It looked for a moment Saturday as if perhaps the Timberwolves had truly found something.
A night after besting the Knicks in New York, the Wolves were going toe to toe with Cleveland. With Evan Mobley sidelined with an injury for the Cavaliers, Minnesota was physically dominating a team that sits comfortably atop the Eastern Conference.
Minnesota had a distinct advantage on the glass and in the paint in the first half and went to the break tied 60-60. And everything Minnesota had going for it at that point appeared to be highly repeatable.
Yet it wasn’t.
The Wolves failed to lean into their ball movement and size, and Cleveland outexecuted Minnesota by a severe margin en route to a 124-117 Cavaliers’ victory Saturday at Target Center. Cleveland led by as many as 20 points in the fourth quarter before Minnesota mounted a mini comeback with far too little time remaining on the clock.
Fatigue is always a factor on the second half of a back to back, so it’s possible Minnesota ran out of gas. But it was also a reminder that this team also isn’t yet capable of executing for a long enough period of time to combat the league’s top-tier teams.
With Mobley and Isaac Okoro — two of Cleveland’s top three defenders — out, there was a path to victory for the Wolves, even without Donte DiVincenzo. When Cleveland starting center Jarrett Allen was on the bench for rest on Saturday, Cleveland trotted out lineups without any center or power forward.
Rudy Gobert and Julius Randle were both flirting with double-doubles at the break. But their impact in the second half was minimal.
Because while Cleveland may have been ill-equipped on the interior, the Cavaliers seemingly managed to grab every long rebound and loose ball over the final two quarters.
Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell was excellent, finishing with 36 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. His backcourt mate Darius Garland added 29 points, six assists and five boards.
Anthony Edwards led Minnesota with 28 points, while Randle finished with 20 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists.
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