The Timberwolves offense was going to experience a downturn with Anthony Edwards out Thursday night because of a hip pointer. The only question was how much, and would it be enough to cost them in a winnable game against a rebuilding Utah team? After all, the Wolves’ offensive rating with Edwards off the floor this season was 99.8,
Following a shaky start, the Wolves stormed back in the second quarter and continued that through the third for a 101-90 victory.
With Edwards, the Wolves were going to make an obvious pivot with their offense and run most of it through Karl-Anthony Towns. Towns responded with 32 points, 11 rebounds and five assists. They were also expecting an uptick in production from one of their guards who used to play for Utah.
What they might not have expected was that player being Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who was a dynamo on both ends of the floor. Alexander-Walker scored 20 points, hit four threes, and played unyielding defense, which allowed him to draw at least four offensive fouls on Jazz players for moving screens on the perimeter. He also finished with seven assists, five rebounds and five steals. Rudy Gobert added 15 points and 13 rebounds. Simone Fontecchio led Utah with 16.
After scoring just 20 points in the first quarter, the Wolves (14-4) erased what was a 35-23 Utah lead in the second with a 15-0 run and came out a different team after the half. They won the third quarter 35-19 and were able to cruise the rest of the way.
But the night didn’t start easy. Towns was in foul trouble in the first and the Wolves opened the night 5-for-14. Utah, which was without leading scorer Lauri Markkanen (hamstring), wasn’t lighting up the scoreboard either, but the Wolves couldn’t take advantage early as their offense lacked movement. They trailed 23-20 after one.
Mike Conley picked up his third foul to add to the offensive woes early in the second quarter, and shortly after Conley checked out the Jazz (6-13) opened a 35-23 lead. But from there, the Wolves, and specifically Towns, got going. The Wolves rattled off 15 consecutive points, with Towns scoring seven of those. Alexander-Walker added five during that burst. They led 49-47 headed into the half. Then the third was all Wolves. Alexander-Walker sparked the run with his effort on defense while Towns scored nine points. At one point, Alexander-Walker hit Towns with a behind-the-back pass for a dunk on a fast break for the highlight of the night.
Finch said before the game that Edwards was still in “acute” pain and they would re-evaluate him in advance of Saturday’s game against Charlotte, but that he didn’t expect Edwards to be out long term. Luckily for the Wolves, they are in a soft portion of the schedule with their next three games coming against bottom-feeding teams in each conference, and Thursday showed they could keep their winning ways going even without Edwards.