Game #2: Timberwolves @ Orlando The tour de physicality to open the season will continue to its second leg in Miami. Minnesota passed its first test with flying colors, and are wasting no time throwing Kuminga into the deep end defensively with Banchero being tonight’s probable matchup. I’m intrigued to see what else outside of 3 point shooting this team can pivot to in order to manufacture high percentage looks. I’m curious to see if they can get Rudy involved a bit more without Bam and Giannis lurking. It should be a good one against a tough Magic team looking to right the ship after dropping game 1.

Tough first game for Beringer, but you’ve got to expect a few of these stinkers every now and then and he adjusts to regular minutes. He’s got Goga Bitadze up next, who’s one of the better backup bigs around the league but he’s no Bam/Giannis. Excited to see how he bounces back. I’d also like to see him with LaMelo more. I think Ball can make things a bit easier for him.

Follow @BalloftheWild to watch it evolve with each win.

Jaden is a defense breaker. You might be able to contain Ant and LaMelo, but if Jaden is going to be left attacking advantages like this I’m not sure how you guard Minnesota outside of praying for an off shooting night.

I’d like to see more of LaMelo’s stagger to line up with Beringer. I think Joan could benefit greatly from playing with LaMelo.

The Timberwolves, despite all the offseason concern over rebounding, dominated the glass last night against the Bam and Giannis frontcourt. They out rebounded the Heat 52-34. That includes a 17-4 offensive rebound differential leading to a 2nd chance points disparity of 20-6 in Minnesota’s favor. Exactly what you wanted to see out of this squad.

At this point it’s time to start keeping a few receipts with Teague. Let’s check back on this in April.

This is something I’m very interested to see more of on nights where the shot isn’t falling and the Wolves have to pivot on the fly. There’s something here with Jaden, and it’s a sneaky great way to make him a prominent part of the offense. He’s also flashed the ability to toss lobs to Rudy, which would make this nearly un-guardable. The Wolves have so many weapons and ways to force a defense to pick their poison.

The Timberwolves are a full on culture team now.

I genuinely look forward to how this fills out by the time we get to the playoffs. It’s always had a really fun way of perfectly summing up the season.

There’s a very real chance Minnesota cracks the top 5 team shooting seasons in NBA history these next couple of years. They could even be a threat to prime Golden State’s highest mark of 41.6%.

Last night was awesome for the Timberwolves. That said, I’m curious to see what this team does for offense when the shot isn’t falling from deep. Minnesota has the shooting talent to lean into the deep ball, but it’s when they can pivot to other things on top of the shooting threat that’s going to really excite me. The bones are there. I think Jaden is very interesting as a short roll option because he can handle, pass, and is lethal from the midrange if you give him a sliver of space. I also think the PnR game could be another option to either get a good look for LaMelo or Rudy or find someone on the perimeter to attack a shifted defense. Really intrigued to see what happens when they face some adversity.

Kuminga did the one thing I was looking for: Absorb the physical 4 matchup. If the Wolves are going to translate to the postseason, they need this from Kuminga. He had a few rough stretches, but it’s mistakes that can be cleaned up with more reps in this system and lineups. Just great to see him win every now and then defensively against a monster like Giannis. That’s not easy to do.

Jaden McDaniels stomps out the Heat as Ant hits another three.

Clark is going for payback for the unnecessary effort from the Heat. Jaden tells the heat to chill and then looks at Clark like a proud father. Rudy stands up with a grin. Kuminga walks into the frame with a "Dayum." LaMelo pops up like a whack-a-mole... Yeah, the vibes are high. Timberwolves spoil Giannis' debut with a 25-point blowout at the Kaseya Center.

This Wolves team is going to get Donte DiVincenzo back at some point too.

Anthony Edwards could average 15 3PA per game this season. The scary part is he’s going to make 40% of them.

Good thing the Miami Heat are a one of a kind frontcourt. I’m sure not overreacting to this one.