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McDaniels, Edwards, McLaughlin ignite second-half spark as Wolves beat Heat for fourth straight win

jace frederick, pioneer press
·3 min read

Minnesota was flirting with disaster through two quarters Monday at Target Center.

Facing a team playing just eight guys while on the second half of a back to back, the Timberwolves looked lifeless en route to a 60-47 halftime deficit against Miami before rallying to a 105-101 victory.

The first 24 minutes mimicked much of what the Timberwolves had put forth at home this season. Those performances often led to boos from the crowd, which was again unhappy watching Minnesota on Monday.

Then came the third quarter, where everything changed. The Timberwolves (9-8) have now won four straight to get back over .500 on the season, thanks to a renewed all-around effort that didn’t exist over the first 24 minutes.

“We just didn’t play very hard. Got to play harder. We’ve been playing harder. We didn’t have a lot of juice in the first half, and I don’t know exactly why,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “We just had to play hard. They did a great job of moving it. And every time they made two hard actions back to back, they broke us open. We needed to get into ‘em and play hard. Couldn’t let the fact we weren’t making shots affect how hard we want to play.

“Stop worrying about our offense, how we’re gong to get ourselves going. Start worrying about how we had to play harder, get a body on someone, play physical. We did a better job of that. And then you get some runouts, some easy buckets. It affects the momentum of the game.”

And while Anthony Edwards’ 10 third-quarter points — including a block on one end and a splashed triple on the other in succession — appeared to be the team’s ignition, as well as the highlight of the night, Finch didn’t see it that way.

“For me, it was (Jordan McLaughlin and Jaden McDaniels),” Finch said. “They were the engines that drove everything with their consistency tonight. And then other guys stepped up and made big plays in big moments.”

But there needed to be a catalyst — or multiple catalysts — to get the ball rolling. Edwards said that was the reserve point guard, who’d been struggling all year from deep before burying four triples on five attempts on a night where few others could hit shots.

McDaniels found his offensive rhythm, as well, while also defending at a high level. McDaniels, Edwards and McLaughlin combined for 29 points in that decisive third frame.

Edwards did provide the showstopper. He had a massive block on Max Strus on one end, then buried a triple on the other to send the previously distraught crowd into a state of euphoria. Minnesota rode that momentum to a five-point advantage by the end of the frame.

Minnesota’s late-game execution — which was so porous against Philadelphia and Cleveland — was put to the test Monday. Miami was without the likes of Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson and Victor Oladipo on Monday, but still had veterans like Kyle Lowry and Strus, who are capable of closing contests.

But Minnesota made enough plays late to close the door. Rudy Gobert did little offensively for much of the night, but hit four critical free throws in the final minute; the last two to put Minnesota up by four with 9.2 seconds to play.

“We’re still figuring it out. Four games, one game at a time. We’re not calling it a win streak. We’re supposed to win games, man,” Edwards said. “We’re not supposed to be excited about starting to win games. That was what they pay us to do, so we’re just going to stay level headed and keep grinding.”

Most encouraging for Minnesota, the end-game success came largely because of a strong defensive effort.

“That’s what this team hadn’t been doing a couple weeks ago,” Finch said. “This is the first deficit that we’ve overturned at halftime to go on and win, so very pleased with that.”

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