Did the Minnesota Timberwolves win last night?

KAT and Ant-Man are back

But the Warriors were not the only team welcoming back a player after injury. While the Minnesota Timberwolves welcomed back Karl-Anthony Towns, the Timberwolves welcomed back All-Star shooting guard Anthony Edwards in this one. That was huge, because not only do the Timberwolves depend heavily upon Edwards to put points on the scoreboard, but the team has come to relish his defensive chops on the basketball court as well.

Edwards is both unique and quite common in the NBA. Common in that he has the toughness, the resolve, that has become legendary of the true masters of the game. He shares the same “I owe it to the fans to play,” mindset that was made famous by Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Allen Iverson, Larry Byrd, and Wilt Chamberlain.  He is unique in that the same mindset is not common in the NBA any longer, and that many players have workload management that kicks them to the bench in back-to-backs or after a prescribed number of games have been played.

Ant-Man comes up big on D

Edwards can score points, lots and lots of points. But it was Edwards’ defense that was so vital in this one. The Warriors had not been held to less than 119 points in their past eight games, and this was a team that has been almost unbeatable at Chase Center. To win on the road against them, the Timberwolves had to score points, as well as get their best defensive effort of the season, and hope it was enough.

The time had come for the team to stop waiting for someone else on the team to show up, and begin to take command of every opportunity the game would allow. After all, the Warriors were making their NBA Playoffs push, and the Minnesota Timberwolves had to not only face that but outhustle them on each and every play.