The Wolves rolled over in the first quarter and dug too deep of a hole to crawl out from.
In their 35 year history, the Minnesota Timberwolves have played a lot of bad quarters. They’ve started a lot of games poorly. Given the circumstances, there’s a chance that the first quarter on January 15, 2025 might go down as the worst.
The Golden State Warriors came into Target Center down two key players, and one of its best rebounders. Former Wolf Kyle Anderson and Draymond Green were both held out, and Steve Kerr was an open book before the game in that the Warriors would need to go small out of necessity; a prime opportunity for Rudy Gobert, Julius Randle, and Golden State killer Naz Reid to hold court against a tired team ending a three-game road trip in Minneapolis.
It couldn’t have started in a more opposite direction, let alone ended that way as well.
A first quarter 24 point Warrior lead partly happened because the team leading by that much played pretty well, but 90 percent falls on the Wolves. It took nearly five minutes to score their first points, got doubled up on the glass 16-8, and shot 25 percent from the field (12 percent from three).
If this says anything about the Wolves first quarter effort, Wardell Stephen Curry II was able to catch the ball, set his feet, and still have no one within 5 feet when he released a three.pic.twitter.com/36djrilDct
— Canis Hoopus (@canishoopus) January 16, 2025
“The game was lost in the first quarter – that’s the obvious statement,” Head Coach Chris Finch said afterward.
It’s a repeated story from the starting lineup throughout the season for a group that’s had its trend of bad starts despite a change at the point guard position. In fact, the benefactor of said change in Donte DiVincenzo went for 28 points and was notably the best player on the floor, benefitting from the gravity Anthony Edwards took with him.
“We’re terrible,” Anthony Edwards said. “So I would say the starting group gotta come out with more energy…like we wanna play the game of basketball.”
12 points was the big number. 12 first quarter points is how many the Wolves put on the board, the lowest total in a quarter since 2021.
When you start a game down 34-12, you have to essentially play perfect for the next three quarters in order to give yourself a chance. The Wolves would go on to outscore Golden State in the next three quarters and put up 30, 36, and 37 points. It’s not a question of if this team can do it. It’s a matter of if they decide to, and what the motivation is behind kicking things into gear. The flip of the switch in the last three quarters is what can be so damn frustrating to fans and anyone with a rooting interest in this team on a night to night basis.
This was a Warrior team that was scheduling a loss. They were shorthanded. No Draymond Green, Kyle Anderson, or Brandin Podziemski; three very solid-to-good rebounders.
Steve Kerr says before the game that the Warriors are likely going small tonight with Kyle Anderson and Draymond Green out tonight.
Stage is set for Rudy Gobert, Randle, and Naz Reid who typically plays pretty well against Golden State
— Andrew Carlson (@andrew_carlson2) January 16, 2025
“It took us too long to find that gear,” Finch said. “We didn’t start the game with the same kind of urgency on offense…it’s been a habit all season…we wanted it easy, and it’s not gonna be easy.”
Why can’t consistency just be slightly easier to find?
Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images
Glass Unclean
Trayce Jackson-Davis is a 6-foot-9, second year player who’s a natural power forward. He completely outplayed Rudy Gobert around the rim in the reigning Defensive Player of the Year’s most head-scratching performance of the season.
Halfway through the second quarter, Gobert had posted just one point and three rebounds. He finished with seven points and 10 rebounds, with the Wolves finishing the game losing the battle on the glass 45-41; inexcusable with the size advantage being at full strength. It was enough for Finch to issue a challenge to his center.
“I think Rudy’s gotta go get the ball in the air,” he said. “He’s trying to play a hand to hand combat game and he’s getting tied up too much.”
It’s an assessment that can be linked to his noticeable downslope in production on the glass this season. Below his less-than-stellar 2022-23 rebound average in his first year in Minnesota, Gobert has been underwhelming in his ability to end possessions and vacuum up rebounds as he did last season.
Chris Finch on the rebounding struggles with Rudy Gobert at times
“Rudy’s got to go get the ball in the air… he gets tied up to much… I’d like to go see him go get the ball in the air with two hands and snag it”#BringTheNice pic.twitter.com/d3aWQ6dM1p
— Andrew Dukowitz (@adukeMN) January 16, 2025
Jackson-Davis went on to bring in 15 boards and mitigate Gobert’s responsibility.
“When I overthink, that’s when I miss out on timing and get caught up fighting instead of just going to get the rebound,” Gobert said in the locker room afterward. “[We have to] be consistent with our mindset, focus and physicality.”
The previous game in Washington was one of the better rebounding games of the year for the Wolves, and it was followed up by one of the worst ones. Now halfway through the year, the hourglass is running out on finding the consistency that’s so desperately needed and preached about.
Photo by David Berding/Getty Images
Emptying the Notebook
- Julius Randle was not in the closing lineup. His body language on the bench because of it wasn’t very good. While I don’t think he was a huge fan of it, it needed to be done. He had a bad night, and there’s trends starting to show themselves of him struggling against teams that go smaller and collapse on the paint. He was 8-18 from the field, with half of those coming on easy rolls to the basket. His ISO approach was downright ineffective, and those in attendance at Target Center were audibly losing patience.
- Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Naz Reid continue to finish in the positive. They were the only two on the team to finish with a positive plus/minus, with much of that coming in the second half when the Wolves started making major dents in the deficit. The bench unit continues to be rock solid and play well with Randle.
- The box score may not say it, but this was a really good Jaden McDaniels game. I think his role in the offense needs to be more structured. He has too much talent to just sit in the corner, and his offensive rebounding has been a revelation. He was 6-9 from the field (2-3 from three), and did a really nice job with Steph for most of the evening.
Up Next
The Wolves head to the Big Apple to take on the New York Knicks Friday night, a team in which rebounding will once again be key and a performance like Wednesday night could lead to devestating results.
Karl-Anthony Towns is questionable for the game with a bone chip in his thumb. Tipoff is slated for 6:30 PM CST.