Timberwolves Roundup: Russell is clutch, Edwards added to injury report

The Minnesota Timberwolves have won seven of their last eight games, and D’Angelo Russell has been a big part of their close wins due to his clutch play.

Also, Anthony Edwards is apparently in danger of missing his first game as a professional.

Timberwolves Roundup: Anthony Edwards is on the injury report

The Timberwolves were missing both Jaden McDaniels and Jarred Vanderbilt due to illness on Monday. They were still able to beat the Indiana Pacers even without their two longest and rangiest defenders, but things could get even more difficult on Wednesday in Washington D.C.

As of Tuesday’s injury report, Anthony Edwards has joined both McDaniels and Vanderbilt under the “questionable” designation due to flu-like symptoms.

Edwards has not missed a game in his career, playing in all 72 games in his rookie season and all 21 of the Wolves’ contests thus far this season.

On Monday, McDaniels was ruled out in advance of the game but Vanderbilt was in the original starting lineup and warmed up on the floor before being scratched. Clearly, the illness is not COVID-19-related, based on the way it has been reported, but it’s making its way through the Timberwolves roster.

Timberwolves Roundup: D’Angelo Russell has been genuinely clutch

Russell has always been considered a clutch performer — you know, the whole ice in his veins thing. It’s what he’s known for among NBA fans.

Oftentimes so-called clutch performers are considered to be clutch, at least in part, due to confirmation bias. Also, the more clutch shots a player takes, the more he’ll make, even if the efficiency isn’t all that impressive.

In the case of Russell, however, it’s genuinely true.

NBA.com’s John Schuhmann highlighted DLo’s clutch play in his most recent power rankings article. According to Schumann, Russell is one of 19 players who have attempted at least 200 clutch shots over the last four seasons. He has the best effective field goal percentage of all of them, notching a mark of 54.3 percent.

The Wolves leaned heavily on Russell late in each of their last three wings, dating back to last Wednesday against the Miami Heat. He hit big shots and had the steal and assist that led to Taurean Prince’s game-winning bucket in Philadelphia on Saturday. And he led the Towns-less offense over the Indiana Pacers on Monday.

Here’s hoping that the Wolves won’t need clutch shooting from DLo in Washington on Wednesday night, but if Edwards ends up needing to miss the game, Russell will be leaned upon even more in D.C.