Timberwolves 127, Bulls 108: Nothing To See Here

There was some drama, but the Wolves closed out a bad Bulls team behind a masterclass from Anthony Edwards and his supporting cast

Imagine this: the Minnesota Timberwolves beating a bad team at home. Sounds pretty strange, right?

Imagine no longer.

The Chicago Bulls came into Target Center on Wednesday night on the second half of a back-to-back. Lonzo Ball was held out, though he signed a contract extension, and Chicago also rolled without recently-acquired Tre Jones, Zac Collins, and Kevin Huerter, not even filling out a full 13-man bench.

It was a prime opportunity for a sputtering Wolves team to right previous wrongs at home and get back on track, especially given its .500 home record heading into the evening and less-than-stellar recent appearances.

It started out almost perfect. At the behest of the starting five, the Wolves jumped out to a 21-point first-quarter lead at its peak. Anthony Edwards and Naz Reid combined for 22 points in the opening, and it seemed as though it would be smooth sailing midway through the first.

Not so fast. From the five-minute mark of the first quarter through halftime, the Bulls would go on to outscore the Wolves 52-26 and pull within a possession, even so much as pulling ahead by five points in the period in the makings of something that could be catastrophic.

The Wolves fell into a lull in the second quarter, plain and simple. Much of it had to do with lackluster paint defense and bad ball contain. Luka Garza will forever be a fan favorite, but folks, he just can’t defend as an NBA center. He posted a minus-nine in six minutes and was quickly yanked from the game after allowing Jalen Smith to get loose multiple times.

But not so fast again! In Michael Scott’s “Snip, snap, snip, snap” fashion, the Wolves found a way to get out of a track meet with a woeful team and pull ahead, largely due to a 49-point gem from Anthony Edwards.

The Bulls allow the most points in the paint per game in the league, allowing around 56 per contest. It was a prime chance for Edwards to attack, Gobert to dominate, and efficient offense to come against a glaring lack of rim protection.

While the Wolves ended up losing the overall points in the paint battle 48-42, it was the increased volume of putting pressure on the rim in the second half that ultimately opened things up.

“I thought we were settling too much at times,” Head Coach Chris Finch mentioned afterward. “[I figured] if we tested their gaps a bit we could get down there a little easier.”

Seemed as though Edwards agreed.

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Key Takeaway

Photo by David Berding/Getty Images

Edwards Pulls Through

“I got five on it,” the song that rings out when Edwards heads to the line for an and-1 opportunity, was played in its fair share later in the game as he glided towards the bucket for many of his 30 second-half points.

Edwards’ 49-point life raft pulled him into a tie for first place in franchise history with Karl-Anthony Towns for 40-point games.

“KAT, I’m on your ass,” he joked after the game in the locker room. In the wake of passing Towns for career three-point field goals as a member of the Wolves, he continues to nip at number 32’s heels for franchise records based on volume scoring.

While coming up a point short of 50, the piece to be critical about tonight in the all-star’s performance was his relative lack of going to the bucket early in the game. It’s a tough needle to thread. How much contact can you hold up to game after game, especially on the front end of a back-to-back? It’s nitpicky, but something that could have kept the Wolves on easy street for much of the night as opposed to a battle for half of the game.

“If he forces the issue, he can benefit with the foul calling,” Finch said, alluding to his star wing’s tendency to shy away from contact earlier on in contests.

Much of it came on the fastbreak as well. Edwards has the ability to be a one-man break and get defenders who are already backpedaling on their heels but has the tendency to list away from the drive and settle for the pull-up 3-pointer. It ended up working against the Bulls, but at times it can be wasteful of possessions, and it’s something Finch seemed to take notice of afterward.

When you get to the level Edwards is at, it’s small things like fastbreak habits and decision-making that can take you up a level. In this case, it could have also taken him up to the 50-point mark.

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Photo by David Berding/Getty Images

Emptying the Notebook

• Jaylen Clark played another nice game, finishing with a plus-seven. He’s certainly seeming to rise from the Nickeil Alexander-Walker mode. That always helps. When asked after the game if Jaylen is earning a foothold in the rotation, Finch answered with a pretty resounding “yes”. I’ll believe it when I see it, especially when injuries start to iron themselves out, but stating the obvious, it’s hard to keep him off the floor right now.
• Anthony Edwards was asked after the game if he was approached about doing the 3-point contest. He mentioned he was, but that his answer was a resounding no. Not his thing, it seems.
• Rudy Gobert recorded his third straight double-double. It needed to happen against a version of Nikola Vucevic who looked like he didn’t really want to play. The Wolves won second chance points 35-16, and much of that was due to Gobert’s work on the glass. Especially in the early going when things started to slip away, he came in and calmed things down a bit.

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Up Next

The Wolves will be back at Target Center on the second leg of a back-to-back against one of the West’s premier teams, the Houston Rockets.

Houston comes in as losers of four straight (two of which to a bad Brooklyn Nets team) and searching for a win. Second-year player Amen Thompson has been playing lights out recently, averaging 17 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists in his last 15 games. Tipoff is at 7:00 PM CT.

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Game Highlights