The Minnesota Timberwolves finally snapped a six-game losing streak this week with a 124-111 victory over the Denver Nuggets.
Anthony Edwards was sensational in the winning effort, putting up 29 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists on the night.
The performance fell in line with his other showings over the past couple of weeks, where he has really shouldered the burden of playing 37 minutes per game with so many of the squad’s other stars out.
While Minnesota’s win versus arguably the best team in the West is objectively impressive, it also doesn’t change the fact that this group is 17-21 and sits 11th in the conference. Not exactly great given that they mortgaged their future to win a title this year.
As it turns out, Edwards is reportedly pretty unhappy with the Wolves at the moment and there is some legit finger-pointing and infighting in the locker room these days.
“There has definitely been some finger-pointing in that locker room,” NBA insider Darren Wolfson said on the Mackey & Judd podcast this week.
“I had heard that Anthony Edwards hasn’t been real happy. Now, hopefully happy after last night, D’Angelo Russell, some finger-pointing going in that direction.
“Like is it just a coincidence, I get it’s just a one-game sample size, but they played really well last night, they moved the ball incredibly well and D’Angelo Russell didn’t play.”
Edwards took on a lot of point guard duties for the Wolves on Tuesday and the team seemed better off for it. That said, it’s hard to see this arrangement working long term.
The Russell problem is real (as evidenced by his harsh Rudy Gobert critique), but it shouldn’t be all that hard to solve. There have been multiple teams interested in acquiring him. It’s all about just finding the best deal.
But will that resolve all of Minnesota’s issues? It’s hard to say.
The Gobert issue still a very real one, too. There is a reason why the Utah Jazz disaster unfolded the way it did – and he played a central role in that mess. It is hard to ignore how much success Donovan Mitchell is having without him on the Cleveland Cavaliers, whereas he is really struggling with the Timberwolves.
The Ohio State fan who went viral during the Georgia game has been identified. https://t.co/muz1AmiH6A
— Game 7 (@game7__) January 3, 2023
Obviously the NBA season is a long one and there is still plenty of time to get back on track, but it isn’t a great sign that this group is already fighting amongst themselves.
If the Wolves get back on course and start winning games, all the early season struggles will be forgotten.
Should the opposite occur, though – the infighting and unhappiness will likely only increase from here.
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A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
