After taking an early 11-point lead in the first quarter, the Timberwolves ran out of steam on the second night of a back-to-back
A little more than 24 hours after possibly their best game of the season against the New York Knicks, the Minnesota Timberwolves returned home to Target Center looking for an even more impressive win against the Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers.
Like the game yesterday at Madison Square Garden in which the Knicks were without Karl-Anthony Towns, the Cavaliers were missing two key players, Evan Mobley (right calf) and Isaac Okoro (right shoulder).
Unlike the last home game which saw them fall behind 13-0 at the start of the game, the Wolves’ offense came out of the gate ready to play. Minnesota made ten of their first 15 shots from the field including seven 3-pointers as they built an early 11-point lead including three 3-pointers by Anthony Edwards and a pair from Naz Reid.
Naz Reid stepback corner 3 pic.twitter.com/C7dM6QHAI9
— Timberwolves Clips (@WolvesClips) January 19, 2025
That is when the Wolves’ hit a cold spell, missing 11 of their next 14 shots allowing the Cavaliers and their top-ranked offense to turn the game around, taking a five-point lead midway through the second quarter.
Minnesota rallied back, going 9-17 down the stretch of the first half to tie the game at 60-60. Rudy Gobert was fantastic in the first half, making all five of his shots from the field leading the Wolves with 15 points while also grabbing ten rebounds. Julius Randle also grabbed ten first-half rebounds as Minnesota’s bigs dominated the smaller Cleveland lineups.
voilà pic.twitter.com/6NeTAifdLD
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) January 19, 2025
The third quarter would go back and forth between the two teams before the Cavs went on a 16-5 run over the last four-and-a-half minutes of the quarter. The run was helped by some poor defensive rebounding by the Wolves as the Cavs grabbed seven offensive rebounds in the frame.
With the Wolves seemingly feeling the effects of playing two games in as many nights, the Cavaliers scored the first ten points of the period, bringing the score to 99-79. Despite a late comeback, the Cleveland lead proved too much to overcome Wolves fell to the Cavaliers 124-117.
Edwards led the Wolves in scoring with an inefficient 28 points on 9-22 shooting from the field. After dominating the first half, Randle and Gobert were largely silent in the second, as they combined for just 13 points and six rebounds. Mitchell and Darius Garland were outstanding for the Cavaliers, scoring a total of 65 points.
Key Takeaways
Matt Krohn-Imagn Images
Inconsistent but Improving Offense
The Timberwolves started the game by making seven of their first ten shots from beyond the arc as they built up an 11-point lead early in the game. They proceeded to miss 18 of their next 22 3-point attempts as the Cavaliers erased the Wolves’ lead and took one of their own.
The trend continued in the second half where they missed eight of their first ten attempts from deep as Cleveland got their lead all the way up to 20, effectively ending the game.
Randle spoke in the locker room after the game about whether or not the Wolves’ offense was generating good looks or if there were some missed opportunities.
“Oh yeah we got good looks. We weren’t making them, myself included. More times than not they’ll go down. We just got to keep creating those good looks and creating looks in rhythm so we know when they’re coming.”
Gobert also talked with reporters about whether he feels the offense has been improving over these recent stretch of games.
“For sure. I don’t know what the numbers exactly say, but it feels like we’re finding a little bit more balance offensively. We’ve just got to find our consistency, try to not let ourselves slip away from that, and I think that’s what affects our defense. I think the two ends are really connected.”
For much of the game, the Timberwolves offense was playing well. The ball was moving, guys were making the right play, and shooters were knocking down shots. There were certainly stretches where the shot-making dried up, but overall the Wolves offense looks better than it did a month or two ago.
The challenge will be continuing this trend throughout the rest of the season. As the Wolves defense has taken a slight step back, they will need their offense to continue making strides like they have the past few weeks.
Rebounding Issues Continue
A recent issue for the Wolves has been rebounding the ball on the defensive end and that continued tonight as they gave up 17 offensive rebounds to a Cleveland team that does not have nearly as much size as the Wolves without Mobley. 11 of those rebounds came in the second half when the Cavs were extending their lead.
Timberwolves coach Chris Finch talked on the podium after the game about what they can do to better secure rebounds after the opponent misses their shot.
“First thing you gotta do is you gotta find your man. Maybe he’s crashing, maybe he’s moving, maybe he’s cutting, maybe he’s somewhere else, but you gotta go find your guy. And on the weak side we get caught standing.”
On the seasons the Wolves are ranked 22nd in terms of defensive rebound percentage. For a time that often plays big with Gobert, Randle, and Reid, that number is not nearly as high as it should be.
The reasons for the lack of rebounding, as Finch pointed out, are numerous. There are certainly players, Gobert especially, that just need to do a better job in that area of the game, but if the Wolves want to fix this issue, it is on the entire team to find their man, box out, and go get the ball.
Up Next
For the seventh consecutive time after a home game, the Timberwolves head back out on the road for a matinee matchup with the Memphis Grizzlies on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The game will begin at 1:30 PM CT, airing nationally on TNT and locally on FanDuel Sports Network North.