Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Cleveland Cavaliers: Instant reaction

The Minnesota Timberwolves got a much-needed win against a Cleveland Cavaliers team that has been outperforming expectations so far this year.

The Minnesota Timberwolves were without much of their roster, but it didn’t matter at home Sunday night against the Cavs. Short Karl-Anthony Towns, Naz Reid, and Juan Hernangomez, Cleveland did their best to take advantage of the woeful interior of Minnesota.

What the Cavaliers did NOT do, though, was take 3-point attempts. Like, at all. They only made four total outside shots over the course of the entire game. D’Angelo Russell (5), Malik Beasley (5), and Anthony Edwards (4) each had more (or the same amount of) makes individually than the Cavs did as a team.

As stated, the Timberwolves struggled to defend the paint tonight. Andre Drummond alone had 25 points, 22 rebounds, and four assists on 18 total shots. Ed Davis and Jarred Vanderbilt just were unable to contend with Drummond.

For the Timberwolves, though, the team only had four players reach double digits: Edwards (23), Beasley (23), Russell (19), and Nowell (13). Each of those players performed well tonight, and stepped up in ways that they had to in order to secure the win.

Ed Davis didn’t score a single point all night, and only took two total shots in 23 minutes in action. That said, he had a thankless job – being one of the only bigs for a Timberwolves team that went up against Larry Nance, Andre Drummond, and Jarrett Allen. He had three steals, three blocks, and was a team-high plus-16.

Josh Okogie was another player that had an interesting game. He was downright bad up until the fourth quarter – taking unforced pull-up shots and being less-than-average defensively. In the final period, though, he made several clutch plays that allowed the Timberwolves to come away with the win.

The Timberwolves have another game tomorrow against the Cavaliers – this time on the road. The game will start at 7:00 p.m. CT.