The Minnesota Timberwolves have just one injury on their roster at the moment, but it's the biggest one. Anthony Edwards has played in just three games this season due to a hamstring injury, and the absence of Minnesota's best scorer means head coach Chris Finch has to get creative with his roster construction. 

Even with Edwards out, the Timberwolves still have an abundance of talent and size. With Julius Randle, Rudy Gobert, and Jaden McDaniels leading the way for Minnesota during Monday night's win over the Brooklyn Nets, the size they contributed led to a dominating presence. 

Randle is the shortest of those three at a mere 6-foot-9, with it only going up from there. Their imposing size allows them to fill out the court and squeeze in players defensively while also being able to collapse on the paint or dominate the perimeter.

How Size Has Controlled the Zone

"I think the zone was really big for us. Being able to play zone on one end and I mean, me and Naz [Reid] can play in the perimeter, play in the post," Randle said (via Timberwolves). "Naz can space the floor really well. So, offensively it's not hard, but I think on the defensive end, being able to go to that zone and be big and make it look it look crowded." 

Reid is another 6'9 forward and brought by far the heaviest contributions off the bench for Minnesota, playing 24 minutes and scoring 21 points. 

The plethora of size that the Timberwolves can produce introduces both an intimidation factor and matchup issues to the teams they face. While they still moved the ball well with 33 assists, their size really showed up in their inside scoring and rebounding. 

Grabbing Boards and Making Scores

Minnesota outscored Brooklyn 56-34 in the paint, a massive discrepancy that showed up in the final box score. Aiding those paint totals was the way that the XL Timberwolves were able to grab boards with 53 rebounds to the Nets' 40. 

Brooklyn actually had more offensive boards than Minnesota did, but the difference between their defensive rebounding numbers was too much of a gap for the Nets' offense to withstand. That kind of stifling defense limits offensive potential and stops Brooklyn drives in their tracks.

Even if the Brooklyn offense managed to weave around Randle, McDaniels, or Reid, they still had to contend with Gobert looming in the paint against them. 

There are few things scarier in the NBA than an offensive-minded big man, and the Timberwolves have no less than four of them. Even with Edwards missing time, the overwhelming size that Minnesota brings to the court will be able to shut down their opponents.