Wolves 117, Pelicans 114: Fly with more purpose

Before we begin, let’s just get rid of this disclaimer: YES, tonight’s game between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the New Orleans Pelicans was simply a pre-season game. Nothing more. Nothing less.

That said, what the home side showed in the first 24 minutes of action on Monday night was something fans like you and I haven’t seen in a long, long time. Let’s discuss the good and the bad of opening the team’s preseason.

One word: DEFENSE.

If you missed Minnesota’s first preseason action, you missed a defensive team effort that Wolves fans haven’t seen since the Thibs regime. To kick off, head coach Chris Finch threw Josh Okogie and Jaden McDaniels alongside the usual starting suspects (D’Angelo Russell, Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns), and the impact of this more comprehensive training was felt literally in seconds. in the game :

Seriously, Josh Okogie was everywhere:

Minnesota spoke of the focus on the defensive end throughout training camp, and while this level of intensity is expected from someone like Josh Okogie, it was extremely encouraging to see him also d ‘a player like Anthony Edwards, who mentioned on media day that he plans to prioritize his defense as much as his offense this season:

After one of the training camp workouts last week, Chris Finch explained how “last year we [the Wolves] tried to fly and this year we want to fly with more determination. That “goal” was on full display in the first preseason game, with ANT himself literally flying all over the pitch with one specific goal: to get saves.

The night’s defensive highlight for young Anthony Edwards came in transition, with Jaden McDaniels walling up his defender just enough to give ANT time to steal for the Chase Budinger-type volleyball spike:

After the game, Chris Finch threw gasoline on the Anthony Edwards preseason fire and his improved defense, saying the latter has been what has stood out so far throughout the camp. training:

While the defensive highlights came quickly and furiously, the really encouraging part for me was that it wasn’t just Josh Okogie OR Anthony Edwards giving 110% on the defensive end. D’Angelo Russell looked extremely committed on defense, Karl-Anthony Towns seemed to be constantly in the right place at the right time, and Jaden McDaniels was Jaden McDaniels (Big Mac fouled in just 13 minutes of play, so I guess that you could tell he was flying a bit too much a lot).

Even when Chris Finch went to his bench towards the end of the first quarter, guys like Patrick Beverley, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Jordan McLaughlin were all over the place in defense, which helped Minnesota beat (and beat) New Orleans 40. -17 in the second trimester.

(Since we’re still dealing with the preseason, the second quarter is also where this game recap will end abruptly, as everything after the first 24 minutes has been glorified with a dose of excitement sprinkled at the end) .

When it comes to those GOOD 24 minutes, we can’t stress enough how fast, connected and downright jovial the Wolves looked to play together. D’Angelo Russell looks as healthy as he ever looked in a Timberwolves uniform, Karl-Anthony Towns looked noticeably faster on the perimeter, and the overall ‘vibes’ of the bench. looked like those of a college team on the night of the reunion.

Overall, while it was certainly a small sample to SMALL in size, the biggest takeaway for me from Monday’s preseason home opener is that most things that we heard throughout training camp were on full display at Target Center: players seemed motivated, free from distractions, and seemed to really buy into the idea that this will be their defense – not their attack – which could finally bring this team out of the NBA rankings.

While there were a lot of “good” ones to take away from Monday night’s performance, there were also a lot of bad ones. Minnesota returned the ball 18 times, committed 26 team fouls, and was turned away by the Pelicans 53-49 (although New Orleans was without Zion Williamson and Jonas Valanciunas). Turnovers might just be the result of learning to play with new teammates, and fouling is expected from a “stealing” team, but the rebound problem is sure to become a worrying trend all season long for one. of the shortest teams in the league.

Other than that, Minnesota not only escaped with a win on Monday, but more importantly, they escaped with no injuries reported, which is huge. If this team is to make noise in the Western Conference this season, they are going to need their best players to be available as much as possible.

So far, so good.