CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Through a coincidence in the NBA scheduling, the Timberwolves played in Charlotte on the day after Thanksgiving for the second consecutive season.
Thanksgiving in Charlotte means McDaniels brothers spend time together
Jaden plays for the Timberwolves and Jalen for the Hornets, and they met on Black Friday for the second season in a row.
That meant Wolves forward Jaden McDaniels got to spend some the holidays with his brother Jalen, a forward on the Hornets, and their family.
"It's cool just to be able to see my brother during the season," McDaniels said. "It just happens to be the right time that when I see him it's on Thanksgiving. My mom and dad come out, so it's just good to see him through the season."
McDaniels finished with just two points on 1-for-7 shooting. Because the Hornets are going through some injuries, Jalen McDaniels made his second start of the season, though the brothers didn't spend much time guarding each other. Jalen finished with eight points.
The McDaniels family wasn't the only one that got to celebrate together thanks to the Charlotte trip. Wolves rookie Wendell Moore Jr.'s family lives about 20 minutes from Charlotte and Moore had some teammates over his house for dinner. Moore played in college a few hours away at Duke, but this was the first Thanksgiving he spent at home in a while because Duke was always playing some kind of tournament over the holiday.
"As soon as the schedule came out, my mom [Marie] already texted me right away, texting family members," Moore said. "I'm just extremely excited to be able to play in front of my family and friends … It was a home-cooked meal. My mom always treats everybody like family. They're always welcome in my home and my mom cooks some good food."
Moore said he bought at least 20 tickets for family and friends but expected more to be there.
He has spent his time this season between the G-League in Iowa and the Wolves roster. Moore has averaged 18 points in five games with Iowa while shooting 52 percent, 47 percent from three-point range.
"We run the same sets down there, so I'm kind of in the same positions that I'm going to be up here," Moore said. "They want me to be a little more aggressive and assertive in the scoring area and be able at the same time still focus on running a team and becoming a leader because that's what they expect me to do up here."
Prince out 1-2 weeks
Coach Chris Finch said Taurean Prince was likely going to be out one to two weeks because of a right shoulder subluxation.
Prince was injured in the closing moments of the second quarter in Wednesday's game against Indiana and missed the rest of that game.
Prince has averaged 7.9 points in 19.6 minutes off the bench this season and is one of the vocal leaders on the team.
Point guard Jordan McLaughlin missed his second straight game because of a left calf strain. Finch categorized McLaughlin as "day to day." McLaughlin had been dealing with the injury for a while and was able to play through it but aggravated it in the second half of Monday's win over the Heat.
Center Rudy Gobert was a game-time decision because of a left ankle sprain he suffered in the first quarter against Indiana. Gobert was able to play.
The Wolves fell apart in the fourth quarter and have not won in Toronto in two decades.