The Minnesota Timberwolves found a way to get it done without Anthony Edwards once again.
The Minnesota Timberwolves handled the Utah Jazz on Wednesday, 147-111. Below are my takeaways:
Winning Without Ant
The Timberwolves have had to play two games without Edwards due to right knee inflammation that will leave him sidelined into the near future, and they have been on the winning end of both.
After defeating the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday by 12 points, Minnesota put together a big collective effort on the offensive end against the Jazz. Five players notched double figures, and all of them scored 15-plus points while three of them scored 20-plus points.
Ayo Dosunmu led the way with 23 points on 7-13 shooting, Rudy Gobert and Julius Randle each notched 21 points while shooting 70-plus percent from the field, Bones Hyland had 18 and Jaden McDaniels had 17 points. Randle's effort also got him to 15,000 career points.
A Depleted Jazz Squad
The Jazz were without the services of five key players on Wednesday, most of which experiencing ongoing absences or will not touch the floor again this season.
Lauri Markkanen, Keyonte George, Jusuf Nurkic, Jaren Jackson Jr and Walker Kessler were all missing from the court, and it made way for third year forward Brice Sensabaugh to notch 41 points, the second-highest point total of his career after notching a career-high 43 points in January.
The Timberwolves let Sensabaugh get his because, after all, it would prove to be a fruitless effort given the margin of defeat that they dealt to the Jazz. Only two other players for Utah, Ace Bailey and Isaiah Collier, were able to score in double figures. By the end of the game, the Jazz had shot 43% from the field and 33.3% from 3-point range and clearly lacked the firepower to beat a Timberwolves squad poised for a playoff run.
Ayo Dosunmu’s Performance
Part of the reason Minnesota has been able to stay in the win column during Edwards’ absence has been because of the stout play of Dosunmu.
After logging 19 points in the win over Phoenix, Dosunmu followed it up with his team-high 23 points against the Jazz. He has continued to be a solid role player for Minnesota since the Timberwolves acquired him in a trade deadline move from the Chicago Bulls.
In 15 games with the Timberwolves, Dosunmu is averaging 12.1 points while shooting 53.6% from the field and 39.6% from 3-point range.
A Tough Road Ahead
There are only 12 games left in the regular season for Minnesota, and the home stretch is going to be arduous, especially without Edwards.
More than half of the Timberwolves’ remaining games are against teams that will make the playoffs or are in the hunt, and their next six games include meetings with the Boston Celtics, Houston Rockets and Detroit Pistons (twice).
Minnesota has shown it can win without Edwards, but the margin for error drastically increases while the onus on the rest of the roster becomes that much greater without him in the mix. The Timberwolves announced he would be reevaluated in one to two weeks, and the team will have to find a way to hold on at least until then and probably longer.