Ayo Dosunmu's 26 points push Timberwolves past Jazz for fourth straight win

Ayo Dosunmu keeps making the Minnesota Timberwolves look fine without Anthony Edwards. The guard scored a team-high 26 points in Sunday's 115-100 win over the Utah Jazz at Target Center. The win was Minnesota's fourth straight and lifted the Timberwolves to 8-3. It also opened an eight-game homestand, the Star Tribune reported.

Dosunmu's line stood out mostly for how few shots it took. He made 7 of 13 from the field, 4 of 5 from three and all eight of his free throws in 29 minutes, according to CBS Sports. He also had four rebounds and two steals. CBS noted that he has made 8 of 11 threes over his last two games and has averaged 23.8 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.4 assists over his last five appearances. His one flaw was ball security. Minnesota Timberwolves On SI, syndicated on Yahoo Sports, counted five turnovers. That was the only thing keeping him from an A+ in the outlet's grades, which gave him an A.

LaMelo Ball scored 24 points with five assists, so the backcourt combined for 50. The Associated Press had Jaden McDaniels with 16 points and Bones Hyland with 14 off the bench. Rudy Gobert controlled the glass, and Kyle Lyles and Hyland gave the second unit 23 combined points. The Star Tribune described a slow, close game for much of the night before Minnesota pulled away. Yardbarker reported that the lead reached 19. Utah rookie Darryn Peterson matched Dosunmu with 26 points, and Keyonte George added 19 points and eight assists. Still, the Jazz fell to 1-9 and have lost eight in a row. ESPN carried the game highlights.

The bigger point is what the win says about the roster. Minnesota is now 5-2 since Edwards went out after knee surgery, and the team's grades singled out its depth as the reason. Dosunmu has gone from a complementary guard to the main scorer most nights, and Ball has settled in as the playmaker beside him.

What it means for Thursday against Dallas

The Mavericks visit Target Center on Thursday, November 12, in the second game of the homestand. The season numbers favor Minnesota. Through 11 games the Wolves have scored 1,299 points and allowed 1,177, a margin of about 11 points a night. They are averaging roughly 118 points and giving up 107. Home games have gone well, with a 4-1 record at Target Center. The lone loss there was a 119-114 game against Golden State.

The four-game streak has been steady more than spectacular. Minnesota beat Milwaukee by 12, won at Houston by 10 and at New Orleans by 6, then beat Utah by 15. The two road losses came against San Antonio and in a two-point game at Cleveland. Since that Cleveland loss, the Wolves have won six of eight.

The question against Dallas is whether Dosunmu can keep shooting like this. A long-range stretch this hot rarely lasts, and if it cools off, Minnesota will lean harder on Ball's creation and McDaniels' two-way play. The bench showed against Utah that it can carry stretches without Edwards, and that should help again on Thursday.