Anthony Edwards set a new career-high in points with 53, but his teammates failed to showed up as Minnesota dropped their third in a row.
After back-to-back close losses against two of the top contenders in the NBA today, the Minnesota Timberwolves faced the Detroit Pistons for the most important matchup of the weekend between a Minnesota sports team and a Detroit sports team. Two young stars face off as Cade Cunningham takes on Anthony Edwards on Saturday night.
Cade Cunningham started the game by dicing up the Timberwolves with his precise playmaking and electric scoring. A few Rudy Gobert turnovers out of the short roll helped the Pistons build a small lead throughout the first quarter. As the bench unit provided a boost as it always does for the Wolves with each of the reserves hitting a three, Minnesota was able to stay within a bucket for all of the first until Cade Cunningham’s silky smooth moves got him a mid-range to beat the first quarter buzzer and match the Pistons largest lead of the night of five. The stars showed out as Ant scored 13 and Cade had 11 in the first frame.
Two things Rudy Gobert absolutely has to be able to do in the Wolves offense is make a pass on the short roll and score from the dunker spot.
– In the first clip, he has to be able to deliver that first pass to Randle in the corner because it’s there
– 2nd clip, has to be able… https://t.co/teJfUZaVIT pic.twitter.com/DakhLAgDU8— Dane Moore (@DaneMooreNBA) January 5, 2025
The Detroit Pistons started the frame putting the pressure on the Timberwolves, forcing turnovers and capitalizing on them. An 11-0 run breaks out a 16-point lead in the first few minutes of the second. The Timberwolves 2nd quarter offensive woes from the Boston Celtics game continued in this one as they only scored 15 points on 5/20 shooting. After the Pistons had the lead up to 18, Anthony Edwards wouldn’t let go of the rope. Ant scored 26 points in the first half while the Wolves scored 43 as a team. Pistons had a 55-43 lead at halftime.
The Pistons came out swinging again in the third quarter, raising their lead to 19 in a blink to start. Anthony Edwards continued his hot streak pouring on another 18 points in the period that brought his total up to 44. Detroit showed much more energy for much of the quarter and used their paint dominance to get their lead up to as much as 24. Finally, in the last two minutes of the third Minnesota was able to go on a 13-4 run to cut the lead back down to 15, 96-81.
Ant has 43 of Minnesota’s 68 points.
They’re down 18.
This is just-
— Nekias (Nuh-KY-us) Duncan (@NekiasNBA) January 5, 2025
The Wolves needed stops and scores to come back in the 4th and while they were able to put the ball in the hoop, they could not stop the Pistons offense and Cade Cunningham. Anthony Edwards was able to get to a career-high 53 points, but it was in vain as Detroit took the win 119-105.
Key Takeaways
Anthony Edwards and… No One
Easily the biggest storyline in this one is Anthony Edwards scoring 53 points compared to the 52 scored by the rest of the roster. Ant voiced his frustrations with double teams after the Boston game and came out guns blazing in this one. He finished with 53 points on 16/31 from the field including 10/15 from three, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists.
It may be easy to look at this box score and think that Edwards was shot hunting, but that is untrue. There were a lot of times throughout the game where he did a great job reading the double team and finding his teammates which turned into hockey assists. Great sign for Ant to be able to score and find ways to get his, but someone else needs to join the offensive party.
Anthony Edwards tonight:
53 Points
6 Rebounds
2 Assists
51% FG
10/15 3PMWolves still lose by 14. (via @realapp_) pic.twitter.com/ICCvMxnyxk
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) January 5, 2025
Detroit Paint Dominance
From the opening tip, it was clear the Pistons wanted to dominate the painted area. They outscored the Timberwolves inside 58-34 and took 13 more shots than Minnesota did. They were getting to exactly where they wanted to go on the court and finishing through the trees. While the lack of shotmaking will be the focus coming out of this one, when the Wolves were able to get themselves in reach the lack of stops is what took the wind out of their sails.
Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
Cade Cunningham Matching Ant
Cade Cunningham saw Anthony Edwards dealing in this one and decided he wanted to match that effort. Cunningham ended with 40 points, 9 assists, and 6 rebounds on 15/29 shooting. He diced up the Timberwolves defense and found his teammates for open looks and they were able to knock them down. Both stars in this game were phenomenal, but Cade’s supporting cast came to play with three of his teammates hitting the double-digit point mark compared to just one for Anthony Edwards.
Pistons dominate the Timberwolves with a shootout between Cade (40pts) and Anthony Edwards(53pts).
They improve to 17-18 on the season, putting together their second three game win streak of the season. One game away from .500.
Detroit is 6-1 in their last 7 games. pic.twitter.com/1O2vFpuu0X
— zariq! (@zariqxavier) January 5, 2025
Up Next
The Timberwolves will travel back home to Minnesota for a Monday evening matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers at 7:00pm CT. Something to keep an eye on in this game is that Kawhi Leonard made his season debut on Saturday, January 4th, and depending on his injury management, could also play Monday against the Timberwolves.