The Minnesota Timberwolves went from feeling like one of the league’s freshest stories to looking rattled in a hurry.
Just days after opening the season 3-0 and hammering the Toronto Raptors by 20 or more points in each of those wins, the Wolves have hit a far rougher patch. A Monday night loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers was followed by the news that Anthony Edwards will be sidelined for roughly two months with a knee injury, and Wednesday night’s 119-114 loss to the Golden State Warriors only deepened the uneasy feeling around the team.
The final score was close, but the energy around Minnesota was not. The ball stopped moving.
Several players forced tough 3-pointers. And when the Wolves did climb back into the game, it was the bench that helped fuel the push, not the starters.
The most visible moment of the night came during a timeout, when LaMelo Ball and Jonathan Kuminga were seen yelling at Rudy Gobert. That scene fit neatly into the uglier tone surrounding the Wolves right now, especially after a stretch that looked nothing like the smooth, unified group that rolled through the opening week.
Before the season, Chris Finch said: "We traded moodiness for giddiness. Now, the Wolves feel as moody as ever.
That shift has been fast, and it has been jarring.
To be fair, losing a best player who had just dropped 47 points is a massive blow. Edwards’ absence changes everything for Minnesota, including the way the offense has to function. But that reality does not make the mood around the team any easier to ignore.
Gobert has become a big part of the frustration. Over the past two games, the 7-foot-1 center is 0-for-13 from the field.
He has struggled to finish at the rim, dropped passes he should have corralled, and those offensive issues have spilled over into his defense. Edwards also yelled at him during the Cavs game after Gobert batted a ball to Peyton Watson and gave up on the play.
Those reactions are easy to understand, and Gobert’s teammates are clearly irritated. At this point, he has to produce if he wants to help steady the offense and win back trust in the locker room.
Still, none of this makes the Wolves doomed. Every season brings rough stretches, even if this one showed up early.
But Minnesota cannot let the frustration linger. The team spent all offseason talking about chemistry and togetherness, and now those ideas have to show up when things get messy.
For the moment, the vibes that felt so strong a week ago are gone. The Wolves have real basketball issues to sort through, and they have some soul-searching ahead as they try to survive without Edwards.
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Timberwolves Let A Winnable Warriors Game Slip In All The Wrong Areas
Minnesota had a chance to make a statement against Golden State and instead watched the game tilt in the same familiar places where the Warriors usually take control. Stephen Curry was relentless throughout, and Yaxel Lendeborg gave Golden State a needed scoring boost, but the bigger story for the Timberwolves was how many possessions they let slip away on the glass and at the line in a 119-114 defeat.
The loss stung because it was there for the taking before the Warriors started stacking extra chances and turning them into points. Minnesota could not match Golden States physical edge or keep pace once the game tightened, and the final margin left the Timberwolves with a familiar frustration about the details that decide close games when they matter most. [Read more 🡒]
Anthony Edwards Absence Puts Early Pressure On The Timberwolves
Anthony Edwards is facing a prolonged stint on the sideline after undergoing a successful arthroscopic procedure on his right knee, leaving the Timberwolves to sort out their early-season plans without their top perimeter engine. Minnesota expects Edwards to miss up to two months, and while the team has framed the surgery as part of a normal cleanup, the timing still lands as a significant setback for a club that leans heavily on his scoring, pace and late-clock shot creation.
The encouraging part for Minnesota is that the organization expects a full recovery, but there is no specific timetable for his return, which makes the opening stretch of the schedule that much more delicate. With Edwards out, the Wolves will have to navigate those first weeks with less margin for error and a greater need for other pieces to absorb the offensive load until their star is cleared to come back. [Read more 🡒]
Steve Kerr's Kuminga Comments Reopen A Warriors Split That Still Stings
Jonathan Kumingas latest meeting with the Warriors offered a small reminder of why the trade that sent him out of Golden State still carries a little sting. Now with the Timberwolves, the forward got his first look at his former team and showed again why the move drew so much second-guessing in the Bay Area, especially with the Warriors having sent him and Buddy Hield to Atlanta for Kristaps Porzingis.
Even with the business of the deal long since done, Steve Kerrs comments added another layer to the split. The Warriors coach spoke positively about Kumingas growth and said Minnesota has been a good place for him, a notable acknowledgment from the team that once had to decide whether to keep building around him or move on. For Minnesota, it is the sort of development that can make a new arrival feel more like a fit than a flier. [Read more 🡒]