The Minnesota Timberwolves have been, for large chunks of this season, unable to get out of their own way. There were losses against bad teams, as there admittedly are for every team, but there was a far more irritating trend. While they wouldn’t lose every game against poor competition, they certainly failed to make it an easy game.

Tonight, if even for one night, that wasn’t true. The Wolves won a wire-to-wire domination in which they led the whole way through against a tanking San Antonio Spurs team. It might not have been perfect, but it was appreciated.

And that’s worth celebrating.

The game was headlined by a Rudy Gobert return, which led to the re-benching of Naz Reid who has been quite good as the starter. Gobert had a solid showing with 16 points and eight rebounds. Naz Reid had a strong game as well in his previous role with 20 points and a dazzling array of baby hooks.

However, it was Anthony Edwards’ third quarter run that led to this blow out. The lead stayed at a comfortable double digits for most of the game, but it was Ant’s 12 points that helped to push it out of range.

Though Gobert remains the biggest story tonight, there’s still smaller notes to keep track of.

Let’s get to it.

It’s Time to Worry about Rob Dillingham

Rob Dillingham has not played any non-garbage-time minutes in the month of March. While that’s not a terribly long time, it continues the trend set by Head Coach Chris Finch earlier this season. If Donte DiVincenzo is playing, it’s more likely than not that Dillingham will not be.

The diminutive guard has shown signs of being a sparkplug off the bench but a lack of consistency or leash to work with has proven to make his transition from Kentucky more difficult.

There’s something to be said about the general body language and clear unhappiness of Dillingham on the bench (which makes sense, he wants to play), but even the on court performance has been less than ideal.

In just three minutes of gametime, Rob had a turnover (could’ve been two if not for a Luka Garza tip drill) and an assist. He missed his only shot of the night.

The question of Dillingham to be a rotation level player is always going to be an uphill battle at his size, but before he can prove to overcome his size, he needs to earn his minutes and he has failed to do that as the third best rookie on the Wolves this season.

Endorsed by Lightning McQueen: No Rust

Rudy Gobert was back with sixteen points and eight rebounds. Donte DiVincenzo has been shooting over 50% from deep. Julius Randle has missed out on three straight triple doubles by the basketball equivalent of loose change in between the couch cushions.

I know people are going to hate to hear this, but that is probably a sign of good coaching.

A lot has been said about Chris Finch’s failures as a leader or as a time-out-caller, but the constant preparedness of rookies to play within their expected roles in a system along with the easy reintegration of players after missing time should be enough to write off any real concerns about regular season failures.

On a more specific note, the return of Knicks Donte DiVincenzo has to be the most exciting part of this season. After a difficult start to the year, Donte has been absolutely incredible. The Villanova product will need to improve his playmaking to make the starting lineup a good fit, but he will certainly replace Mike Conley sooner rather than later.

Julius Randle’s fit has been much maligned, but his passing clearly enables this team offensively in a way that makes his lack of shooting less of a factor.

It’s all relatively exciting stuff. To see the Wolves forego a ramp up period upon getting to full strength raises expectations for a potential playoff series. Time will tell whether they can catch the Warriors for the sixth seed, but they will be an incredibly difficult first round opponent for whoever they can phase.

Shooting Concerns Going Forward

Julius Randle is shooting 31.7% from three this year. Jaden McDaniels is shooting 32.8%. Rudy Gobert is a strong 0 for 0 this season and is the definition of a non-shooter.

Even with Donte and Ant likely being a top-three or so shooting duo in the league, having three starters that are below average shooters is likely the origin of the spacing problems that shine so brightly because of how good Edwards looks alongside Naz Reid and Donte DiVincenzo.

This, as much as the quest to keep Naz Reid, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and Julius Randle in free agency, is the biggest question going into the summer. Is a trio of comparative non-shooters good enough offensively to allow the starters to work? At times, yes. But, more often than not, there are too many players lurking in the dunkers spot and not enough shooting to go around.

Just as it is with many Wolves related things, it comes down to when, and if, Naz Reid becomes a starter.

Up Next

The Timberwolves will fly to Denver to take the surging Nuggets and MVP frontrunner Nikola Jokić in an incredibly important game for both teams as the standing war in the West continues.

It’s yet another rematch of the Western Conference semi-finals, live on ESPN. Tipoff is slated for Wednesday 3/12 at 9:00 CST.