The Timberwolves’ new Anthony Edwards-LaMelo Ball duo wasted no time making a statement.
Minnesota rolled past the Heat 131-106 at Kaseya Center on Wednesday night, and the first game with Edwards and Ball sharing the floor looked every bit like the kind of backcourt experiment that can bend a defense out of shape. Both guards had it going early, both kept firing, and Miami never really found a clean answer.
Edwards led the way with 45 points on 16-of-29 shooting, and he did it while getting more breathing room than he’s used to. Usually the first name on every opponent’s scouting report, he had Ball beside him pulling attention of his own. After the game, Edwards summed up the chemistry in plain terms: “At this point, me and him are going to be best friends,” Edwards said of Ball after the game.
The minutes together were limited, at least by design on paper. Before the season, Wolves coach Chris Finch said he didn’t plan to stagger their time, but that’s not how Wednesday played out. Edwards and Ball were on the floor together for just nine minutes in the first half and about eight more in the second.
Still, the pairing clicked when they were out there. Minnesota opened up a 27-18 lead in the first quarter before Ball’s first break, and the Wolves were plus-12 with the two stars sharing the floor in the first half and plus-five in the second.
For a stretch, the game became a long-distance showcase. Edwards and Ball kept launching threes, and plenty of them dropped.
The pair scored or assisted on 45 of Minnesota’s 69 first-half points, a huge 65 percent share. It was the kind of possession-by-possession dominance that left the rest of the lineup mostly watching the fireworks.
The second half gave a better glimpse of how this team might function beyond just the shot-making. Edwards stayed hot, adding 24 points after halftime, while Ball kept moving the ball and changing the pace.
Jonathan Kuminga made things tough on Giannis Antetokounmpo on one end of the floor and turned his defense into offense. Ayo Dosunmu was pushing the pace.
Even Rudy Gobert got involved down low after not attempting a shot in the first half.
By the end, Edwards and Ball had taken 28 threes between them. That’s the same number the Wizards attempted as a team in their 128-116 win over the Bucks on Wednesday night.
The two Timberwolves guards made 14 of those attempts, a total that topped what 13 other NBA teams managed in their openers. And the outside shooting threat only gets more dangerous once Donte DiVincenzo returns from injury and gives Minnesota another scoring option.
Finch pulled Edwards and Ball for good with 3:51 left, and Minnesota cruised the rest of the way to the 25-point win in South Beach. Cameras later caught the two sitting together on the bench, laughing and smiling as the clock ran down.
That was probably the scene Tim Connelly had in mind when he sent franchise icon Naz Reid to the Hornets in exchange for Ball this offseason. Connelly has never shied away from making a major move, whether it was the trades for Gobert, Rudy and of Towns, Karl-Anthony. And after the Wolves fell short against the Spurs in the conference semifinals, with Victor Wembanyama and the Thunder looming in the West, he knew he had to shake things up.
On one night, at least, the answer looked obvious. Edwards and Ball looked like one of the most electric duos in the league, and that’s trouble for everybody else.
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