Good morning. Let’s basketball.

General Bonaparte Surrounded by Members of the Council of Five Hundred During the Coup of 18 Brumaire; Francois Bouchot; 1799

The start of the Timberwolves’ huge showdown with the Clippers in Los Angeles on Tuesday night was rough. Minnesota scored just 10 points in the first 8-1/2 minutes and looked totally sloppy. They couldn’t get clean looks from outside, they kept turning over the ball and the only thing that was working was crashing the offensive glass and getting putbacks.

Kawhi Leonard started the game on Anthony Edwards, and had him in jail. The Wolves trailed by 15 at that point.

Kawhi Leonard left the game at the end of the first quarter and didn’t return. And it turns out that the Clippers don’t have anyone else quite like Kawhi to defend someone like Ant.

Well, they do have Paul George. But Paul George was not guarding Ant. And Terance Mann nor James Harden nor Norm Powell had a hope of slowing him down.

How Edwards cooked in the pick-and-roll by skating past Ivica Zubac and Daniel Theis, and eventually just toying with the traps by dribbling horizontally into space — a masterclass of individual play. And he’s clear about what happened once Kawhi left the game.

Minnesota’s defense locked in, as it almost always does. And that’s the most intriguing piece of the Wolves’ outlook, because this is the killer recipe for hero ball: you pair an excellent team defense with a preternatural one-on-one killer, and you succeed. This was the Iverson Sixers recipe, the second Kobe era Lakers’ recipe, the second Cavs era LeBron recipe. This is sort of what the Grizzlies have been doing in recent years with Ja Morant, and the Heat with Jimmy Butler, the Thunder with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and even the 2022 Warriors with Steph Curry. There are wrinkles to each of these examples: the Warriors’ ball movement offense, Bam Adebayo’s fulcrum creation, the Grizzlies’ and Thunder’s shooting, Kyrie Irving’s presence in Cleveland.

Minnesota’s wrinkle is Karl-Anthony Towns, when he’s available: one of the best shooting big men ever. But Towns isn’t here right now. So it’s on Ant to carry the offensive load, to be the hero that hero ball needs. So far, so good.

Few players in the league get downhill as effortlessly as Edwards. You need a long wing with some strength to force him into passing the ball or settling for contested jumpers. Kawhi fits the bill. PG could fit the bill. There aren’t many other options to take on that assignment from other top-tier West teams. (Ironically, Jaden McDaniels would be a good candidate.) So if you don’t have a stopper from Edwards, you’re reliant on just trying to outscore the Wolves … which is a fool’s game in most instances because that defense is incredible, led by Rudy Gobert and McDaniels. Edwards contributes on that end too, as evidenced by his strip of PG leading to a 3-on-1 break. (That’s something you want to see the Wolves do more to help solve the offensive limitations: push in transition.)

The endgame offense is still an enormous challenge for the Wolves. Hero ball historically doesn’t work great in endgame situations. But it’s what Minnesota has right now, and the defense should keep them in most games. Edwards should have plenty of opportunities the rest of the way in 2023-24 to show he’s fit for the job the Wolves need him to do.

Help Me Understand

The Kings are 7-4 over the last 11 games. This includes victories over the Nuggets (tied for No. 1), Timberwolves (No. 3), Clippers (No. 4), Lakers (No. 9) and now a blow-out over the Bucks (East No. 2). Two of the four losses came against the below-.500 Bulls and the below-.500 Rockets.

On the season, Sacramento is 10-8 (.555) against top-4 seeds in either conference and 13-6 (.684) against teams that will not make the postseason. For a minute, it was a running joke that the Kings would only play well if the opponent was a really good team. It’s not a joke! This team is far more dangerous the better the opponent.

Maybe that’s good for the playoffs since they’ll be a play-in or bottom-4 team?

Scores

Sixers 79, Knicks 106 — O.G. Anunoby returns, meaning Josh Hart doesn’t have to play 40 minutes any more. Instead, Hart played just 39 minutes … and picked up a 20-19-10 triple-double.

Pacers 121, Thunder 111 — OKC just wasn’t quite efficient enough inside the arc — they shot 47% in the paint — against a bad defense. Indiana didn’t shoot well from deep and got killed on the glass, but they found ways to score (as they usually do).

Wizards 97, Grizzlies 109 — Trey Jemison, a 24-year-old rookie, putting up 24 points for the Grizzlies in March. What a time.

Poozma Time.

Rockets 103, Spurs 101 — Houston needs to figure out some offensive things — they were up 99-90 with just over 2 minutes left and only survived by the skin of their teeth — but this is a solid team that could take a leap next season with just another round of internal development.

Celtics 123, Jazz 107

Bucks 94, Kings 129 — Domantas Sabonis doesn’t get enough credit for dunking on dudes’ heads with regularity.

Speaking of dunks … hello, Andre Jackson Jr.

Yes, that is Kevin Huerter getting out of his seat. De’Aaron Fox gave him hell about it.

Timberwolves 118, Clippers 100 — The weird thing about Kawhi’s injury exit is that he didn’t just go backstage: he left the arena in the middle of the game.

I guess if you aren’t going to return, might as well go home? It’s a long commute to San Diego. Ohm Youngmisuk reports Leonard was uncomfortable sitting. Did he luge home? Simply one of the oddest players of his generation.

Schedule

All times Eastern.

Raptors at Pistons, 7
Nets at Magic, 7
Bulls at Pacers, 7:30
Nuggets at Heat, 7:30, ESPN
Hornets at Grizzlies, 8
Cavaliers at Pelicans, 8
Warriors at Mavericks, 8:30
Hawks at Blazers, 10
Lakers at Kings, 10, ESPN

Links

Johnny Buss is running for President of the United States as an independent. And here we all thought Mark Cuban was the NBA minority owner most likely to run for the top job in the federal government. Anyways, Buss, the part-owner of a small family-run business, currently boasts the following endorsements on his stock photo-laden campaign website: .

I find a lot of joy on Tuesday’s TNT broadcasts these days. Shaq claiming certain crossovers are easy and then being unable to replicate them is awesome. Poor Candace Parker — it’s like teaching a toddler how to ride a bike.

The great Dan Devine on the great Anthony Edwards.

A typically beautiful rumination on sportswriting from Katie Heindl.

Contract extension for Jamahl Mosley in Orlando. Well deserved. My current pick for Coach of the Year over Chris Finch, Mark Daigenault and Joe Mazzulla.

Best wishes to Otto Porter in his retirement. He was starting Finals games two years ago.

No major tears for Alperen Sengun, thank goodness. But I suspect we won’t see him until next season. (Turkey will not qualify for the Olympics.)

Marc Stein with a reported look at the scoring drop-off after the All-Star break.

Kevin O’Connor’s top 50 draft prospects.

Logan Murdock on the Clippers’ broken flow.

Jared Dubin on the differences among catch-and-shoot threes.

Another incredible episode of PABLO TORRE FINDS OUT , this one about how Total Request Live was rigged.

Alright, that’s all. Be excellent to each other.