The Wolves, led by Karl-Anthony Towns, broke open a tie game with a 15-2 run in the third quarter. Towns finished with 25 points. Anthony Edwards had 31.

By Kent Youngblood

November 5, 2023 at 4:44AM

For all the points that were scored by the Timberwolves on Saturday night at Target Center (and there were a lot — a season high, scored in a variety of ways), here was what coach Chris Finch was happiest about after a 123-95 victory over Utah:

Identity.

For the fourth time in this young season, the Wolves held a team under 100 points. For the second time in as many games, the Wolves brought the intensity needed to, as Finch has asked for, stack good performances. Perhaps for the first time since Finch got here, he has a pretty good idea of what the identity of his team is.

Defense.

"You're not going to win much unless you guard," Finch said. He's been with teams that tried to outscore opponents, but that's not something you can count on. Defense is.

"Last year I don't think we really found an identity. We did some good things; we reinvented ourselves a couple times. Coming into this year, it had to be defense. If we're going to play big, we have to do things big teams do: play physically and play good defense."

OK, there was offense, too. Anthony Edwards scored 31 points. But it was Karl-Anthony Towns (25 points) who really got things going, scoring 10 points in a 15-2 run that broke open a game that was tied in the third quarter. His two three-pointers to start the run loosened up the Jazz defense.

"I'm just happy to see that those shots came when we needed 'em the most," said Towns, who scored 15 of his team's 37 third-quarter points. "They impacted winning today."

That was probably one of the best things to come out of the game, which featured an 11-point, 10-rebound double-double by Rudy Gobert.

The ball was moving. Three Wolves players had six assists. While outscoring Utah (2-5) 68-45 in the second half, the Wolves shot nearly 58% from the field and made six of 13 three-pointers. And much of that started with Towns.

"Just playing through KAT," Edwards said. "He found his rhythm last game. And it's fun. We're just playing through him and playing off of him. He's finding people, getting us good shots."

But back to the defense.

The Wolves held opponents under 100 just four times all of last season, and that includes once in the playoffs. Five games into this season, they've matched that number. Utah's 95 points were a season low. After the Jazz — in particular Lauri Markkanen (22 points) — got free for a number of open threes, the Wolves shut that down. Utah had 12 made threes Saturday, but just two after halftime. Utah shot 38.1% (16-for-42) in the second half.

"That's something we talk about," said Naz Reid, who scored 16 points off the bench. "Defense, defense, defense. That's huge for us."

A lot of things were. While Utah had a 24-6 edge on second-chance points, the Wolves more than made up for that with a 24-13 edge at the free-throw line, a 26-13 edge on the break and a 54-38 edge in the paint.

Five Wolves players scored in the double figures, and 11 scored at least two points.

But everybody played defense. That occurred to Towns when he saw a recap of the game on TV shortly after it ended.

"I'm like, 'Man, we just don't let teams score over 100,' " Towns said. "It's a testament to our coaching staff and the players in this locker room for putting in the effort on the defensive end."