Jaden McDaniels Names Timberwolves' Biggest Goal During Four-Game Winning Streak

Three days without a game gave the Minnesota Timberwolves a rare stretch of practice time at home this week, and forward Jaden McDaniels used part of it to talk about where this team wants to end up.

Minnesota is 8-3 and has won four straight games, and all four wins have come while guard Anthony Edwards recovers from a procedure on his right knee, so the team has had to do all of it short-handed.

McDaniels was talking about how much everyone on the roster wants to win when he brought up the goal Minnesota is chasing this season.

"We got a big goal to win the championship," McDaniels said after practice on Tuesday.

He added that the team wants to build good habits early so they are in place later in the year and in the playoffs.

The streak started at home against Milwaukee on Nov. 2 and continued with road wins in Houston and New Orleans before Minnesota beat Utah 115-100 on Sunday.

None of those four opponents scored more than 109 points, and McDaniels gave the credit to the effort on defense and the way teammates talk and cover for each other, while center Rudy Gobert has spoken about the defense's strong start.

Edwards has not played since Oct. 26, and he had an arthroscopic procedure on Oct. 29.

The team has not given a timetable, although ESPN's Shams Charania reported that he could miss up to two months.

Guard Donte DiVincenzo is also out with a right Achilles injury, so Minnesota is missing two guards but has still gone 5-2 since Edwards went down.

McDaniels is a big reason why, because he is averaging 17.0 points and 6.1 rebounds while shooting 51.3 percent from the field, and he has scored in double figures in all 11 games.

His scoring has gone up to 18.1 points per game in the seven games without Edwards, but McDaniels said he has not changed how he plays and is still taking the good shots that come to him.

That is the right approach, because Minnesota needs the same McDaniels and not a different player.

McDaniels also said he is comfortable defending away from the ball more often, and he praised guard Jaylen Clark and forward Jonathan Kuminga, who has taken on the rebounding and defensive work.

Forward Trey Lyles has helped too, and head coach Chris Finch praised the bench after the Utah win.

Minnesota is tied with Oklahoma City on top of the Northwest Division, and it is one of four West teams at 8-3 that all sit 1.5 games behind the Los Angeles Lakers.

The schedule helps too, because Dallas visits Target Center on Thursday at 7-4 with three straight wins before Chicago comes to town on Saturday and Portland plays there on Monday and Tuesday.

Talking about a championship in November with the top scorer out might sound early, but it is the right goal for this group.

McDaniels has played like the second-best player on a title contender, and if he keeps scoring like this once Edwards is back, Minnesota should be treated as a real threat to win the West.