Three Timberwolves Players Who Deserve Credit for Four-Game Winning Streak

The Minnesota Timberwolves were not supposed to look this good without shooting guard Anthony Edwards, who had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee on Oct. 29.

The team has not given a timetable for his return, and ESPN's Shams Charania has reported he could miss up to two months.

Minnesota has still won four straight, starting with a 112-100 home win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Nov. 2 and ending with a 115-100 win over the Utah Jazz on Sunday, with road wins at Houston and New Orleans in between.

The Timberwolves are now 8-3 and fifth in the Western Conference, a game and a half behind the Lakers.

They gave up just 104 points per game over the four wins, and point guard LaMelo Ball has carried a big part of the scoring load with 25.0 points per game in that stretch.

Ball already gets plenty of attention, though, and three other players have been just as important to this run.

Forward Jaden McDaniels has done a little bit of everything during the streak.

He averaged 16.5 points and 6.5 rebounds over the four games, finished with a combined plus-48 and scored 23 points in almost 40 minutes in the win at New Orleans.

His defense stood out just as much, and it even caught the eye of Houston forward Kevin Durant after the Rockets lost to Minnesota on Nov. 4.

"Jaden McDaniels stands up on his own and guards, doesn't ask for help, don't say nothing. He just plays, and I really respect him," Durant said, according to Varun Shankar of the Houston Chronicle.

That is high praise coming from Durant, and it shows why Minnesota trusts McDaniels so much on defense while he still chips in on offense.

Guard Ayo Dosunmu has turned into the second scorer this team needed.

He averaged 23.0 points on 50.8% shooting during the streak, went 17-of-18 from the free throw line and scored 26 points in both the New Orleans and Utah games, and he added 12 rebounds and eight assists against Milwaukee.

Dosunmu has stepped up in a big way since Edwards went down, and his scoring has given Ball room to run the offense without carrying everything.

Forward Trey Lyles does not score a lot, but he might be the best example of what this team is doing right.

He came off the bench in all four games, pulled down 25 rebounds, committed just one turnover and posted a combined plus-37.

His plus-29 against the Jazz was the best mark of anyone in that game, and he grabbed 13 rebounds in the win at New Orleans.

Lyles is a big reason head coach Chris Finch praised the bench after the Utah game.

Center Rudy Gobert, who grabbed 47 rebounds over the four games, has a strong case too, and Minnesota now starts a long homestand with the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday, the Chicago Bulls on Saturday and back-to-back games against the Portland Trail Blazers.

If McDaniels, Dosunmu and Lyles keep playing like this, I think Minnesota can stay near the top of the West until Edwards is back.