PHILADELPHIA – Before the season began, the Timberwolves talked a lot about their need to sacrifice.
Guard D'Angelo Russell said the Wolves needed to adopt that mentality coming into the year.
Rudy Gobert said the Wolves "won't have a choice" but to set aside some of their personal goals and statistics to win.
The Wolves sit at 8-8 through their first 16 games after winning three in a row. Sacrificing to win sounds easy enough, but just how good have the Wolves been at practicing it? There is room for improvement.
"We could give a little more of ourselves to each other, 100 percent," forward Taurean Prince said after Saturday's victory at Philadelphia. "I'll be the first to say that to anybody in the locker room. Just continuing to keep winning at all times is most important for everybody."
Several players have cited Prince as one of the authoritative voices on the team, someone who helps teammates hold one another accountable. His words have weight.
The dynamics are a bit different for those who start and those on the bench. The starting lineup has Anthony Edwards, Karl-Anthony Towns and Russell who are capable of taking over a game with their playmaking and shotmaking. There's Gobert, who has shown throughout his career he can do more than just get putbacks, while Jaden McDaniels makes his sacrifice by being the player among the starting five with the lowest usage rate (meaning he takes the fewest shots, free throws and commits the fewest turnovers compared with others).
There's only one ball for everyone to get their shots and points, and the players are learning that some nights might not be theirs.