With Anthony Edwards out, the Timberwolves have needed answers from somewhere, and Jaylen Clark has made a real case for himself over the last two games.
Minnesota opened this stretch without Edwards by spreading the scoring around - five players finished between 13 and 20 points in Wednesday’s loss to the Golden State Warriors - but that wasn’t enough in a five-point defeat. Two nights later, the offense looked much cleaner. The Timberwolves rolled to 127 points in an easy win over the Los Angeles Clippers, and Clark’s role grew again.
That matters because Clark was nowhere near the rotation before Edwards went down for arthroscopic knee surgery. In Minnesota’s three blowout wins, he only saw garbage time, and he didn’t play at all in the overtime loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Even on Wednesday, he was still basically the 10th man. Chris Finch didn’t use him in the first half, then gave him a little over seven minutes after halftime.
Still, Clark made that stint count.
When he entered with 6:03 left in the third quarter, Stephen Curry already had 33 points. Clark stayed on the floor for the rest of the period, and Minnesota trimmed the gap from 22 to 12.
He spent much of that stretch on Curry, and Curry managed only two points on free throws while Clark was out there. Clark also hit a 3-pointer, which is part of the formula if he wants to stick.
He got rewarded Friday. Clark logged about five minutes before halftime, then came back in late with Minnesota ahead by 11 and finished his night with 1:30 left, the Wolves up 26. He ended with five points on three shots in nearly 17 minutes.
The raw scoring line won’t jump off the page, but the bigger number might be the one next to his name in the plus-minus column: plus-31 over the last two games. If Minnesota keeps functioning better with Clark on the floor, Finch will have a tough time ignoring that.
There’s still a clear hurdle, though. Clark has to show enough on offense for Finch to trust him once Edwards returns. Last season, when Edwards missed 11 of the final 14 games, Clark appeared in seven of them and averaged seven points while making nine of his 23 3-point attempts.
The defensive upside is there. Clark could grow into a borderline All-Defensive candidate if he ever gets enough run.
But that kind of role is going to stay out of reach until he proves he can contribute more consistently on offense. For now, the path is simple: keep making an impact, keep hitting shots, and give Finch a reason not to let the minutes disappear when Edwards comes back.
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The latest example came against the Spurs, when Ball was whistled early and never fully settled in. Minnesota needs his playmaking and energy on the floor, but the defensive lapses have kept undercutting that value, including a sequence against Victor Wembanyama that summed up the problem: too much contact, too little availability, and not enough margin for error right now. [Read more 🡒]
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Anthony Edwards injury is the latest jolt in what has already become a rough early stretch around the NBA, and it lands especially hard for Minnesota. With several All-Stars already dealing with major setbacks, including Jalen Williams season-ending leg injury, the leagues opening weeks have started to feel less like a clean evaluation period and more like a stress test for front offices trying to hold their plans together.
For the Timberwolves, the immediate concern is obvious: Edwards is central to everything they do, and any extended absence changes the tone of the season before it really settles in. Around the league, injuries of this size tend to ripple beyond the standings, and this one could have front offices watching the calendar a little more closely as November approaches and trade chatter starts to pick up. [Read more 🡒]