Depending who you asked, the Timberwolves' 126-115 loss to the Clippers was either nothing to worry about given the Clippers' hot shooting, or a sign of slippage for the Wolves' defense.
Timberwolves feel better about their offense; Anthony Edwards has an injury scare
The Wolves saw improvement after a team-wide shooting slump; Edwards returned to the game after hobbling to the locker room early in the second half — and talked peanut butter afterward.
November 4, 2021 at 11:37AM
One thing the Wolves left feeling at least a little bit good about was their offense, which had been struggling for most of the first six games.
The Wolves scored 115 points, the most they had since their season-opening win against Houston. They shot an OK 14 of 40 from three-point range (though it looks small in comparison to the Clippers' 58%) but a lot of the supporting cast got to see shots go through without D'Angelo Russell in the lineup.
Seven different players finished in double figures led by Anthony Edwards with 28 points. Karl-Anthony Towns had 18 while Josh Okogie (11), Patrick Beverley (10), Malik Beasley (14), Jarred Vanderbilt (13) and Naz Reid (11) also reached double digits.
"I like the way we attacked the rim. We did a better job of attacking the rim tonight, particularly Ant," coach Chris Finch said. "That was a big point of emphasis. Finishing was still not where we need it to be. A little bit better."
To Finch's point, Edwards was 3 of 10 from three-point range, 8 of 11 from two-point range.
"I just got in my mind that no one can guard me," Edwards said. "So, get to the rim at all times or shoot my shot. Whatever I feel I'm going to do. Tonight I got to the rim a lot, because they didn't have nobody that can guard me I don't think."
When asked what went well offensively, Beverley said, "everything," though he points to 17 turnovers as a blight.
Towns didn't have his best shooting night as he faced constant double teams from the Clippers, sometimes even before he caught the ball, and said he was prepared to face that pressure on Friday.
"They were going to double him everywhere, make life hard for them," Finch said. "Particularly with certain lineups they had on the floor or we had on the floor, I thought he did a good job of staying pretty patient through that. We could've done a better job of finding him in the flow later on where it may be harder to get to a set defensive scheme."
Edwards OK after injury scare, talks peanut butter
Edwards looked to be in a lot of pain after collided knees with Eric Bledsoe in the third quarter. Edwards hobbled off the floor and into the locker room, only to return to the game a few minutes later. Edwards said he was fine after the game.
"I'm all right. I'm a soldier," Edwards said.
At another moment toward the end of Edwards' press conference, a reporter asked Edwards about his response to a question he did in a recent video for NBA.com: crunchy or smooth peanut butter?
Edwards stumped for smooth.
"It spreads better on the bread, for sure," Edwards said. "I've not had crunchy peanut butter, but I wouldn't. I wouldn't even try it. I'm a big texture guy when it comes to food."
Later, he added: "It makes the peanut butter and jelly. It goes better together. I've never seen nobody eat [crunchy]. In my family, we've never bought crunchy peanut butter. … It's going to stay right there in the aisle. I ain't buying it."
High-profile victims in Minnesota include Mike Conley of the Timberwolves and Twins co-owner Jim Pohlad.
