For the first time all season, the Minnesota Timberwolves have lost consecutive games.
On the heels of a road loss to the New York Knicks, the Timberwolves hosted the New Orleans Pelicans Wednesday for the second leg of a tough back-to-back. Zion Williamson and the Pelicans had their way with the Wolves all night, cruising to a comfortable double-digit win.
Anthony Edwards was the lone bright spot for Minnesota, finishing with 35 of the team's 106 points. Following the loss, Edwards kept it real by sharing some harsh realities the Timberwolves are going through.
“We gotta figure it out. We suck right now,” Edwards said. “It’s on us. The coaches do a great job of bringing the game plan and making sure we’re prepared. The rest of it is on us. They keep asking us to play hard and they shouldn’t have to say that. We gotta figure it out.”
Anthony Edwards' suggestion to fix Wolves' offense
Behind Minnesota’s recent lackluster play is a sputtering offense. The Timberwolves rank 20th in offensive rating despite a luxurious collection of All-NBA caliber players.
One big goal for Edwards this season is taking a step forward as a primary playmaker. As his decision-making has improved, there are still apparent growing pains within Ant’s development.
One of those growing pains is adjusting to how teams are now defending the star guard. With Edwards facing more double-teams than ever before, there have been real ramifications. At times, the 23-year-old All-Star is pressing to get his offense. While still efficient as a scorer, Edwards sometimes gets himself caught in traffic leading to poor turnovers.
Over the past five games, Edwards has 23 turnovers and only 20 assists. An assist-turnover ratio of less than one is not what the doctor ordered for the Wolves’ already turnover prone offense.
“There’s no excuse. I’ve got to be better turning the ball over for sure,” Edwards said.
He also prescribed a remedy for Minnesota's turnover woes, one that takes the ball out of his hands.
“We need to let Mike [Conley] initiate everything. Myself included,” Edwards said. “I’ve got to stop coming back for the ball ‘cause that’s playing into the defense’s hands. Going into ball screens, getting trapped. We gotta let Mike initiate the offense more”
Edwards’ recognition of Conley and his importance to the team shows some real maturity from the 22-year-old. With the Wolves looking to restore balance to their offense, more Conley on-ball reps might be just the cure.
Ant praises Zion Williamson
Timberwolves coach Chris Finch shook up the matchups quite a bit for Wednesday night’s battle with the Pelicans. Edwards drew the Zion Williamson assignment right out of the gate. This radical change proved to be a good one early as Ant is maybe the only one on Minnesota’s roster able to handle Zion’s combination of strength and athleticism.
While Edwards did a good job of limiting the Pelicans’ star himself, the team collectively did not. Throughout the night, Williamson found ample opportunities to flex his might. In just 28 minutes of action, Zion scored 27 points on impressive 11-15 shooting. Also posting six assists and a game-high +20, the Wolves couldn’t stop the former number one overall pick from controlling the game.
“He’s a hell of a player. Touch is crazy around the rim. Super strong, we all know. But he played great tonight,” Edwards said of Williamson. “He dominated the game, first quarter to fourth quarter. They came in and kicked our a** tonight.”
Despite a fantastic start to the season defensively, the Wolves feel down about their recent play, especially on the defensive end of the floor. While disappointed, Edwards isn’t in panic mode.
“We know what we can be. We’ve seen it the beginning of the season. We just have to get back to playing at that level.”
He raises a good point. In an 82-game season, teams will go through ups and downs. Currently, Minnesota is in a long stretch of games against above .500 opponents. With today’s parity, the league has never been more challenging night to night. As long as the Wolves weather the storm, they should hold their heads high with their play from the beginning of the year.
At 24-9, Minnesota is the only team in the Western Conference with single-digit losses on the year. Still holding onto that top spot in the West, the Wolves need to get back on track quick to prevent the hot OKC Thunder and reigning champion Denver Nuggets from overtaking them in the standings.
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