressive assist total. The Suns continue to go as Booker does, and it remains true that his offensive process under new head coach Jordan Ott is leading to impressive showings, but he looked ordinary tonight.
The bigger story was aforementioned sharpshooter Collin Gillespie, who looked unstoppable for much of the game. Between a career high in threes and a never-ending green light, there was a cloud of “I guess this is just what’s happening tonight” that should only be reserved for Steph Curry, and yet floats its way onto the court whenever someone unexpected starts making a few shots.
Despite everything, it was a tight contest that went back and forth. There are so many things that could’ve given Minnesota a boost. Maybe if at least one of Mike Conley (who has been apocalyptically terrible) or Rob Dillingham were playable, it would’ve gone better. Maybe if the roster’s lineup of capable defenders hadn’t eroded due to effort and offseason losses, it would’ve gone better. Maybe if Donte Divincenzo had done… well… anything before the fourth quarter, it would’ve gone better.
This team did not deserve better. In fact, they deserved worse. They deserved to lose by 30. They deserved to have a harsh moment of realization that none of this is good enough. Instead, they will blame late-game execution when that’s only part of the story.
The good news is that Minnesota forced turnovers. For the past two years, that had been their calling card. The Wolves were a defensively intimidating team. That has not been present in the numbers or the eye test so far this year, but tonight’s showing should be the benchmark going forward.
The bad news is that the inconsistencies baked into this team’s DNA reared their ugly head again. As the fourth quarter ticked down, the modest nine-point lead never became a 15-point one. Instead, it evaporated as the Wolves gave up bad fouls, second possessions, and empty offensive calories that resulted in neither good shots nor a running clock.
The last minute of gameplay saw the Wolves inexplicably give the Suns an opportunity to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat in a Three Stooges-style runout that should get a piano accompaniment. The Suns took that chance. With Devin Booker and Dillon Brooks both fouled out, the Wolves threw the game away.
For this team, bad process with good results has been a self-induced anchor to any type of maturity. Tonight was, at times, an example of good process, but there were so many moments that made me wish the Wolves would lose to a bad team at some point. They’ve stayed afloat by finding runs in proper execution and doing the bare minimum beyond that to beat bad teams. It’s why they fail to stay on the court against the cream of the crop.
As the season wears on, there are moments in which we have to ask ourselves, as we have done at each point of the Anthony Edwards era, how far can this team go? For the first time in an eventful few years, I find myself thinking a much more morabund alternate interpretation: just how far can this team move away from what got them to two straight conference finals appearances?
The answer, as we saw tonight, is both very far and not at all. They’re still built around the paint presence of Rudy Gobert on defense and the shot-making of Anthony Edwards on offense. They’ve found secondary creators in Julius Randle and Jaden McDaniels to replace the roles once occupied by Karl-Anthony Towns and D’Angelo Russell.
And yet, the identity is only seen in glimpses. Tonight was another glimpse, but there will need to be a moment when those glimpses turn into something real. The NBA Cup is a sideshow, but the real dance will come this summer as it has in the past. This level is fine for the carnival ride of basketball tournaments. It is not going to go very far beyond that.
Up Next
The Timberwolves have the weekend off and will attempt to recover on Monday against the Sacramento Kings, a team they have already beaten twice this season. The game begins at 9:00 PM CT, airing on FanDuel Sports Network.
