Dunks After Dusk

Out on Lake Phalen tonight

🕯 🕯 🕯 🕯 🕯 🕯 ant's recovery 🕯 🕯 🕯 🕯 🕯 🕯

If it were March, it wouldn't surprise me if the decision would have been to let Edwards play through it. But with only four games down, the calculus is different. Get it done now so he can be clicking on all cylinders come the playoffs.

Several weeks feels very different than “up to” two months. Still waiting for team sources.

Obviously, this sucks. Curious about the “up to” wording, so want to hear from the team for an official timeline. But am just making a mental note of December 1st as that would mean missing 17 games and still being in the eligibility window for All-NBA 🤷‍♂️

Learned a few things about what can knock the Wolves off their game last night: 1. Energy on a back-to-back 2. Hero ball offense 3. Frustration with officiating 4. Low energy environments 5. Having a starting center with ham hands Notable the frustrations flared as shots stopped falling.

Nah - real fans have every right to boo when a team’s effort isn’t up to par. It’s supposed to be a wake-up call to a team going through the motions. If I were a Nuggets fan, I would boo every game until I saw requisite defensive effort, especially from Jokić.

Wolves earned the loss by not having their best stuff on the 2nd night of a b2b. The missed calls (and missed FTs) just exacerbate the frustration of losing to an inferior team. Oh well. Onto Wednesday.

Cowardly officiating. It’s a block or a charge (clearly a block) and then a phantom whistle on LaMelo.

One of Rudy’s worst games in awhile. He’s smoked a ton of open chances.

Clear foul. Yawn. Once again, officials want Ant to act like he’s been shot to get calls.

Also, nice to have a non-Joe Ingles player we can trust on the inbound! LaMelo read the way the defense was defending and saw the big height mismatch.

That’s a flagrant?

Tough to appreciate that big time shot by LaMelo when I know he's not a winning player

LaMelo still needs to learn about Rudy’s hands. Two TOs in a row trying to get him the ball

Let’s go! We are so much better than this team - get the starters out there and win by 10+.

I get why Finch went to an all bench lineup with the starting group stuck in the mud, but the defensive level of the all bench unit just isn’t up to par. Don’t want to let NBA teams get open looks and rhythm.

Tired legs, dead arena, lots of whistles… Wolves searching for a spark. Would be a perfect time for a Bones heater.

Wolves in the first 3 games relied far more on jump shots than their work below the arc. Tonight, it's the opposite. Minnesota is 3/15 from 3, but 22/33 on 2s, just relentlessly attacking the rim. 40% of their FGA are at the rim (99th percentile) 6 OREBs for 10 2C PTS, too

The Jaden-Kuminga-Gobert front court is stifling to offenses. Been the most impressive part of the 3-0 start IMO.

A big question we had was how the Wolves would fare once the 3pt shooting cooled off a bit… well, even with a 1-9 start tonight, they still have a 9pt lead.

Is it just me or is this Cleveland crowd noticeably quiet? The 7pt deficit doesn’t help, but it’s been pretty silent since tip off.

Put Merrill on Jaden at your own risk Cleveland.

Melo steals a James Harden pass, has some trouble coming up with it but delivers a behind the back pass to Jaden McDaniels for the slam

Is LaMelo Ball a good defender??

2nd night of a b2b, banged up Ant, Cleveland crowd with weirdly low energy… let’s see what the Wolves can generate.

Happy Monday all! LaMelo Ball takes home his first Big Ticket Award of his career by going +33 in 17 minutes Lots of small-sample size stats to overact to, but the Wolves starting five having a 40.4 net rating (126 on offense, 85.5 on defense) is tops among them. The best starting 5 in the league!

Three straight games with the opponent quitting before the end of the 3rd. Haven’t even learned what our closing lineup is yet!

dying

MELO PUTTIN' ON A SHOW

You have got to be kidding me LaMelo. Got me cackling like a mad man with that shot 😂😂😂

Melo lob to Beringer for the slam

LaMelo steal and lob to Jaden for the slam

Oh my god. That LaMelo to Beringer alley-oop 🫪🫪🫪🫪

After watching this Raptors team for a half, makes total sense that they lead the league in fouls. Don’t see that changing 😂

That Target Center noise build up as the Wolves defense scrambled for 10+ seconds is why Wolves fans are the best. We’ve all been battle tested in terrible, no effort seasons. Seeing effort like that will get everyone out of their seats.

POV you just asked Obi-Wan Kenobi to check on the Timberwolves vibes

Such a different feeling watching this starting group compared to last year. Intensity on defense, connectivity on offense, and then Ayo comes in and attacks in a whole different way in transition.

Wolves win game 1 with back-breaking superstar shot making and win game 2 with defensive grit and bench production. Ayo Dosunmo takes home the big ticket, Joan Beringer is averaging 14 offensive rebounds per 36 minutes, and if the Wolves are going to win games with grit and hustle, look out NBA!

Joan Beringer: "I love playing with Ayo. He’s like a big brother for me. He pushes me every time. When I don’t play well, he’s going to say, ‘Yeah, you, wake up. You have to wake up.’ I love this type of energy, push me when I’m not the best version of myself. I love that."

😂😂😂

Feels like Orlando players are fouling out on purpose to stop the embarrassment.

Missed most of the game while coaching, but box score hunting makes it look like a much better bench game that is offsetting a poor Ant shooting performance.

Anthony Edwards takes home the Big Ticket Award, LaMelo Ball channels his inner Jason Mendoza for the “Oh Dip” award, and we want to bottle up that Kuminga performance and replicate it for 82 games. Are there things to critique? Absolutely. But that brand of basketball is fun as hell!

5 stocks tonight for Jonathan Kuminga Wolves allowed 52 points in the 54 possessions he and Rudy Gobert played together (96.3 DRTG, 96th percentile), wth an 86% DREB% (95th percentile). Kuminga was active fronting the post, playing passing lanes, and contesting shots.