Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves have their backs against the wall.
It’s a big wall. About a 6-inch sub sandwich from being 8 feet tall.
Oh, and the wall’s name is Victor Wembanyama.
Yeesh.
The Timberwolves find themselves in a strange position as they get ready for Friday night’s game against the San Antonio Spurs in Minneapolis. They trail the Spurs 3-2 in the best-of-seven series and must win at home in Game 6 to force a winner-take-all Game 7 on Sunday about a mile (or approximately four Wembanyama footsteps) from the Alamo.
On one hand, the Timberwolves are underdogs in the series and theoretically can play like they have nothing to lose Friday night. On the other hand, they might have a lot to lose, as a season-ending loss could thrust the organization into an offseason filled with self-reflection and hard decisions.
So which Timberwolves team will show up against Wembanyama and the Spurs?
Here is one question surrounding a few key Timberwolves heading into Game 6.
Edwards is playing on not one but two gimpy knees, and at times during the series it has been clear that he is not 100%. Still, when he hits that move for a stepback jumper or comes up big in the clutch, it’s an obvious reminder that he lives for the spotlight. For the Timberwolves to win on Friday, Edwards will have to play at his highest level, and it almost seems unfair to ask him to do that when he has rushed to return from injury.
Julius Randle: Can he silence his doubters, if only for a day?
Randle is a bit of a lightning rod among Timberwolves fans. He’s an immensely skilled player, as he showed during much of the regular season, but he has wilted in the most important games of the playoffs. In the first five games of the series, he is shooting 36.6% overall and 21.1% from 3-point range. He’s averaging 1.6 assists and 3.6 turnovers. If the Timberwolves fall short in the semifinals, the front office could look to switch up its roster construction, and that could mean the end for Randle’s tenure.
Rudy Gobert: If Wembanyama represents the future, does Gobert represent the past?
He turns 34 years old next month. Many of the same questions about Randle’s future could apply to Gobert’s future with the team. Randle is good and Gobert is good, but is a lineup with Randle and Gobert ever going to get the Timberwolves over the hump? Or does something have to give as Minnesota considers going smaller or more athletic and potentially considers looking to pair a new co-star alongside Edwards?
Naz Reid: Could the Timberwolves front office be feeling a little buyer’s remorse?
The theme continues as Reid is the third consecutive big man listed here. Remember when Minnesota decided to invest in keeping Reid, which meant the team could not afford to keep Nickeil Alexander-Walker? It seemed like a defensible choice at the time, but Alexander-Walker has shined with Atlanta while Reid has had an up-and-down season with the Timberwolves.
Chris Finch: Will he be the scapegoat if a roster reconstruction proves too difficult?
This seems silly at first glance. Finch led the Timberwolves to back-to-back appearances in the Western Conference finals in the previous two years, and this year he has the sixth-seeded squad trying to make it to the conference finals three years in a row after they knocked off the Denver Nuggets in Round 1. That said, coaches are hired to be fired, and there is a non-zero chance that a loss Friday night could spell the end for Finch. It’s not probable, but it’s possible.
There is no shortage of questions surrounding the Timberwolves heading into Game 6.
And who knows? If they win Friday and increase the pressure on the Spurs for Game 7, maybe many of these questions go away.
It’s not going to be easy, though. That’s a pretty big wall.
