Wolves vs. Pacers Final Score: Edwards Scores 44, Blocks Nesmith at the Buzzer

What a day to be a Minnesota Timberwolves fan.

The day started with the heartbreaking news of Karl-Anthony Towns’ torn meniscus in left kneeand ended with an iconic performance from Anthony Edwards, who delivered an inspired MVP-level performance in Towns’ absence.

After the initial shock of the injury news, everyone turned to the question that permeates all teams and their fans after an important player is injured: “Who steps up in his absence?”

While the cast did a great job tonight and filled the big hole left by KAT, it was the Minnesota superstar who took charge of the game and led his team to victory, which sends a message to entire league: The Timberwolves won’t do it. go quietly into the night. Let’s break it down.

The first quarter started as poorly as possible for a team that had already endured a day of terrible news: Edwards stepped on Aaron Nesmith’s foot and rolled his left ankle on his first play of the game. He was immediately substituted and returned to the locker room. Although it was a horrible way to start the game, the Wolves then used good ball movement and attack on the catch to go up 10-2 to start the game.

After that hot start, Edwards summoned his patented Paul Pierce powers to quickly return to the game just four minutes into the game. The next man up mentality was in full swing as Jaden McDaniels, Naz Reid and Nickeil Alexander-Walker all gave the Wolves excellent first quarter stints to extend the lead to 14 with less than two minutes left in the first period . The Timberwolves closed the quarter strong and led 33-23. Naz Reid led all scorers with nine points, as he was a big beneficiary of Minnesota’s crisp ball movement and quick decision-making.

The opening minutes of the second quarter were just as deflating as the start of the first. Edwards returned to the locker room after a hard hip fall, which led to the Timberwolves debut for TJ Warren. Edwards, scoring his second Paul Pierce in this one, returned to the game a few minutes into the second quarter. After five quick points to cut the lead in half to start the game, the Wolves went on a run of their own (which included Warren’s first bucket as a Timberwolf) to cut the lead to 13-45-32.

With some tough buckets from Ant and superb defense causing turnovers, the Wolves slowly put more and more pressure on the Pacers, who opened a 17-point lead a little more than halfway through the second quarter. Indiana was able to close the gap a bit, but Minnesota held an 11-point lead, 60-49, at halftime.

Edwards scored 11 points in the second quarter to give him 15 at the break. Minnesota scored 44 points in the paint in the first half, tying a season high for most in a half (first half at Sacramento on 12/23), led by strong efforts from Edwards , Rudy Gobert and Reid.

A quick burst from the Pacers and a few fouls from McDaniels and Kyle Anderson cut the lead to three and sent both players to the bench with four fouls. In the six minutes before the start of the third quarter, the Wolves went cold and the Pacers got hot. A 19-6 run put Indiana ahead 68-66 with 5:58 left in the period. The Timberwolves shot 3/11 to open the frame, but stayed there. After Indiana’s strong start, Ant served as a stabilizing force, scoring 13 points on 5/10 shooting, thanks to relentless attack at the rim. His efforts pushed the Wolves back even to 83 at the end of the period.

The fourth began the same way the third ended: absolutely deadlocked. Since Indiana’s run in the third, it was back and forth, with each team throwing punches at the other. Edwards scored another and-1 with a nice mid-range jumper to get some breathing room with 7:26 left in the final frame, prompting an Indiana timeout. 95-92 Wolves.

But that was only the beginning of Edwards’ redemption.

Shot after shot he knocked down, continuing to put daggers into the Pacers. Four of his six scores were unassisted as the two-time All-Star sent the ball into the basket and the Timberwolves ahead on the scoreboard. After going halfway from the line to give the Wolves a 113-111 lead with seven seconds left, Aaron Nesmith attempted a layup to tie the game in the final seconds. But Ant instead put his fingerprints on a 44-point performance with an emphatic block to secure a W that had his fingerprints all over the game.

Key takeaways

Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images

Role players step up their efforts

One of the first important things to point out during this showdown was how the actors knew they had to play an expanded role, and that’s exactly what they did. They took over following Towns’ injury and helped ensure the Wolves could pull away for the win.

Jaden McDaniels had 11 points, eight rebounds and six assists (his first game this season with at least five of each), in addition to having to defend Tyrese Halliburton for most of the night.

Naz Reid had 13 points and eight rebounds in his expanded role to help on the offensive side of the ball, and saw a big increase in the number of plays that Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch ran for him, especially coming out of the corner screens.

Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 10 points and, although he didn’t make a three-pointer, he was an excellent connector and attacker from the catch, and played excellent defense while Kyle Anderson and Jaden McDaniels had trouble.

While we all wait on these guys, newcomer TJ Warren, who just signed a 10-day contract on Wednesday, also played 16 minutes and scored seven points coming off the bench. He seemed to fit well with what the Wolves were trying to do and is a good, low-usage offensive player that the Timberwolves have missed since trading Troy Brown Jr. as part of the package to land Monte Morris, who left this one early after just six minutes due to left hamstring soreness.

Michael Grady and Jim Peterson said it best on the show when they discussed the Wolves needing to “make up for 22 lost points without a KAT.”

If everyone increases their scoring a bit (with Warren adding 7-9 points), it’s a good way to make up for whatever is lost when a top offensive player like Towns leaves the court. It was a good start and a starting point to build on.

Anthony Edwards: Superstar

There aren’t enough good things to say about what Anthony Edwards did on the basketball court Thursday night. Ant scored 44 points on 18/35 shooting, pulled down six rebounds, added four plays and dropped three dimes – all without recording a single turnover.

He was all over the floor; and even after leaving the game twice due to injury, he returned to the game and delivered a legendary performance. With the news of his co-star dropping for at least a month, he shouldered that burden and led his team to victory. Playing almost 40 minutes, he left everything he had on the field. This performance is what superstars do for their teams. If you watched this match, you witnessed greatness.

Edwards entered the game with 8:22 left in the fourth quarter. After that point, he scored 16 points to end the game. That included 11 of Minnesota’s final 13 points. He was all clutch time offense. Throughout his term, he was aggressive. Driving to the edge as a man on a mission and more often than not, he was converted. His silky downtown feel, mid-range bag was also on full display down the stretch.

For Timberwolves fans this season, close games have usually created problems for the Wolves – but not this time.

Edwards capped his incredible score with one of the best blocks you’ll ever see. He flew into the air as the clock was winding down and (while banging his head against the backboard) sent the shot back where it came from. End of Game.

It was a pivotal game for a Wolves team that faces a six-game road trip after news that’s hard to come back from. Edwards was determined to start this streak on a good note.

Following

The Wolves will board a plane to The Land for a Friday night game with the Cleveland Cavalierswhich will be deprived of three starters in Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley and Max Strus.

Fans can watch the 6:30 p.m. tip on ESPN.

Strong points