Wolves defeat Joel Embiid-less 76ers 112-99, are off to franchise-best 11-3 start

Some of the excitement around Wednesday night's matchup between the Timberwolves and 76ers disappeared during the afternoon, when Philadelphia declared reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid out because of hip soreness.

That led to a relatively easy and undramatic 112-99 Wolves victory. But for the Western Conference-leading Wolves, a boring, "professional" kind of victory, as coach Chris Finch called it, is one of the best things they can accomplish, especially when these nights became losses too often last season.

"We ain't coming out here to play around," guard Anthony Edwards said.

So a night like Wednesday, when the Embiid-less 76ers never made a serious push after the second quarter, should become the norm for a team that has deep playoff aspirations.

"We lost a lot of games that we were supposed to win last year, and it hurt us at the end of the season," Edwards said. "So, Finchy put emphasis on that from training camp, like, we're not messing around with teams we're supposed to beat."

Edwards was a big reason for that, as his scoring — he finished with 31 points on the night — rescued the Wolves from occasional offensive doldrums in a second quarter the Wolves lost 29-20. His 13 third-quarter points helped the Wolves turn an eight-point halftime lead into a 21-point fourth-quarter lead, with the 76ers only cutting into the margin during end-of-bench garbage time. Karl-Anthony Towns pitched in 23 points, while Shake Milton had a season-high 12 points against his former team.

"Everybody's here to win," said forward Naz Reid, who had 13 points. "Everybody has one goal. Everybody's got their money situation out of the way. Now we're here to play basketball and win the game. We're not really too much worried about anything other than that."

With the victory, the Wolves made some history. Their 11-3 start is the best through 14 games in franchise history. They also remained perfect (7-0) at home while staying atop the Western Conference standings.

When asked about the early-season milestones the Wolves have passed, Edwards sat back in the chair at his locker and smiled.

"Sensational," he said. "It feels great. It feels good to come in here expecting to win. This is my fourth year. All three years, I never came in and was, like, 'Oh, we finna [expecting to] win tonight.' "

"Every time we've got a shootaround and after we leave shootaround and I get into bed, I tell my girl, like, 'We finna win tonight.' Expecting to win is — I think that's the best feeling."

At least on Wednesday, the Wolves didn't miss forward Jaden McDaniels (right ankle sprain) thanks to the effort of guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who started in McDaniels' place. Alexander-Walker's defense on budding star guard Tyrese Maxey helped neutralize Philadelphia's biggest scoring threat outside of Embiid, and the rest of the roster couldn't pick up the slack. For the fifth time this season, the Wolves held an opponent under 100 points.

"Big-time," Reid said of Alexander-Walker. "Even when Jaden is here, he's coming in the second unit with us and doing those things as well. He's very impactful, and he's going out there guarding the best player every night as well. He had Tyrese tonight. He's got De'Aaron Fox [on Friday]. He's ready for it. It shows each and every night he puts the work in."

That effort and intensity are emblematic of how the Wolves have attacked the first 14 games of their season, regardless of the opponent in front of them and who might or might not be sitting out. For fans, who gave the team a standing ovation when Finch emptied his bench with just less than two minutes to play, it's a welcome change from the frustrations of a season ago.

"It's very much a serious tone," Finch said of the team's preparation. "There's a conversation about what needs to be done."