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Minnesota Timberwolves supporters still harbor bitter memories of their team's loss against the Atlanta Hawks on Monday night, as the Wolves blew a 21-point lead in the second half. Anthony Edwards scored 20 points in the first half, and Karl-Anthony Towns, Shake Milton, and Naz Reid all added double digits. It felt too good to be true. That was pretty much it for Minnesota's scoring for the evening. In the third quarter, Dejounte Murray went off, scoring 21 points and making all eight of his field goals. The Hawks' punches proved too much for the Wolves to handle, and they eventually found themselves in the mud.
Against the Hawks, head coach Chris Finch used a limited rotation, starting nine players while the game was still in contention. Troy Brown Jr. and Jordan McLaughlin were the two players that may have been substituted in, however Brown didn't play at all, while McLaughlin only saw a little more than a minute of action toward the end of the game. Although it shouldn't be shocking that those two are at the bottom of the rotation, one or both of them could have provided some spark on a night when the offense struggled.
On Monday night, Nickeil Alexander-Walker failed to establish a rhythm on that end of the court and recorded an offensive rating of 80. Perhaps Finch stuck with Alexander-Walker to lessen their impact in an attempt to match Atlanta's highly offensive guards.
All eyes will be on Finch to see if he can breathe new life into the offense on Wednesday against Denver, following a lackluster offensive second half against the Hawks.
While writing this piece, memories of the playoff game from the previous year come to mind, but this is true of any encounter with the Nuggets. There isn't really much anyone can do to stop Nikola Jokic from dominating the league once more. But now here we are.
In the playoffs, Karl-Anthony Towns fared reasonably well against the two-time MVP, but it's unclear how Finch and company will use their defensive resources against Jokic on Wednesday. Jokic feels too quick for Gobert to defend, at least not physically, even though Gobert always seems like the obvious choice. Additionally, Gobert's usefulness is diminished by Jokic's ability to pull him away from the rim.
Towns covering Jokic enables Gobert to skulk around the edge, which is likely what will see on wenesday night.
The Hawks' defeat on Monday gave supporters the impression that they were witnessing the 2022–23 Wolves, who dropped their opening seven games of the previous campaign to the Spurs twice. It's unclear if this club has grown past that area of immaturity, which raises concerns.
It's crucial to win games you're expected to win, regardless of whether you're "supposed to win" before or during the match. Although it's easier said than done in the NBA, Minnesota ought to have defeated the Hawks last night and the Spurs the previous season. They really need to get past this problem in order to position themselves for success this spring.
Regarding Wednesday's game against the Nuggets, it presents a great chance for the Wolves to compete with the best in the league. It is fairly believed that they would repeat their playoff series performance from the previous season on November 1.
