The Minnesota Timberwolves picked up a win in their first game of the season, downing the Miami Heat 131-106. It was a blowout victory, but the style of play Minnesota employed may have stood out more than anything. The Wolves shot 50 three-pointers. Anthony Edwards (17) and LaMelo Ball (13) combined to shoot 30 of them. It worked on Wednesday, and maybe the Wolves have the personnel to keep it going.
Edwards hasn’t always been the best three-point shooter. But over the course of the last few years, that’s become one of the best parts of his game. And though Ball isn’t always the most efficient, he definitely gets up shots from long range, and if he gets hot, watch out. Minnesota’s new high-flying offense clearly generates a ton of threes, and that strategy might just work for the Wolves.
With Edwards and Ball leading the way, you might be looking at one of the best high-volume three-point shooting teams in the NBA.
Anthony Edwards and LaMelo Ball are going to take a ton of threes
As a team, the Wolves shot 21-of-50 (42.0%) from three-point range against the Heat on Wednesday night. Miami, on the other hand, attempted just 33 triples and made eight of them (24.2%).
When a team gains that much of an advantage behind the three-point line, it’s going to be hard to beat. That could be a huge advantage for Minnesota throughout the year if they can keep it up.
Edwards finished the game with 45 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, two steals, and one block while shooting 16-of-29 from the field and 9-of-17 from beyond the three-point arc.
As for Ball, he put up 21 points, two rebounds, six assists, and two steals. He shot 7-of-17 from the floor and 5-of-13 from behind the three-point line.
Obviously, those types of three-point numbers aren’t going to be sustainable. At least, not Edwards’ numbers. To a degree, the Wolves can keep up the volume because of their offense. But the efficiency? That’s tough.
Still, getting up that many threes gives you an inherent advantage. If the Wolves can take that many and still make a decent clip, they should be in a good spot most games.
Edwards and Ball are clearly going to lead the way. Outside of Terrence Shannon Jr. (seven three-point attempts), nobody else on the team took more than four.
It’s going to happen from the stars down, and the strategy could work. But it’ll be up to Edwards and Ball to make it work.
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