Timberwolves keep Charlotte at a safe distance, win third in a row

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The top two names listed on the Timberwolves boxscore Wednesday night were forwards Jaden McDaniels and Julius Randle.

In glancing over that sheet of paper after the team’s 125-110 victory over the Hornets, a lot of the numbers to the right of their names encapsulate why the Wolves are in a different place now than they were earlier in the season.

McDaniels struggled to score for the first few months, but as injuries affected the availability of such key players as Randle and Donte DiVincenzo, he found his touch again.

The challenge now is for McDaniels to keep playing that way as the Wolves near full health. There were no issues Wednesday, as he tied Anthony Edwards with a team-high 29 points, one away from his career high.

“It’s super-important because he’s really good at the game of basketball, and it’s not just catch-and-shoot,” Edwards said. “There’s a lot more dynamics to his game. He’s a great midrange player off the dribble, great in the pocket. … He just does a lot of things well other than catch-and-shoot. Finchy [coach Chris Finch] has been doing a great job of putting him in the right spots to be aggressive.”

McDaniels was 13-for-21 from the field and 3-for-9 from three-point range. As teams devote more resources to stopping the Wolves’ other weapons, McDaniels is now primed to make them pay for neglecting him. It’s a dramatic improvement from where he was during the first half of the season, when he averaged 10 points and nine shot attempts through the first 41 games.

“When I see a big man on me or something, I know what they’re trying to do,” McDaniels said. “I know what the team’s game plan is. I know I can score on them any time I want. Instead of just settling for the three, because that’s what they want. I’m a shoot it, because I’m a make it still, but still keep attacking other ways.”

McDaniels came out in the third quarter with 11 points and helped the Wolves push a 65-58 halftime back to double digits, where it remained for most of the night. LaMelo Ball led Charlotte with 28 points. The Wolves shot 49% from the field, 43% from three-point range and had only six turnovers even in their fifth game in seven nights in their fourth different time zone. They didn’t arrive at their hotel Wednesday until around 4:30 a.m. after beating the 76ers in Minneapolis on Tuesday. Point guard Mike Conley sat out for rest while center Rudy Gobert (back) remained out.

“We were doing a lot of really good things. All credit to the guys. It was a tough trip down here,” Finch said. “Most guys probably didn’t get to bed until 5 o’clock. This is our fourth or fifth later-than-3 a.m. arrival since the All-Star break. It’s been a tough stretch, and the guys have done a good job handling it.”

McDaniels also added 10 rebounds, four offensive, and in that area he has never been better in his career. Wednesday marked his ninth double-double of the season after he had never had one in his previous four seasons.

Also notching a double-double was Randle, who was one assist away from his 16th career triple-double with 25 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. If the Wolves could bottle that every night from Randle, they would. Since returning from a groin injury, Randle has picked up where he left off. He has found the right balance of playmaking and scoring as needed. This was not an easy process, and fans felt that frustration. Randle and Finch have been in constant communication about how Randle can best deploy his talents, and Randle pointed to a talk in Dallas in January that helped him get in the right frame of mind.

BOXSCORE: Wolves 125, Hornets 110

NBA standings

“We were just like, man, it’s going to happen when it’s supposed to happen,” Randle said. “Sometimes, you can’t really force things. You just gotta live through the bumps and bruises, the trial and error of things, figure it out and let it happen. … I just appreciate [Finch] keeping confidence in me.”

Said Finch: “I can’t say enough about what he’s meant to us and the adjustments he’s made. It’s the lowest shots, lowest usage, lowest minutes, sometimes he hasn’t finished games, but he’s just been continually open-minded.”

Randle had the ball as time wound down Wednesday, just one assist shy of that triple-double. At the last moment before the shot clock expired, he passed to Naz Reid (13 points), who missed a three-pointer before the buzzer. Had they wanted to, the Wolves could have manufactured an easier bucket for the triple-double with Charlotte backing off defensively. That would have felt a little cheap. Same for McDaniels and potentially reaching his scoring career high. That both are playing this way right now is reward enough.

“We’re playing better, and I think we’re getting there,” Finch said when asked if his team was peaking. “I think we still have room to grow.”