Takeaways: Timberwolves open NBA Cup with 40-point rout of Jazz

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.

The players took notice, both of the neon green court (“When you first walk out there, your eyes got to get adjusted to it,” Jaden McDaniels said.) and the different stakes of the night. Stakes, as in monetary. Players can win a monetary bonus depending how far they advance in the tournament, with the semifinals and finals coming in Las Vegas.

“When I see the court, I’m like, it’s just time to win the money,” said McDaniels, who had 22 points. “We ain’t been to Vegas one time. At least come in first, second, or third, we get a little bit of money. So, whichever one we come in, I’m cool — we get a little wire transfer.”

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.

“He’s our leading light, and he’s got to be aggressive, and he’s got to be himself,” Finch said of Edwards. “And I thought he played quick and clean.”

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.

“I wanted to set the tone,” he said.

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 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.

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.

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.

BOXSCORE: Wolves 137, Utah 97

NBA standings

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.

“We talked about the points differential might matter, and you got a chance to put 40 points in the bank, you know you should do it,” Finch said.