The Bulls dominated the Timberwolves 125-123 Wednesday night in Chicago. It was just a preseason game, but it was the only time Minnesota’s starters would be on the court together before next week’s regular-season opener against the Lakers. Let’s go over some thoughts on the game…
Randle had five points, four assists and three rebounds in his first quarter of action with the Wolves, and Minnesota wasted no time giving him enough points. He was on the field at 11:05 of the first quarter. He finished the first half with seven points, five assists and five rebounds in 18 minutes. Randle played nearly the first eight minutes of the third quarter and left the game with 15 points, six rebounds and five assists in 26 minutes.
Edwards made eight 3-pointers in the preseason game against Philly and followed that up with 13 3-pointers against the Knicks. He made 10 of 3 attempts in the first half against the Bulls and he finished the game making 16 triples, although he only made three. Edwards has made it clear that he has worked tirelessly on his 3-point shooting since last season, and it’s evident that he plans to make deep throws frequently in 2024-25.
In the end, Edwards played 30 minutes and finished with 16 points on 6-of-23 shooting.
The starters played the first six minutes before Donte DiVincenzo replaced Mike Conley. Gobert was pulled with about five minutes left in the quarter and was replaced by Nickeil Alexander-Walker. Josh Minott replaced Jaden McDaniels with just over three minutes left in the quarter, although that would likely be Naz Reid’s role when healthy. Randle played the first 11 minutes and Edwards played the entire first quarter.
Overall, Minnesota used 10 different lineup combinations during the first half and it was notable that they frequently played three-guard lineups with combinations including Conley, Edwards, DiVincenzo and Alexander- Walker. This should be a telltale sign that three-guard lineups will be the norm during the regular season.
Minnesota’s five starters played the first 7-8 minutes of the third quarter before leaving for the rest of the night.
Minnesota’s standout rookies didn’t play in the first, second or third quarter. In fact, they didn’t enter the game until a little more than five minutes remained in the fourth quarter.
This should be a good indication that the rookies won’t get much playing time, at least not early in the season, unless Minnesota is on either side of a blowout. Others you can add to this group of players who probably won’t have many points based on who played on Wednesday are Luka Garza and PJ Dozier.
Guys who definitely won’t play much, if at all, are Jaylen Clark, Leonard Miller, Daishen Nix, Jesse Edwards, Keita Bates-Diop and Eugene Omoruyi. None of them hit the floor against the Bulls.
