The season is upon us and tonight Coach Chris Finch gave the Minnesota fans a glimpse of what’s to come for the season. Tonight the Timberwolves were able to play with their starters as the only one out the lineup tonight was Jaden McDaniels. Naz Reid was put into the starting lineup in his place at small forward.
The clear cut things that we saw in the 1st half of the game tonight was the fact Anthony Edwards looks to be in mid-season form. Anthony Edwards was able to get to his spots and he was able to showcase some of his passing ability as well. Edwards showed that he can get down the court in transition tonight against the Pacers and he was able to attack his matchup with Mathurin. Edwards finished the half/game with 17 points, 1 rebound, and 2 assists in only 19 minutes.
The other thing that was noticed is that Minnesota has to find that defensive identity from a couple years back. The Wolves gave up 40+ points in the paint and they allowed the Pacers to shoot over 50% the majority of the game. It’s just preseason but Wolves have to continue to make good habits on that side of the ball. The Indiana Pacers had 4 scorers in double figures and that was added on once the 2nd unit got in the 2nd half.
Bones Hyland has been on a mission once coming back to the Timberwolves and it looks like he could be that Lou Williams type of player for this team. Bones has been aggressive on the offensive end and he told us during Media Day he wanted to come back here to make an impact. If he keeps this going he’s going to have a serious role in this rotation moving forward this season. Bones finished with (11) points tonight as he was a bright spot for Minnesota.
Johnny Juzang has been able to make the best of his moments on the court as tonight he was (6-8) from the 3 point line and made some clutch shots to get Minnesota back in close range for the game. That type of shooting display will catch the attention of any coaches.
The Pacers are without Tyrese Haliburton and they will need to figure out the direction of the team this season with the PG position. Siakam will have to play that point-forward role but he’s very capable of putting this Indy team on his back like he did for Toronto. This team will need a huge boost from Obi Toppin as well because he has the game to stretch the floor for Indy. Mathurin will need to take that leap in his game for them to even be in contention.
Wolves will be in action a couple more times this week as they travel to NYC & Chicago for the next couple games.
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