The New Orleans Pelicans traveled into Minneapolis to take on the Minnesota Timberwolves Wednesday night. On the second leg of a back-to-back, the Pelicans were looking to get their second win in as many days. A rough performance for Minnesota all the way around left the Target Center crowd quiet for most of the night.
Home court has been a safe haven all year for the Wolves, but Wednesday proved otherwise. Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram led the way for New Orleans, combining for 46 points on incredibly efficient 18-of-26 shooting. In a game the Timberwolves’ defense wasn’t its best, the offense failed to make up the slack. New Orleans held on to win 117-106.
Let’s analyze exactly what went wrong for Minnesota against New Orleans on Wednesday, with a focus on with the following takeaways on the Timberwolves’ offensive attack.
Wolves' big men get outplayed
A massive reason behind the Timberwolves’ success this season has been the combination of Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns. The Wolves’ two All-NBA seven-footers typically are huge pluses, but both struggled to find their way Wednesday night.
Gobert, specifically, found himself dealing with foul trouble throughout the night due to Williamson's never-ending assault on the rim, mitigating his defensive impact. Securing just five rebounds on the night, the Frenchman was hindered greatly by the Pelicans length and size. Gobert finished with just five points in an atypical performance for the double-double machine and Defensive Player of the Year frontrunner.
With the Pelicans cycling in several big wings and a strong rebounding center in Jonas Valanciunas, their team efforts on the glass greatly outweighed Minnesota’s. The Pelicans snagged 41 rebounds on the night compared to just 28 for the Wolves. A typical strength for Minnesota this season was a significant weakness Wednesday night.
Karl-Anthony Towns found his footing a bit in the fourth quarter, but it was too little, too late. The talented big man poured in 22 points on the night, but shot just 8-of-19 from the field. His efficiency on the season has been a key to keeping Minnesota’s offense afloat, but in games where he doesn’t have it going, the Wolves are left looking for someone else to step up. Gobert and Towns posted -16 and -18 plus-minus ratings on the night, respectively.
Minnesota goes cold from deep
One of the major glaring issues on this Minnesota team stems from roster construction. While the Wolves have a lot of individual talent, they are lacking dependable three-point shooting around their star players.
One key aspect to note for the team’s three-point shooting is the decline in Towns’ perimeter attempts. As of late, the sharpshooting big man has been reluctant to pull the trigger. Down to less than five three-point attempts per game, Minnesota is desperately missing KAT’s perimeter firepower. On a night when Anthony Edwards went 4-of-7 from deep, the rest of the team combined to shoot just 6-of-24 (25%) from beyond the arc.
With the Wolves looking for offensive flow, urging KAT to shoot more triples while leaning into more playing time for some of the other quality shooters on the bench might help resolve some of their spacing issues. In that regard, veteran forward Kyle Anderson logged just 13 minutes Wednesday—a potential sign that Minnesota is already in search of more shooting in their rotation.
For the first time all season, the Timberwolves lost back-to-back games. In the middle of a tough stretch, the Wolves still have been a pleasant surprise all season. Minnesota will look to bounce back on Friday as they start a short road trip.
Anthony Edwards forces the issue
Edwards continued his recent scoring surge, posting a game-high 35 points. Ant’s mindset night-in and night-out as of late is to score the ball regardless of how he’s being defended. Wednesday night marked the fourth straight game in which the star guard has shot 20+ times. While Minnesota needs Edwards to score to keep the offense afloat, his progression as a decision-maker is still a work in progress.
Edwards racked up five first half assists against the Pelicans but posted zero in the second half. Along with his aggression comes some mistakes. Over the last five games, the All-NBA hopeful has 23 turnovers.
While turnovers have been a big problem for the Wolves this season, it’s hard to ignore how much Towns and Edwards have been contributing to that issue as of late. With the Wolves still searching for an offensive identity, Minnesota has to find it quickly if they hope to maintain the top spot in the Western Conference.
Follow Us
Subscribe