Takeaways from the Minnesota Timberwolves win over Pistons

The Minnesota Timberwolves got a hard-fought win in their season opener against the Detroit Pistons.

The Minnesota Timberwolves had a shaky performance against the Pistons for their first game of the season. Regardless, they were able to get the win after back-to-back threes by D’Angelo Russell and Malik Beasley.

The Timberwolves made a comeback after trailing by more than ten points during one stretch in the third quarter. A few performances stood out in particular.

After playing poorly in the first half, Malik Beasley brought energy, impact, and scoring, finishing with 23 points on 18 shots, with four rebounds, two assists, and only one turnover. Karl-Anthony Towns also played very well down the stretch, providing very, very high-quality passing, leading the team in assists with seven.

Jake Layman played particularly poorly, going 0-3 from the field in less than 20 minutes of play. He only netted a single rebound and had a plus-minus of negative-15. Juan Hernangomez was worse, however, going 0-4 from three.

D’Angelo Russell notably did not start in the game against the Pistons, as he reportedly was late to shootaround in the morning due to a delay in COVID testing.

The Timberwolves also missed having a guard presence like Ricky Rubio, who performed well against Detroit. Though the box score may not show it, he had a direct impact on the outcome of the game and performed very well in closing minutes.

Anthony Edwards had a promising rookie debut, scoring in a variety of ways for Minnesota. He was 5-12 from the field with four rebounds and four assists. He was attentive on both ends of the floor, and looks every part of a top-5 draft pick.

The Timberwolves next game is going to be against the Utah Jazz on December 26th at 8PM Central. The Timberwolves will look to build on their 1-0 record, hopefully in an attempt to make the playoffs this season.