With the Minnesota Timberwolves debuting against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Target Center, you would have had quite an enigma at any attempt to predict the leading scorer for the team. While there would be nothing wrong with guessing either power forward Karl-Anthony Towns or shooting guard Anthony Edwards, singling the options down to one would be where I would stumble.
But the Timberwolves have other scoring options, as point guard D’Angelo Russell has the potential to put up points in a hurry. Of course, there is that almost automatic scoring ability of new All-Star center Rudy Gobert to sink lob passes, and the Wolves were more than happy to feed him the ball. In fact, Karl-Anthony Towns was more than happy to show the guy a little love in the first quarter.
So you may be shocked to learn that the scoring leader for the Minnesota Timberwolves after one-quarter of play was backup guard Jaylen Nowell. His eight points to lead the Timberwolves are not the whole story. Rather, the fact that he pumped in eight points in just three minutes of playing time is what caused the jaws to drop for the home stand fans
Burying the basket barrage began for Nowell when he sank a two-point shot with 2:32 left in the first quarter from an Anthony Edwards assist. With 38 seconds remaining, he made a 3+1, to put up his fifth and sixth points. Then, as time ran out, he launched a shot with 0.3 seconds left to score his seventh and eighth points.
All of the Timberwolves were on the scoreboard in the first quarter, and the concerns of rust for the team are still a concern. But the Timberwolves showed up huge on the scoreboard in the first quarter.
And they appear to be quite prepared for the 2022-23 NBA season. Well, at least for Game 1.