It was certainly a night that Minnesota Timberwolves fans would like to forget. The San Antonio Spurs arrived at Target Center on Monday and handed the home team one of its ugliest losses in recent memory.
Trailing 103-71 after three quarters, Minnesota made a rally in the fourth quarter, but it was too little too late. The youngsters from San Antonio took home the win 115-106.
After being thoroughly beaten and even receiving boos from the home crowd, the Minnesota Timberwolves have a few things to figure out. Things aren’t going as smoothly as hoped so far, but it’s still very early in the season.
With that being said, we learned several things about this Timberwolves squad and where they’re currently at on Monday night. Let’s look at three of the biggest takeaways.
1. The Minnesota Timberwolves’ defense is still suspect
As we all know, the Timberwolves added one of the NBA’s best defensive players in the offseason when they traded for Rudy Gobert. They carefully considered making this move, and ultimately went through with it because they determined it would give them the best chance to contend for a championship.
Does last night’s loss mean they were wrong in making this move? No, but it’s becoming abundantly clear that the Timberwolves have some work to do on the defensive side of the floor.
Gobert had been a monster through Minnesota’s first three games, putting up 54 rebounds over his first three games with the team. But on Monday, he struggled, logging just 11 points and seven rebounds.
As a team, the Timberwolves just weren’t able to slow down the Spurs all night. They allowed six San Antonio players to score in double figures, and gave up an abundance of and-one opportunities. In addition, the Spurs assisted on 37 of their 48 made field goals.
Having Kyle Anderson out for the last three games hasn’t helped Minnesota. But collectively, they have to pull it together on the defensive end of the floor to avoid more losses like this.
2. An off night for Anthony Edwards is bad news
On Monday night, it wasn’t a great night for many players on the Timberwolves’ roster. But one player’s impact on the Minnesota Timberwolves’ success as a team is arguably more important than the rest, and that player is Anthony Edwards.
Ant was coming off back-to-back 30-point games against the Jazz and Thunder, and he was shaking off the rust from his slow start in the season opener. But then Monday night came, and he scored just nine points on an abysmal 3-for-15 shooting from the field.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that nights where Edwards struggles severely in shooting the ball will lead to some rough outcomes for the Timberwolves. As the team’s presumptive number one scoring option, it’s not unlikely for the team’s offense to suffer when he’s not shooting well.
This reflects the narrative that the Timberwolves will only go as far as Anthony Edwards can take them. While his contributions are absolutely important, basketball is still a team game. So what Edwards can do in situations where he’s gone cold is rely more on his teammates. He has a host of talented players around him, and sometimes he may need to rely on them to set him up and put him in a position to be successful.
At the end of the day, Edwards is still young and his talent is limitless. These off nights are going to become less and less frequent for him.
3. The Minnesota Timberwolves lack heart and hustle
Basketball games aren’t played on paper. If we just awarded a championship to the most talented NBA roster every season, the history of the game would look quite different than it actually does.
What makes the game interesting is the fiery competition and intangibles that each player and team brings to the court. One of the biggest reasons Kobe Bryant is so revered among NBA fans is because of the unique and intense attitude he displayed every time he stepped onto the floor.
It’s these kind of traits that win championships. And so far, the Minnesota Timberwolves have shown very little of the heart and hustle that is becoming of a champion.
On Monday night, not only were they were beaten off the floor by the Spurs, but they failed to show that they took the beating personally. This is a bit surprising, but it makes sense when you consider the personnel changes that took place in Minnesota over the summer.
In the offseason, the Timberwolves lost two of the grittiest energy players the NBA has to offer in Patrick Beverley and Jarred Vanderbilt. Their attitudes were infectious, and it was the X-factor that helped make the Timberwolves such a tough team to beat last year.
To reach their full potential this season, Minnesota will need to recapture some of that in-your-face energy and determination that the team brought to the floor in 2021-22.