PG D’Angelo Russell is holding the Minnesota Timberwolves back

The Minnesota Timberwolves have a problem. That problem may be finding a way to optimize the performance of PG D’Angelo Russell as quickly as possible.

It was Game 8, and with 7:08 remaining in the second quarter and the Phoenix Suns holding a 36-29 lead over the Timberwolves, point guard D’Angelo Russell, having just missed an open left-handed layup, committed a completely unnecessary foul on Suns big man Dario Saric in the ensuing scrum for the rebound.

It was Russell’s third foul, so he was immediately substituted for backup point guard Jordan McLaughlin. If in that scenario, DLo was playing up to expectations, such a development would have been a disaster. But given the Wolves’ current circumstances, I was genuinely relieved to see Russell leave the floor.

With Russell on the bench for the remainder of the half, the Timberwolves battled back to within 2 points on a beautiful cutting layup by Karl-Anthony Towns, assisted by Rudy Gobert, with 2:46 left in the second frame. The Suns’ starters responded by putting their foot back on the gas and opened the lead back up to 7 at the end of the half.

Taking Russell off the floor didn’t solve all of the Timberwolves’ issues.  After the Suns’ starters overcame their slow start (1-7 shooting through nearly 4 minutes), they were able to go on scoring runs seemingly at will. As color commentator Stan Van Gundy repeatedly pointed out on the TNT broadcast, while Phoenix Suns point guard Chris Paul continued to struggle shooting the ball, his distribution of the ball was immaculate throughout the game, even when he could not contribute to scoring, he remained a valuable engine for the offense.