After one of their worst losses of the season, the Minnesota Timberwolves have put together one of their best stretches.
Minnesota will go for its fourth win in a row when it tips off against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday night in Minneapolis. It is the start of a home-and-home series between the teams, who will travel to Cleveland for a rematch on Saturday afternoon.
The Timberwolves are coming off a 28-point win over the Miami Heat on Tuesday night. It was the third straight victory since Minnesota was outhustled in a 24-point loss against the Atlanta Hawks on Dec. 31.
Timberwolves top scorer Anthony Edwards walked off the court and to the locker room after coach Chris Finch benched his starters during the blowout loss at Atlanta. That moment, combined with the team’s lackadaisical effort, prompted questions about the team’s true identity.
The last three games offer evidence that the Timberwolves still have plenty to offer as they look to climb the Western Conference standings.
“The game in Atlanta was just a wake-up call for all of us,” Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert said. “It put it on ourselves to say, ‘Do we really want to be that team? Or do we want to be the team that we said we’re going to be, which is a championship team?’
“I think the answer is pretty obvious.”
Minnesota will face a Cavaliers squad that is coming off a 120-116 win on the road against the Indiana Pacers. It was the fourth win in the past five games for Cleveland.
Darius Garland will try to stay hot after scoring 29 points on 14-for-23 shooting in Cleveland’s most recent win. Garland is averaging 17.5 points and 6.9 assists in 22 games.
Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson praised Garland for his recent efforts. Garland missed the start of the season due to injury and is looking to return to the form that he showed last season when he earned his second career All-Star selection.
“That was like ‘Takeover DG’ from last year,” Atkinson said of Garland’s most recent performance. “He really hit some big, big shots — some tough shots.”
Sam Merrill also could play a decisive role for Cleveland. He made 6 of 10 attempts from beyond the arc in the Cavaliers’ most recent game.
“There was one point I said, ‘Just get Sam the ball,'” Atkinson said. “Run off-ball (offense) or pick-and-roll with him. … We needed that extra push from someone creativity-wise, and Sam gave it to us.”
Edwards leads the Timberwolves with 29.3 points per game on 50.4% shooting from the field. Julius Randle is averaging 22.1 points, and Jaden McDaniels ranks third with 14.5 points.
McDaniels is coming off a 19-point performance in the win over Miami.
“Coming out of the holiday period, the priority was to get Jaden back into the mix offensively, whether it be play calls or just kind of finding him in the flow a little bit more,” Finch said. “He’s really responding.”
