Seated next to Jordan McLaughlin (plus-six) for his postgame news conference, Anthony Edwards (minus-12) picked up the boxscore from the Timberwolves' 116-107 loss to Phoenix and examined the plus-minus column.
He noticed a pattern: The Timberwolves' starters all had minus numbers, and all in double digits at that. Most of the Wolves' bench all had positive numbers — and so did Phoenix's starting lineup.
It seemed like an epiphany had come to Edwards in that moment.
"From the looks of it, it's telling me that when we're in the game, we're losing. And when they're in the game, we've got a better chance of winning," Edwards said. "I don't like the sound of that, so we're going to figure it out. That's crazy, bro. We're all in the minus, and y'all all positive."
He directed that last part at McLaughlin, who again was one of the catalysts for a strong bench performance that, with help from Edwards' 24 points, cut an 18-point Phoenix lead to 87-85 with 8 minutes, 35 seconds remaining in the game.
The Wolves look like two different teams at the moment, and Tuesday's loss to Phoenix showed a stark contrast that carried over from Sunday's loss to the Spurs. When the bench is on the floor, the Wolves look like the group that had so much success last year. Players such as McLaughlin (nine points, three assists) and Naz Reid (13 points, plus-10) run coach Chris Finch's offense the way it's supposed to look, the way it looked for the second half of last season.
"They're sharing the ball," Edwards said. "They don't care who scores. That's the biggest thing. They don't care who scores. They all want to see each other shine in that second group."
Then the first unit comes back on the floor — and looks like it has barely played together. It's a painful brand of basketball to watch and has led to an underwhelming 4-4 record against a slate of opponents that was not supposed to be this challenging.
