Wolves land a comfortable victory over Lakers in game marked by discomfort

Offensively, both the Timberwolves and the Lakers looked like they were still on the mini-break the NBA set up this week for those teams that didn’t qualify for the knockout round of its in-season tournament.

The Lakers, absent LeBron James, made 11 turnovers in the first quarter, to which the Wolves said hold our beer. They then missed their first 13 shots of the second quarter. But even with the misses and miscues, some positives showed for the Wolves in a 97-87 victory Friday at Target Center.

Their defense picked up where it left off when the Wolves won four of five games before having four days off to rest, regroup and accumulate rust on offense.

The Lakers are going through a rough stretch, but the Wolves defense didn’t show them much mercy. Los Angeles never led, committed 22 turnovers and shot 38%. Jaden McDaniels played a big role in that, as he usually does when the Wolves play great defense. But McDaniels helped them overcome their offensive funk with 18 points on 7-for-11 shooting.

“He was the star of the game,” coach Chris Finch said

It was one of McDaniels’ most complete games of the season, as he added a season-high nine rebounds and tied a career high with five steals.

“Just another part I need to get better at in my game,” McDaniels said. “It’s not all about defense and scoring. Rebounding the ball, I feel like that gets you involved as well.”

Julius Randle also got buckets, especially in the first half, when he had 15 of his 21 points while Anthony Edwards played through a turned left ankle in the second half to score 23 points. The Wolves shot 40% in the game.

“We were a little rusty,” said Rudy Gobert, who finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds. “The ball was sticky, a little bit, and also we missed a couple easy things at the rim that we should be able to finish through contact, but plays that we can make. For the most part, I thought we tried to play the right way. We were just a little rusty. Should be better next game.”

The Wolves hope McDaniels is able to carry forward his night. What was noteworthy was how McDaniels generated his offense. Typically, McDaniels has his best nights on offense when the Wolves have good ball movement. Finch likes to call McDaniels’ output a “barometer” for how the Wolves are playing on offense overall.

This wasn’t the case Friday. So McDaniels found other ways to pitch in. He got out in transition, which is something the Wolves have struggled to do this season. He helped push the pace and turned some of his five steals into points, most notable when he sneaked behind Anthony Davis (23 points) to steal an inbounds pass after a Wolves make in a sleepy first quarter.

“Just seeing they was being kind of lackadaisical with the ball, I made the most of my opportunity,” McDaniels said. “... Really a lot of it was transition and little small buckets.”

The Wolves have now won five of six, and they have done so without ever scoring more than 110 points. As their defense has improved, their offense has slid down the efficiency rankings from where it was earlier in the season. But that’s a tradeoff Gobert said the team is happy to take if it means the Wolves are winning.

“I’ll take it. It might be a little uglier to watch, but at the end of the day, it’s who we are,” Gobert said. “We know [offense] always going to be a work in progress, but we understand that when we compete defensively and we focus on the defense, we have a chance to win every night.”

That’s the formula that carried the Wolves last season, and it’s carried them the past few weeks. When Finch was asked if he saw this as the team’s formula going forward or for now, he said, “I hope it’s the path for now.”

“I’ve seen this team really play much better offense,” Finch said. “The first 10 games I thought were a really good indication, offensively, of what we could be. … But for us it’s always going to be about our defense.”

Rob Dillingham returned after missing four games because of a sprained ankle. He was the ninth man in the rotation and finished with six points and one assist on 2-for-5 shooting.

Finch said he liked the minutes Dillingham gave the team and has been pleased with Dillingham’s progression defensively.

“His defense on the top of the floor has been great,” Dillingham said. “We’ve got to continue to work on the defense at the bottom of the floor. He’s giving up mass, length, all that stuff, but he’s still got to find a way to be as present and tactful as he can down there.”