Timberwolves' City Edition court won't debut tonight because of flaws

The plan was for the Timberwolves to unveil their new City Edition Court in Monday's game with Miami at Target Center.

Plans changed. The reason: an imperfection detected in the new court.

So the Wolves pivoted. Quickly.

At 2 p.m. the Target Center floor was bare concrete. By game time, though, the old court – which is called the "core'' court — was back in place, ready to go.

The arena had a full complement of people ready to go as sections of the old court began to get rolled back onto the arena floor. It didn't take long after that. Indeed, the task was accomplished quickly, with the finishing touches done in just over an hour, plenty of time for pregame warmups.

Wolves center Rudy Gobert wasn't happy with Monday's crowd, which was troubled in the first half, roaring in the second.

"I just don't appreciate people that come in to boo your team,'' the Wolves center said. "When you're a fan, you gotta support your team in the tough or the good moments. No team in the NBA history that has had only good moments. So if you're not going to support us in the tough moments, just stay home. I think if you're going to embrace us in the tough moments, then come and we're going to love the support.''

In Saturday's victory in Philadelphia backup shooting guard Jaylen Nowell hit five of seven shots overall, two of four three-pointers and scored 13 points.

That was just the second time in seven games Nowell had scored in double figures. In the three games before Saturday, Nowell had gone 4-for-18 overall, 1-for-9 on threes.

Perhaps it was a turning point.

"Felt like I was back to me,'' Nowell said. "Being efficient, an efficient scorer. That's about it.''

Always a confident player, Nowell said he isn't thrown by the occasional mini-slump. His antidote?

"Just continue to shoot,'' said Nowell, who was shooting 41.7% from the field entering Monday's Miami game. That's down from the 47.5% he shot last year. "Stay extra [after practice], extra long. Kind of like what I do anyway. When the shots aren't falling I just stay extra, get more shots up. It's not rocket science. It's just continuing to put the shots up, continue to work on it. Eventually the shots are going to fall.''

Nowell, a multi-level scorer, said he's getting more comfortable shooting catch-and-shoot three-pointers.

"If it's there in the game, then I'm shooting it,'' he said. "I'm going to take shots if they're open. If they're not, then next action.''

Wolves coach Chris Finch said the team had been asking Nowell to do more than score, and that at times that advice might have had him unsure of what his role should be.

"I think at times he was not in a clear frame of mind,'' Finch said. "Of course he's wired as a scorer. I think he felt, maybe, in two minds about what he was doing out there. We asked him to forget everything and go back to who you really are. And mix in a pass here and there.''

Naz Reid said Monday morning he finally felt 100% after a bout with an illness that caused him to miss three games. "I feel pretty good, actually,'' he said after the team's morning shootaround. "Running up and down the floor, having good energy. Still staying solid on the bench, cheering my teammates on.'' Reid played under 2 minutes and didn't score in Minnesota's victory in Orlando last week. Saturday in Philadelphia, Reed scored nine points on 3-for-4 shooting in nearly 10½ minutes.