Timberwolves lose Anthony Edwards for at least two months after a strong two-way start
Edwards had knee surgery after a 33-point-a-game start. Minnesota is 4-3 and has to keep up an elite defense without him, starting with Milwaukee.
The Minnesota Timberwolves now have to prove that their good start wasn't all Anthony Edwards. The team announced that Edwards had a successful arthroscopic procedure on his right knee to clear out debris. As Canis Hoopus of the SB Nation network notes in its review of the first five games, that keeps him out for at least the next two months.
The timing hurts. Will Tzavaras of Canis Hoopus wrote that Edwards was averaging 33 points per game through five games. He was shooting 48.1 percent from the field and 40 percent from three on more than 11 attempts a night. He opened the season with 45 points and 10 rebounds in a 131-106 rout at Miami, and LaMelo Ball added 21 points in his debut with the team. The knee had already cost Edwards the October 28 home loss to Golden State, where a slow start left Minnesota chasing all night.
Canis Hoopus says the Wolves ranked fourth in the league in scoring through five games at 120.4 points per game. Their offensive rating was eighth. The defense stood out more. With Rudy Gobert anchoring it, Minnesota posted a 102.5 defensive rating, second in the league behind Toronto, and its net rating ranked fourth. The supporting cast was also producing. TJ Shannon Jr. was averaging 14.2 points and shooting 40 percent from deep, and newcomer Jonathan Kuminga was making 47.6 percent of his threes. All of that came without Donte DiVincenzo, who is still recovering from the Achilles tear he suffered against Denver in last spring's playoffs.
The outlet describes a team with a championship ceiling that was still working out a reshuffled roster. That work now has to happen without its best scorer, in a Western Conference that offers few easy nights. The defense travels and doesn't depend on Edwards. The question is how much shot creation Ball, Shannon, Kuminga, Ayo Dosunmu and Jaden McDaniels can provide.
What it means for Milwaukee on Monday
Minnesota hosts the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday, November 2, at 4-3. The record looks ordinary next to the scoring margin. Across seven games the Wolves have scored 840 points and allowed 761, or about 120.0 per game against 108.7, a margin of more than 11 points a night. All four wins came by at least 22 points: Miami, Orlando by 22, Toronto by 23, and the LA Clippers 127-101 at Target Center.
The losses tell a different story. Three of them came in the last four games: a two-point overtime loss in Cleveland, a five-point loss to the Warriors and, most recently, a 121-111 loss at San Antonio. The 121 points the Spurs scored were the most Minnesota has allowed in regulation this season. The Wolves are 2-1 at home and 2-2 on the road.
The pattern is that Minnesota wins big when its defense controls the game and struggles in close games. Late-game shot-making is exactly what Edwards supplied, so tight finishes are the area to watch while he's out. Ball's role as primary creator, and how Gobert holds up after the uneven night in Cleveland that Canis Hoopus pointed to, will shape the early returns. The Bucks game is the first look at that version of the team over a long stretch.
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