Injured Jaden McDaniels returns to Wolves' lineup with three regular-season games left

When Jaden McDaniels fell to the floor in pain on March 14 because of a high left ankle sprain, there was concern whether McDaniels would be able to return in time for the play-in tournament or the playoffs.

But a little over three weeks after McDaniels suffered the injury, he was back on the floor Tuesday night for the Wolves.

"We were hoping it would work out this way," coach Chris Finch said. "All credit to Jaden for putting the work in. All credit to our performance staff. They did an unbelievable job of getting him here a little bit ahead of schedule. He looked really good and we hope that it transfers."

McDaniels came off the bench and had a minutes restriction of around 15, but his ability to make it back with three games remaining in the regular season provides a boost to the Wolves before the postseason begins next week, especially on the defensive end of the floor.

It was also significant that McDaniels was able to return this week and not have to push back his return to the play-in games or a playoff series.

High ankle sprains can sometimes limit players upon their return, so McDaniels returning to get at least a week's worth of games in before the postseason can be beneficial to him instead of coming into the postseason cold.

"There's always a rhythm and feel thing, I'm not worried about that," Finch said. "I just want to see him out there and have confidence in his ankle."

With McDaniels' return, the Wolves get one of their best defenders back at just the right time. McDaniels also was expanding his offensive arsenal before his injury and was driving to the basket more than he had been during his two-year career.

"He's going to fight you on every square inch of the floor," Finch said. "He may not have necessarily the strength yet or the size to always push back, but he's going to fight you. The length as well, we miss the length."

Guard Patrick Beverley missed his second consecutive game because of right ankle soreness, according to the Wolves' injury report. Finch mentioned Beverley took himself out of Friday's game against Denver twice and that Beverley was also dealing with "a sore hip."

When Anthony Edwards was battling the worst part of his left knee tendinopathy, Edwards discussed how it affected his drives to the basket and ability to finish at the rim.

The injury also had an impact on his shooting.

"He was kind of twisting, he didn't have a very consistent base," Finch said of Edwards' shot. "He was leaning, he was twisting. He actually jumps pretty high on his jump shot, too. He uses a lot of legs, a lot of force there, so I'm sure it was bothering him, probably more on the gather than anything else."

Edwards' deep shot appears to be back. In his previous 10 games entering Tuesday, Edwards was shooting 45% from three-point range.

Compare that with the 10 games before Edwards sat and rested the knee for a week, when he shot 27% from three-point range.

"Just staying in it. Just trusting it," Edwards said of regaining his touch. "I'm going to go through shooting slumps where I'm not hitting shots. I can't let that determine whether I'm a good shooter or not. Got to keep shooting. It'll level off."