On today’s episode, Ryan Eichten and Leo Sun go over the Minnesota Timberwolves‘ 104-103 win over the San Antonio Spurs, the road loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, and much more:
— The battle between Anthony Edwards and Victor Wembanyama on Sunday was an instant NBA regular-season classic. The game was filled with heavyweight punches from each team, with Minnesota finding just enough offense to pull out the win.
— This season, the Timberwolves have the eighth-best clutch-time net rating in the NBA,
a gigantic improvement from last season when they ranked 23rd.
— The Wolves’ perimeter defense against the Spurs was on point, limiting De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, and Dylan Harper to just 23 combined points on 8-35 shooting from the field. It was a complete turnaround from the day before, when the Cavaliers scored 83 second-half points on the Wolves.
— The Wolves’ ball movement has been an area of inconsistency this season. Many games have played out like the win over the Spurs, where the ball gets sticky in the first half, only for it to blossom late in the game. Against the Cavaliers, the first-half ball movement was great, only to dry up in the third quarter.
— Jack Borman of Locked on Wolves asked Micah Nori (filling in for Chris Finch, who was out with an illness) about Joan Beringer’s lack of minutes before garbage time. Nori gave an interesting answer, comparing the situation to the New York Yankees of the early 2000s.
— In the Spurs game, Rudy Gobert received a flagrant foul due to a reckless closeout of Wembanyama. That flagrant gives him five flagrant foul points for the season, meaning he will be suspended for Tuesday’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks. Each subsequent flagrant foul will now come with a two-game suspension for the rest of the regular season.
— The Memphis Grizzlies have indicated that they are hearing offers on trades for Ja Morant. The Timberwolves could go after Morant, but each trade they could make would come with significant risks. While the upside of Morant returning to All-Star form is intriguing, the Wolves have played too well this season to trade for a player like Morant mid-season.
