A big victory and welcome smiles for the Wolves

No mercy, even with a compatriot. Mike Conley had just passed the leather to Rudy Gobert at the 3-point line. The Wolves pivot then feigned hand-to-hand with his leader before penetrating in front of his defender, Armel Traoré, surprised like the entire Lakers defense.

One dribble later, Rudy Gobert crushed (again) the circle with both hands, causing the start of collective hysteria on the Wolves bench. With Anthony Edwards jumping with pleasure, Naz Reid just as smiling… The Frenchman's gesture, extremely rare, gave their team a 20-point lead.

With 10 minutes to play, the locals will not be joined by the Californians, who were playing “back-to-back” (against two days of rest for the Wolves), ultimately beaten by 29 points.

A little Anthony Edwards

Chris Finch's men haven't had much chance to smile in recent weeks. Before their one-point victory against the Clippers, they had four defeats in a row, and more broadly seven defeats in nine outings.

“ It's a pleasure to win. I hope this is the start of a good run for us, but it's up to us to continue. The guys are in a good state of mind. A lot of things were said in the locker room with a lot of intention, and the guys took them to heart while maintaining good camaraderie, good spirit and positivity around it all. “, thus lists the coach.

An echo in particular of the recent speeches of Anthony Edwards. The latter said he didn't like him and his teammates playing ” top names » while the team would be “ soft collectively, internally “.

“ We have great competitors in this locker room, so when you lose, you're obviously frustrated. But you always have to take a step back and never lose sight of the fact that it's basketball. We dedicate our lives to it, but it’s still basketball. We have to have fun when we take the field », recalls Rudy Gobert, author of a great match (17 points on 7/8 shots and 12 rebounds) with a quantity of dunks.

In the right direction

Notable fact of this evening, the Wolves won despite a very small Anthony Edwards in “scoring”: only 8 points at 3/13 on shots, his first outing of the year below the 10 point mark. But behind Julius Randle (18 points) and Rudy Gobert, the replacements responded. Naz Reid and Nickeil Alexander-Walker shone (15 points each), as did Donte DiVincenzo (11 points and 9 assists).

His team having shot nearly 51%, including 43% at 3-points, Chris Finch talks about one of the most “ intelligent » delivered by his attacking formation. “ We managed well against their defensive changes. Different groups had different problems to solve, but we did a good job », Describes the technician, whose team once again displays a balanced record (10 victories – 10 defeats).

Are the Wolves, who are preparing to visit the Clippers before a double confrontation on the Warriors floor, getting closer to their desired level? “ I don't think so. There is still much to do. We can clearly display better offensive chemistry. No doubt about it. We're heading in the right direction, but we still have a long way to go », Warns Chris Finch in conclusion.