Jaden McDaniels, Donte DiVincenzo highlight Wolves' 4th-quarter comeback

By / / Sports / 8 minutes of reading


The Minnesota Timberwolves were in danger of letting yet another home game against an undermanned opponent slip away. They had fallen behind the Orlando Magic by nine points entering the fourth quarter, facing an uphill climb against the second-ranked defense in the NBA.

Conventional wisdom says a deficit this large calls for one, if not both, of the team’s highest scorers to bridge the gap. However, coach Chris Finch went with a lineup that did not have Anthony Edwards or Julius Randle on the floor. He went with Mike Conley, Donte DiVincenzo, Jaden McDaniels, Naz Reid and Rudy Gobert, a hard-playing, quick-moving group.

It proved to be exactly what the Timberwolves needed to keep their winning streak going. A 15-3 run sparked them to a 40-24 quarter, a relentless walking down of a rough and tumble Magic squad, which was dictating the terms of engagement in the third. Orlando had won the previous five games at Target Center, but two players set the tone to get the Wolves surging to their seventh straight win.

“The two MVPs of the night go to Jaden McDaniels and Donte DiVincenzo,” Edwards told FanDuel Sports North after the 118-111 win. “We wouldn’t have won the game without them tonight.”

The two combined for 16 points on 7-of-7 shooting in the fourth quarter. They also played lockdown defense, making sure that the hot Magic cooled off from behind the 3-point arc. Orlando missed all five of their 3-point attempts in the quarter.

McDaniels finished with 11 points, eight rebounds, three steals and two blocks in the game, with eight of those points and his only two 3-pointers coming in the fourth. DiVincenzo scored eight of his 14 points in the fourth and also had five assists, a steal and a block in the game.

It didn’t stop there. Edwards scored 28; Randle had 22, seven rebounds and five assists; Rudy Gobert had 12 points and 12 rebounds; Mike Conley only scored nine points but was a plus-20 in 24 minutes.

The Wolves (39-29) needed all of it as they desperately try to climb out of the Play-In Tournament field in the Western Conference. Despite all of their success of late, they have gained little ground. Minnesota remains in seventh place in the West, percentage points behind the Golden State Warriors (38-28), who have won nine of their last 10 games.

But for a team that seemed to be thrown out of whack when Karl-Anthony Towns was traded to the New York Knicks for Randle and DiVincenzo, this late-season surge signifies a group that has finally put a lot of the baggage created by that deal behind them.

“At the beginning of the season, I think guys were all kind of worried about themselves, their game, how everything that we did was going to impact them,” Finch said.

“I think for us, post-trade, everything was just kind of up in the air,” he continued. “We were trying to figure it out, and guys, they were bothered by lots of things, and we don’t have that connectivity. It’s not selfishness. I just think guys were trying to figure out how they could get themselves going and how it all meant for them. It wasn’t malicious. It was just they had to let go of that and lean into what the team needed.”

The team that was flailing early in the season could not have come back from 11 points down in the fourth quarter. The Wolves would have faded in November or December and lost this one. But they banded together on Friday night with a ferocious fourth quarter highlighted by four plays from four players.

Donte’s block

DiVincenzo has given the Wolves’ offense a huge jolt with dead-eye 3-point shooting since returning from a turf toe injury. He is hitting almost 50 percent of his 3s in the nine games since returning, but his importance to the Wolves runs so much deeper than floor spacing.

His rugged defense has given the Wolves a much-needed edge, as evidenced by the incredible block of a dunk attempt from Franz Wagner early in the fourth quarter. The Wolves were down seven points when DiVincenzo elevated and met Wagner at the rim, sending his dunk back the other way. DiVincenzo let out a primal scream after the play, bringing the crowd to their feet.

“I told y’all, I’m a rim protector,” DiVincenzo said, playfully. “No one wanted to believe me.”

He may not be Gobert, but his willingness to challenge bigger players at the rim and risk being put in a meme if he gets dunked on has embodied this Timberwolves streak. He is not worried about what might happen. He is ready to show everyone in the arena what will happen when he goes for it.

“You’re gonna get some, they’re gonna get some,” DiVincenzo said. “But at the end of the day, it’s about competing and putting your body on the line.”

DiVincenzo is still on a minutes limit for the turf toe with the medical and training staff trying to avoid injuries higher up on his legs that can come when the body overcompensates for an injured area. But he has shown no ill effects from the absence.

Earlier in the game, the 6-foot-10, 250-pound Paolo Banchero attacked the rim in transition, and DiVincenzo jumped with him. He ended up fouling Banchero, but he was making it clear what would and would not be tolerated.

“There’s no easy layups, first and foremost,” DiVincenzo said. “It was a fast break, and he was going in for an easy layup. It’s different if he tries to attack aggressively and tries to dunk it. But if he’s going up easy, I’m gonna try to get it every time.”

The Timberwolves have outscored their opponents by 105 points in his nine games since returning.

Ant attacks

Edwards was just 2 of 6 from the field with one assist and one turnover in the third quarter, not providing the efficiency or decision-making that has been such an important part of the Timberwolves’ surge. Finch went back to him in the fourth quarter, and Edwards showed everyone why Finch made that decision.

With the score tied at 98 and just over three minutes to play, Edwards flicked in a 3 over Wendell Carter’s outstretched hand.

But he wasn’t done yet. After Banchero shot an air ball from 3, Edwards charged back toward the basket. He elevated at the rim against Carter, powered right through a foul that was never called to score and put the Wolves up five with 2:36 to play.

“It’s his elite talent and athleticism coming through,” Finch said of Edwards. “But the good thing is he went downhill. We’ve been on him to get downhill more in those situations, and he did a good job.”

Rudy and Randle get up

The Wolves dominated the Magic on the glass in the game 45-31, but the two teams each had six offensive rebounds. The Wolves grabbed three of their offensive boards in the fourth quarter, all of which came from Gobert and Randle.

Randle roared to the adoring crowd right after his big play. There were times earlier this season when he was more tentative and unsure of himself after the trade. But his teammates and coaches have worked hard to make him feel accepted and wanted, and moments like this certainly show how far he’s come.

“I was tired as hell; I ain’t gonna lie,” Randle said with a grin. “I needed all of that. The crowd was rocking tonight. They brought us a lot of juice and energy in that fourth quarter, and we needed all of it.”

Jaden snatches a soul

As the clock ticked down on the game and the Wolves pulled away just a little bit, they still needed one more big play to seal the win. They were up seven points with two minutes to go when Conley saw an opening against Wagner. He sneaked in, knocked the ball away and pushed it up the court toward McDaniels, and it worked out well.

McDaniels flew through the air to throw down a soaring dunk and send the crowd into swag-surfing, party mode. McDaniels only took six shots in the game, but he made four of them, including two 3s in the fourth.

“It feels good,” McDaniels said. “It shows that we’re learning; we’re building off earlier in the season. Every game counts double now. Just being ready and staying locked in.”

The lack of usage early in the game ran counter to the trends of the team overall. Finch has made it a priority to get McDaniels more involved offensively, especially playing off of the catch and getting to the rim. He only had two shot attempts in the first half, but Finch made sure to run the first play of the third quarter for him to get him going.

“Just being ready to shoot, ready to drive and not letting it frustrate me,” McDaniels said. “Just knowing I’m going to get shots at some point in the game.”

(Photo of McDaniels: David Berding / Getty Images)





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Avatar of Erika Walls
Erika Walls is a journalist who loves writing about business and finance news. She's been working in the industry for over 15 years, and she's published hundreds of articles on everything from the latest IPO to the hottest new stock pick.

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