The Minnesota Timberwolves took on the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com arena in their second to last preseason game Wednesday night. Minnesota took home the win 118-113 in Los Angeles to move to 4-0 in the preseason.
Through four preseason games, we have learned quite a bit about what the Timberwolves will look like this season. Certain role players have showed that they can produce meaningful minutes, and the rotation is slowly but surely coming together.
While winning is always nice, fans shouldn’t put too much stock into an undefeated preseason record thus far. With other squads simply figuring out where certain pieces fit, many teams will be a much easier out than in the regular season.
With that being said, there’s still some legitimate conclusions we can come to from watching preseason action. Here are two studs and one dud from the Timberwolves’ win over the Lakers.
NAZ THREEEEE'D. pic.twitter.com/NvZRFsogQA
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) October 13, 2022
Stud: Naz Reid
In 27 minutes of action, the backup big man Naz Reid put on an absolute clinic while matched up with all-world talent Anthony Davis. Finishing with 22 points and 13 rebounds, Reid looked like the best player on the floor at times.
With Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns out of the starting lineup on Wednesday, Reid started alongside Jaden McDaniels in the frontcourt and showed that he meant business.
This kind of showing is great news for Timberwolves fans wondering what non-Rudy/KAT lineups could look like this season. If Naz Reid is replicating this performance on a regular basis, it could be a scary sight for the rest of the league.
Reid’s 3-of-6 three-point shooting coupled with his 9-of-17 mark from the field overall made for an extremely efficient outing. He showed once again that he can be a major contributor where needed this season.