The Timberwolves Have A TERRIFYING New Identity...

So early in the third quarter of Thursday night's game, LaMelo Ball threw a lob to Rudy Gobert and Target Center went up with him. That alley-oop made it 84 to get this 56 over the Dallas Mavericks. In the fourth quarter, the Timberwolves were actually up by 44 points at one point. That, of course, was their biggest lead of the season. They ended up winning 133-94, and quite frankly, it was the most lopsided victory of the season for the Minnesota Timberwolves. They did it without Anthony Edwards, who of course is still out after his right knee procedure. The guys running the show, quite frankly, were LaMelo and a bench guard on a minimum contract, which of course is Bones Highland. So Chris Finch actually had a statement for this about a month ago. He said the team has traded moodiness for giddiness. In October, that actually sounded like a cute line about a point guard who, quite frankly, likes to smile a lot. But some five wins later, it's starting to look like the actual way they play. So is this a good mood or a real identity? And quite frankly, what happens when Ant actually gets back? Thursday night did not start like a blowout. So Dallas came in at 7-4 and on a three-game win streak, the Mavericks even led by as many as five early. Cooper Flagg had just scored 43 against the Indiana Pacers in his last game. The Wolves held him to just 12 and get this, they held Kyrie Irving. You know, the certified Hall of Famer Kyrie Irving to just 10. Minnesota shot 61% in the first half and went to the break of 67 to 52. Then the third quarter happened. Wolves 36, Mavericks 17. That's the quarter that actually turns a good win into a night off for your starters. I'm just saying how they scored matters more than how much they had 33 assists on 52 made baskets. They scored 74 points in the paint to 42 for Dallas. They won the boards 50 to 38 with Jaden McDaniels grabbing nine and Jonathan Kaminga pitching in with eight. Rudy Gobert only needed six shots, and the lob that broke it open was, of course, one of them. Dallas went the other way and made just 13 of its 48 threes. Minnesota ended up shooting 58% for the night. Dallas, 37% for the night. LaMelo Ball had 22 points with six threes and a season-high nine assists. Six of his eight made shots were threes. Bones Highland led everybody with 24 points off the bench. The bench put up 54 in all, and Johan Baron Jay chipped in 13 of them. Io DeSumo added 18, and every Wolves starter finished at plus 18 or better. It was the Timberwolves' seventh straight win over the Mavericks, and this one, quite frankly, was dominant as it was by 39. Okay, Timberwolves fans, I want to know what you think. Who do you think has actually been the biggest reason for this five-game winning streak? Is it LaMelo Ball or Bones Hyland? Drop your comments in. I want to know what you think, North America. So before we get to where the giddiness came from, this video is brought to you by Kalshi. Kalshi is a prediction market where you trade yes or no on what happens next. Of course, sports is included. So if you've got a feeling about the Wolves streak, Kalshi is where you can actually back it up. Make sure to check out Kalshi today and remember to use the link in the description. And pin comment code DIGESTNBA. Now back to the Wolves and a word that started in May after a playoff exit. The Wolves season ended in May with a second round loss to the Spurs, as you all know. After that series, Naz Reid said they just need to be less moody and more selfless. So look, when a player like Naz Reid says something like that after a playoff loss, of course the front office is actually going to take note and in this case actually did something about it. In June, Naz Reid was the main piece in the trade that sent him to Charlotte and brought LaMelo Ball to Minnesota. The Wolves also sent a first-round pick, three first-round swaps, and three second-round picks in August. Finch explained why on a podcast, we probably did Anthony a disservice last year at times playing him as a point guard. We needed the connectivity issue. We needed the point guard to play. Balls starting five in Charlotte had outscored teams by, get this, 26.4 points per game. No lineup with at least 250 minutes had done better since 2007. Then on October 12th, before a preseason game in New York, Finch said this famous line, we referred to ourselves as a moody team in the last couple of years at times, and it was probably gotten in our way. About LaMelo, he said, he's always in a great mood, always comes in smiling. Gobert called Ball one of the best passers in the league. And Ant said, the personalities in the locker room mesh well. Then came the part most nobody quoted. So we've got to get to some sort of happy medium. So look, Finch wasn't just praising the vibe. He was warning about it. Fun is great, right up until it costs you a game. And for the first seven games, the totally giddy version of the Minnesota Timberwolves was actually just four and three. Quite frankly, LaMelo was a big reason why. In those first seven games, he averaged 14.4 points. He shot 34.5% from three. On more than eight attempts a game, in the first game Edwards missed a loss to Golden State, Ball scored eight points on just three of 11 shooting. Three days later in San Antonio, he had 10 on two of 10 shooting, and of course, the Wolves lost again. In the three losses of his first seven games, he shot a combined 10 of 32. So that's when the doubt was the loudest. You know, a fun passer, but could he actually carry a team like the Timberwolves without Ant? The Desert News had the Wolves 12th in its power rankings on November 2nd. Look, nobody was calling the Wolves a contender during that week. That same night, Ball scored 34 against Milwaukee and the streak started. He hasn't scored under 20 in a game since. Across the five wins, he's actually averaging 24.4 points a game, 10 more than during his first seven games. His three-point shooting jumped to... An astonishing 47.9% on almost 10 attempts a game. He's still setting people up while he does at 6.2 assists a game. His shooting from the field went from 39% to 53%. The one thing that hasn't moved is he's still turning it over more than four times a game, which quite frankly is to be expected. Finch put it simply to DAZN, he's just a magical player. He's so much fun to play with. Look, the reality is LaMelo makes everybody's life so much easier. Now, during this streak, he's doing that. And of course, taking on the scoring left behind by Anthony Edwards. A run like this is never just about one hot star. The other half of Thursday's victory was a guy a lot of fans have actually stopped counting on. Of course, I'm talking about Bones Highland as he came back to the Minnesota Timberwolves this year on a one-year veteran minimum. His salary is just 2.8 million bucks a year. Last season, he actually averaged 8.5 points in 71 games. And almost all of that actually happened coming off the bench. He called it, in his own words, a revive year. This season started out even quieter, nine points total in his first four games. In Cleveland, he played five minutes and didn't score. The breakout game came on October 30th against the Clippers. 19 points and 8 assists in just 20 minutes of National Basketball Association playing time. Even with that night, he was averaging just 6.7 points across the first 7 games. In the 5-game streak, however, he is actually averaging 14.2 points a game, more than double. He had 19 more in Houston in just 16 minutes. He's making 46% of his threes in those five games. He's doing all of this in about 15 minutes a game. Then Thursday night came and he scored 24 in just 23 minutes. That's more than he scored in any game all of last season. Of course, when his high was 23. He made on Thursday night five of six threes. He also had eight assists in the game, just one fewer than LaMelo. For about $2.8 million, the Wolves are getting a backup who can win them a game just about any night. So look, if LaMelo brought the smile, then I guess it's safe to say Bones actually brings the noise. All right, Minnesota Timberwolves fans, thanks so much for tuning into the Timberwolves Digest I absolutely would love to know what your thoughts and opinions are on LaMelo so far with the Timberwolves. What do you think about Bones Highland and just how great he has actually been playing, especially during the last five games? It is astonishing when you think about the numbers that Bones is putting up and then you actually compare that to what he's actually making from an NBA contract standpoint. I am just saying. Drop your comments in. I want to know what you think, North America. Once again, thanks so much for tuning in to, if you will, the Timberwolves Digest. As always, I'm Dave DuBois wishing you all a tremendous rest of your sports viewing day.