Obviously, when a scorer as talented as Anthony Edwards is out, more than one player has to step up to keep the offense afloat. The Minnesota Timberwolves had a balanced scoring attack, with five players scoring 13-20 points in their first game without him on Wednesday, but it wasn’t enough as the Golden State Warriors won by five.
Friday was better, as the Timberwolves scored 127 points in an easy win over the Los Angeles Clippers.
One player seeing more time with Edwards sidelined is Jaylen Clark. The 25-year-old didn’t play in the first half on Wednesday, but Chris Finch inserted him for a little over seven minutes in the second. He got more game action in Friday's win. Clark must take advantage of the opportunity given by Edwards' unfortunate injury if he wants to find his way into the rotation later in the season.
Jaylen Clark has provided the Timberwolves with a spark
Before Edwards underwent arthroscopic knee surgery, Clark was clearly outside the Wolves' rotation. He saw only garbage time in Minnesota’s three blowout wins and didn’t play in the overtime loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Wednesday showed that Clark was still clearly the Timberwolves' 10th man without Edwards. Each of the other nine players who saw action against Golden State played more than twice as much as Clark.
Stephen Curry already had 33 points when Clark first checked in with 6:03 left in the third quarter. Clark stayed in for the rest of the period, and Minnesota cut the deficit from 22 to 12. He often guarded Curry during that stretch, and Curry scored only two points on free throws.
Clark also knocked down a 3-pointer, and the Timberwolves need some offense from him. There’s no guarantee Finch will go 10 deep every game, and if Curry wasn’t going off, Clark likely wasn’t going to play either.
Regardless, that earned Clark some first-half minutes on Friday, as he played about five minutes before halftime. He came in with eight minutes to go in the fourth quarter, with Minnesota up 11, and exited with 1:30 remaining, with the Timberwolves up 26.
Overall, Clark scored five points on three shots in nearly 17 minutes. That's not huge volume, and if that doesn't increase, opposing defenses won't pay him much mind. Once again, though, he made a 3-pointer, something he needs to keep doing in order for those defenses to pay attention to him.
Probably the first thing that pops out when looking at Clark's last two games is that he is a plus-31. If the Timberwolves keep playing better with him on the floor, Finch will have no choice but to keep him in, even after Edwards returns.
Clark needs to give Chris Finch confidence to play him when Anthony Edwards returns
Last season, Edwards missed 11 of the last 14 games. Clark appeared in seven of those games and averaged seven points, making nine of his 23 3-point attempts.
Clark could develop into a borderline All-Defensive candidate if he ever gets enough playing time. That probably won't occur, though, until he shows more offensive chops. Clark will remain out of the rotation in the playoffs, as he has for the last two years, until Minnesota has offensive possessions that don't feel like five-on-four because he is playing.
Clark’s two games since Edwards has been sidelined should let him keep seeing time. He needs to keep making an impact and show enough on offense so his playing time doesn't dry up when Ant-Man returns.
Add us as a preferred source on Google