Let's point out at the beginning that every game of an 82-game season cannot be treated as a referendum on any single player or team.
To do so is exhausting and impractical just as much as it's inaccurate and unfair. It creates false narratives, or at least the chasing of narratives — whereby information that supports conclusions is more likely to be used and remembered that information that does not.
There's your backdrop for Monday's 114-109 Timberwolves overtime win over Boston, a masterpiece of grit that felt more like a playoff game in May than a regular-season game in early November.
Almost every important Wolves player had a huge role, none more so than Anthony Edwards. Ant dominated throughout, including a six-point scoring burst in overtime that provided the essential separation.
Jaden McDaniels was a defensive stalwart all night and rallied offensively. Rudy Gobert was a monster, continuing to look like the player the Wolves thought they were trading for a year ago. Mike Conley was steady and clutch. Kyle Anderson and Naz Reid continued to show why they are two of the best reserves in the entire league.
And then there was Karl-Anthony Towns, who by himself provided enough of a counterweight that he almost pulled the Wolves down to a loss instead of a win — as I talked about on Tuesday's Daily Delivery podcast.
How do we frame and reconcile all of that?
Towns was so bad — seven points, seven turnovers, at least seven instances of bad body language — that it felt like a relief when he recused himself from the game in overtime with his fifth and sixth fouls in quick succession. The Wolves soared from that point forward, with Edwards, McDaniels and Conley leading the way.
