If ever there was a get-right game for the Timberwolves, it was Friday night against Utah.

The Wolves made quick work of the Jazz in a 137-97 victory. The Wolves won their first game of the NBA Cup, the league’s in-season tournament. Margin of victory can matter as a tiebreaker for a team to advance out of the group stage and into the quarterfinals, something the Wolves have not done in the tournament’s two previous iterations. But Wolves coach Chris Finch still emptied his bench in the fourth quarter.

Anthony Edwards returned to form after shaking off the rust Wednesday in his first game back from injury. He scored 37 points while Julius Randle had his second triple-double this week with 19 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists.

Keyonte George, whom the Jazz acquired with one of the picks from the Wolves in the Rudy Gobert trade, had 18 points for Utah. The Wolves’ maligned defense was back, at least for a night, in holding Utah to 37% shooting.

Start leaves little doubt

Edwards came out with more urgency to find his own shot than he did Wednesday against the Knicks. He put up eight of the team’s first 10 points and had 14 in the first quarter. The Wolves came out with the urgency they needed against one of the few teams in the Western Conference that doesn’t have playoff plans. They were ahead 26-6 just 6 minutes, 18 seconds into the game and led 43-15 after one quarter. Randle and Jaden McDaniels each had 11 points in the first quarter, with Randle adding five assists.

The defense held the Jazz to just 5-for-21 shooting in the first. An incensed Jazz coach Will Hardy picked up a technical foul in the first quarter, then continued lighting his team up in the huddle after lighting up the officials.

McDaniels continues his roll

One of the concerns with Edwards returning to the lineup was if there was going to be room for McDaniels to continue his strong play on the offensive end. So far, so good. McDaniels played another good two-way game with 22 points. He was 9-for-14 from the field, including 3-for-3 from three-point range. Entering the night, he was shooting 52.4% from the floor and 48.4% from three-point range. Typically, McDaniels gets his offense from the flow of the offense, but it seems Finch is more intentional about getting him the ball, as are his teammates.

Oh so close

Randle nearly clinched his triple-double before halftime. He finished the first half with 15 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds. After getting the 10th assist on a Jaylen Clark three with 64 seconds left in the second quarter, nobody missed a shot the rest of the half to give him a chance at a rebound.

Randle got his 10th rebound in the third quarter right before a Jazz player slapped the ball out of his hands, off his knee and out of bounds. One of the only times the crowd cheered after a Wolves loss of possession.

First NBA Cup win

Friday’s game was the first of four the Wolves will play in the group stage of the annual in-season tournament. The Wolves will also play Sacramento, Phoenix and Oklahoma City as part of Group A in the Western Conference. The top team from each group advances to the quarterfinals plus one second-place wild card from each conference. Margin of victory in these games can matter as a tiebreaker beyond head-to-head record if multiple teams are tied with each other. The Wolves set themselves up well with the large margin to grab a potential wild-card spot should they finish second in their group.

Up next

The Wolves hit the road for a back-to-back Sunday in Sacramento then Monday in Utah.

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