Gupta was sitting right in front of me. Sitting in front of him was JMac’s mom. She’s come to all the home games so far this season in the same seat two rows directly in front of of me. Gupta’s a quiet guy, but in overtime, he was on his feet pumping his fist. It was fun to see. JMac’s mom is delightful. She was high-fiving people in her row she didn’t know. On the last play in regulation when Horford fell out of bounds, she came up to our row holding her chest and expressing relief.
As for the Wolves play on the court, it was a gritty, big-time win against the best team in the NBA. The team’s defense was tremendous again tonight against a high-scoring undefeated Celtics team.
Obviously, the main story was Edwards and his 38 points. I haven’t looked at the box score to see his other stats, but there’s no need for that. The fact is that he carried the team early and then put the team on his shoulders and took them across the finish line in the end. His defense was also outstanding. This was Ant as our Kobe, Dwayne Wade or MJ. You also had to love the way Jaden stepped up tonight with his 20 points to go along with his outstanding defense. Jaden has a beautiful shot from both behind the arc and mid-range. The way Ant and Jaden worked together down the stretch was a view into the future of this franchise. It was a joy to watch Ant draw the defense and then find Jaden with some really nice passes that Jaden converted with his beautiful looking jump shot. Those two form our MJ/Scottie combo. (Relax, I’m not saying either one is as good as MJ or Scottie. You all get the point).
. Mike Conley once again asserted his veteran leadership on the court and the sideline. He steadied the team in the 4th and overtime when the team seemed a bit frazzled. He was very vocal with his teammates.
Then how about NAW? Once again his defense was terrific. But tonight he also hit some big shots.
Rudy was Rudy — Great defense, while scoring efficiently on lobs and put-backs but he was a train wreck on the foul line to the point where the Celtics employed the “hack-a-Rudy” strategy and it worked. Good thing they didn’t do more of it.
To stay positive, I won’t say much about KAT. He was absolutely horrible tonight. His shooting was terrible and so was his decision-making. His play tonight was Exhibit A for those who see him as a low IQ player. To be fair, KAT played well defensively tonight. That’s something he’s done every game so far this season and it’s a breakthrough positive development for this team. In spite of Rudy’s poor foul shooting, tonight’s game in isolation was one of those nights where the “which big to trade debate” would certain favor trading KAT over Rudy. But enough about KAT. Everything else was positive tonight.
Naz did his part as well. I was surprised he wasn’t on the court in overtime, but his earlier contributions were critical to tonight’s win.
I like the chemistry on this team. Everyone was engaged on the bench supporting their teammates on the court. There’s an obvious sense of joy they seem to have playing the game and pulling for one another. The team is starting to forge an identity as a high energy defensive team that can also score with a star in Edwards who can carry them when needed.
I’m still concerned that this team continues to get crushed by opponents on getting to loose balls. That was a problem last season and it’s every bit as bad so far this season. Some of it is the fact that we don’t have a lot of speed and agility on the court. Rudy, KAT and Slo Mo give on the court together means that 3 of our 5 players are slow-footed by today’s NBA standards. That doesn’t lend itself to winning the 50-50 ball or loose-ball battle very often. It doesn’t get better with Shake Milton on the court. It might be something we’ll just have to live with. The front office decided to go for size at the expense of speed. So we need to dominate the boards, minimize turnovers, and defend the way we’ve been defending. But I’ll say we’re much better getting to loose balls with Naz on the court in place of either KAT or Rudy. I’ll leave it at that.
Again, a fun game and great win. Tonight was a great sign for this team. However, how this team performs Wednesday night at home against Indiana might be more telling. The Pacers are a good team, but the Wolves should beat them especially playing at home. The Wolves can’t have a letdown Wednesday night. I’m still not sure whether this team is a 44-win team or a 54-win team. Following tonight’s win with a victory over the Pacers Wednesday night will keep the needle moving towards the bigger number. And that’s a wrap. Good night.
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