The Minnesota Timberwolves had a white-out at Target Center for Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals. Most fans in attendance were wearing white T-shirts draped over every seat. On the shirt was a cartoon boxing wolf with “Wolves Back” written across its left and right boxing gloves.
Well, that boxing wolf might as well have been holding a hot dog or a large soda in one hand because the Timberwolves only needed one glove to beat up on the Golden State Warriors 117-93 and tie the series 1-1.
Anthony Edwards’s contagious energy may not have immediately been there at the start of Game 1, but his tenacity and leadership were there in Game 2. Even before the tipoff, Ant-Man had a positive bounce in his step during his Justin Jefferson-esque (or Michael Irvin) baseline over-the-shoulder catch pregame shooting routine.
When Game 2 started, Edwards’ scoring didn’t have an impact from the beginning, but that’s okay because of his activity. Immediately, he found Jaden McDaniels – who finished the game with 16 points, three steals, three blocks – for a backdoor score and kept getting the ball to all his teammates in their comfort zones.
“I thought he was good,” said coach Chris Finch about Edwards after he had 20 points, nine rebounds, and five assists. “He stayed patient, they threw a bunch of different looks at him. Whether they trapped him, they boxed-and-one’d him at one point, they switched heavy on him, they tried to send him to certain parts of the floor.
“I thought he did a really good job. He stayed aggressive getting downhill, got to the free-throw line a little bit, shot the ball well. I thought he played a really good game offensively, within the flow of what we were trying to do. Only five assists, probably could’ve had some more.”
When Golden State’s defense swarmed Edwards last night, he found Randle, who acted as a point-forward all night. He had a game-high 24 points, a playoff career-high 11 assists, and seven rebounds, becoming the first Timberwolves player since Kevin Garnett to record a 20/5/10 game in the playoffs.
“It was just something that I looked at in film,” Randle said about balancing passing and scoring. “I felt like I made some pretty good reads last game, we were all just in a funk. Today, we were in a little bit of a better rhythm, obviously.
“I felt like sometimes last game I might have overpassed when I got to my spots and could’ve looked to score. I tried to have a little bit of balance for both. Credit to our guys, our team. Everybody knocked down shots, they were in the right place like they were last game, we just made shots.”
All the starters’ intensity and aggressiveness set the tone, and the Wolves never looked back after a 13-0 run. Amongst those starters is veteran Mike Conley Jr., who only finished with six points, but Randle knows brings a much more important guidance to the team.
“It’s great. To be 50 years old and still come out and defend and play with the effort that he does,” said a grinning Randle as he praised Conley for setting the tone while exaggerating his age.
“I’ve talked all year about the leader he is for our team and how he kind of keeps us balanced.”
The starters’ electrifying energy and efforts spilled over to Minnesota’s reserve players. The bench scored 46 points as a unit, led by Nickeil Alexander-Walker’s uplifting performance. He finished with 20 points on 7 for 13 shooting, more than any Warriors starter or bench player scored in Game 2.
“He has the ability to do a lot of different things,” said Finch about Alexander-Walker’s performance. “For me, it starts with his ability to knock down shots. I think we needed him to just take a deep breath and stay ready and confident.
“I think he had turned down some shots over the last few games, we can’t have that… and everything flows from there for him. His creation, his ability to attack the basket. We need him. We need his ability to guard multiple guys, we need his size and length, and toughness. It was really important to get him a game like this.”
Smooth passing from Edwards and Randle: check.
Veteran leadership: check.
Bench scoring: check.
A defense that again didn’t allow their opponent to crack 100 points: check.
Ready for Game 3: check.