On today’s episode, Ryan Eichten and Leo Sun talk about the Minnesota Timberwolves’ two post-All-Star Break games, including a blowout loss to the Philadelphia 76ers by a season-high 27 points and an 11-point win over the Dallas Mavericks:
— On Sunday night, the Wolves suffered their largest loss of the season at home to the 76ers. While the Wolves were without Rudy Gobert and Naz Reid, the 76ers themselves were without Joel Embiid and Paul George, and had also played the night prior in New Orleans.
— In place of Gobert and Reid, Joan Beringer got his first career start, but picked up three quick fouls in the first half, limiting his impact on the game. The Wolves are still super high on Beringer, but with three bigs ahead of the 19-year-old Frenchman on the depth chart, his impact the rest of this season is still likely to be limited.
— Against the Mavericks on Friday, they rolled out a primarily eight-man rotation, along with a short stint for Beringer in the first half. The move seemed like a signal of what the rotation will look like the rest of the way for the Wolves, with the usual starters plus Reid, Ayo Dosunmu, and Bones Hyland coming off the bench.
— Anthony Edwards was again outstanding in the clutch in the win over the Mavericks, scoring a total of 40 points, including 14 in the fourth quarter. Ant’s improved play late in close games bodes well for the Wolves in the playoffs, where they may have a higher ceiling than their team a season ago that made the Western Conference Finals.
— Naz Reid has been playing great of late, putting up 21 points, four 3-pointers, seven rebounds, four assists, and three stocks against the Mavericks, including a nasty dunk over Daniel Gafford.
— With just 27 games left in the season, the stretch run is now upon us. The Wolves are just one game back of the three seed and will need to start winning games in bunches if they want to climb that high in the standings.