NBA Preseason Final Score: Timberwolves 123, Bulls 125: Night of two disappointing fourth quarters

Look, if you want to watch good, exciting, high-IQ Minnesota basketball, this isn’t the game for you. Instead, you should have watched the Minnesota Lynx take on the New York Liberty in Game 3 of the WNBA Finals. Hopefully you only saw the fourth quarter.

This game started hard, continued hard, and left Wolves fans wondering why the Chicago Bulls are only a viable team when they play the Minnesota Timberwolves. After a loss to the New York Knicks on Sunday ended a nine-game preseason winning streak dating to 2023, the Wolves battled back in the fourth quarter, only to fall again after a Terrance Shannon Jr. three-pointer and consecutive tip-in attempts Losing Josh Minott couldn’t fall.

There were good and bad moments in this game, but it was particularly interesting to see how short Chris Finch’s rotation was in the first three periods of the game. With only one preseason game left against the Nuggets, it seems like it’s time to commit to the regular season of the second-best basketball team in Minnesota (even though both teams lost).

Let’s get to work!

P.S. I would like to mention that as a native New Yorker, I am a Liberty fan. I may be a Wolves writer, but that’s not going to change. #LibsIn5

Why Not Josh Minott continues to impress

It appears that Minott’s impressive pre-season has not been in vain, as the centre-forward has managed to achieve the aforementioned shortened rotation. Not only was Minott a presence in the first three quarters, but he continued to produce off the rebound and in spot-ups, including returning a three-point shot to beat the buzzer in the third quarter.

Minott appears to have taken up all the minutes that rookie Terrance Shannon Jr. could have claimed in his first year and has begun to fill the need for veteran Joe Ingles as well. The Lawnmower has always had the drive to “just do something,” but his ability to play in a more controlled manner as an extra wing will be huge for a team that needs real size off the bench.

It looks like the third-year senior will likely play most of the time at the three, but any opportunity to soak up minutes to prevent Naz Reid, Jaden McDaniels and Julius Randle from being the lone options at their positions is huge.

The Wolves’ strength has been widely praised since the Karl-Anthony Towns trade brought back backup Donte DiVincenzo and retained reigning Sixth Man of the Year Naz Reid. That strength, however, always depended on a rookie, Rob Dillingham, and a forward using the smalls at small forward in Nickeil Alexander-Walker. Minott’s arrival changes that. It’s also great to see a player get their chance and take it to the moon.

Kudos to Jonathan Tjarks, who believed in him more than anyone.

Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Chicago Bulls

Backup Center is a need

I’m in the top three Luke Garza guy in the Wolves fandom, including a profile article I wrote about him almost 18 months ago, but it’s time to trust the eye test. The man is a monster in just a few moments and is way too good to be in the G-League. Unfortunately, he is also too sluggish and too defensive to be relied on for more than just the crucial minutes.

Many will point to Naz Reid as the backup five or small-ball five Julius Randle, but my point here is that some sort of innings eater at the backup center spot could and should be worth a look. The Magic all employ Jonathan Isaac, Goga Bidatze and Mo Wagner in backup center roles to keep their incredible rotation of big men ready alongside Paolo Banchero.

The Wolves should try to do something similar.

Welcome back Lonzo Ball!

Do you know how long 1,006 days are? Last time Lonzo Ball While playing an NBA game, Rudy Gobert was still with the Jazz. Sachin Gupta was the general manager. Jake Layman was on the squad. Jake Layman people!

It was great to see the former No. 2 overall pick finally return to the basketball court, and it was cool to see him get back into shape.

Before we get into anything about the player, it’s worth noting how unlikely it was that Ball would even return. The man underwent an experimental operation in which cartilage was taken from a dead body and implanted into his knee to restore function to the joint. This is not a typical procedure and was one of three surgeries attempted to cure the same condition that ruined the career of former Timberwolf and personal favorite Brandon Roy.

With the number of guards the Bulls have, it is uncertain what role Ball will play. But maybe just for tonight we can enjoy the simple wonder that he’s back.

The seat belt clicks

Jaden McDaniels is tasked with improving tremendously as a goalscorer and goalscorer this season. With the city trade we have left the world of available handholds and entered the more uncertain world of necessary production. For Minnesota to be successful, Jaden McDaniels needs to be more than just a close-out attacker.

The initial returns fluctuated up and down, but the recent returns have been great. Four days ago, he scored 17 points on 6/8 shooting, including five free throw attempts. Tonight he had 12 points on 4/6 shooting and hit both three-pointers.

The most impressive development, however, was the death of McDaniels. He had five assists tonight, including some well-thrown lobs for Rudy Gobert. A little more playmaking and scoring and it’s exciting to see from a player who has been providing insights for years, but considering how important those insights are now, this was an exciting change.

Game highlights

Box score

The Timberwolves finish their preseason and return home to play the Denver Nuggets Thursday, October 17th at 7:00 p.m. CT. This will be their final preseason game of the year before facing the Los Angeles Lakers in their regular season opener on Tuesday, October 22nd.