The Timberwolves were heading into their 4th game of the preseason 3-0 but would be playing without Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert. The Los Angeles Lakers were playing LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook tonight. Coach Chris Finch hinted that we would possibly see the Towns/Gobert combo play together on Friday in the final preseason game.
Someone else had to step up to the plate without the two all-star bigs in the lineup. The person that stepped up to the plate tonight was Naz Reid. This preseason Reid has been playing outstanding and he made sure to continue that trend against the Lakers. One of the big things that Reid was able to improve on this offseason was the consistency in his jumper and that definitely showed tonight. Naz Reid was in the paint causing havoc inside the paint and outside from the 3-point line. You can tell that the team believes in his progress from the coaching staff to the players. Tonight Naz Reid finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds in 27 minutes tonight. If this is anything that is to come Coach Finch will have nothing else to do but give Reid some significant minutes to play alongside Towns/Gobert.
D’Angelo Russell had his best game of the preseason tonight against his former team. Russell looked like he was in midseason form tonight as he was running the game as a true floor general. Russell was able to get his teammates involved in the passing game and even made the right decisions when it came to scoring. Tonight DLo finished with 15 points, 8 assists, and 3 rebounds. It was the fact that his playmaking ability was on full display as the Lakers guards couldn’t keep up at all. When Russell plays like this he’s a top 15 point guard easy and the Timberwolves fans should be excited about what he did against the Lakers starters.
The Timberwolves had six players in double figures tonight in a full-team effort for the win. Tonight wasn’t Anthony Edwards’s night offensively but it’s encouraging knowing that the Timberwolves still pulled it out. This was a great test for this team and they definitely passed it with flying colors. Garza and Nowell led the way in scoring tonight for the Timberwolves off the bench. Both combined for 29 points off the bench tonight in Los Angeles. One thing that this Timberwolves team has is multiple players that can get the job done in limited minutes. This Timberwolves team is deep and it will be interesting to see what Coach Chris Finch does with the final team rotation heading into the season.
The Minnesota Timberwolves will be playing their next game on Friday against the Brooklyn Nets at home.
Photo Credit: (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
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