Edwards: T-Wolves need to step up defense early in games
Minnesota star Anthony Edwards needed to go nuclear in the second half of Thursday's 135-119 win over the Chicago Bulls, scoring 20 of his 33 points in the final two frames to help the Timberwolves overcome a nine-point halftime deficit.
"We ain't taking no pride in stopping nobody right now early in the game," Edwards said postgame, according to Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic.
"That's troubling. That's scary. We've got to figure that part out. We're terrible until we get down. When we get down, that's when everybody wants to play defense."
Minnesota's 45-point fourth quarter against Chicago helped hide some of the Timberwolves' first-half issues. They've allowed 60 or more points in four of their eight first halves and their defensive rating drops from 115.9 to 109.8 after the intermission.
The Bulls' 24-point fourth quarter was the only frame in which they scored fewer than 30 on Thursday.
"That's what's ideal. F--k the offense," Edwards said. "They had 60-something points (65) at halftime. We can't win a basketball game like that, not if we're a defensive team."
On Monday, Minnesota head coach Chris Finch called out wing Jaden McDaniels' defense.
"It's not been good. He's got to be way better. ... Defensively, all the way around, we don't have that competitiveness to the level that we've shown or normally had," Finch said, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune's Chris Hine.
"It's not just Jaden, but he's got to go back to the level of All-Defensive team that he can play. That's important for us in our success," Finch continued, per Hine.
Minnesota improved to 5-3 with the victory and will play host to the 3-6 Portland Trail Blazers on Friday.