Without Edwards, the Timberwolves still run the Clippers out, 127-101

The team they are without Edwards

Anthony Edwards had arthroscopic knee surgery this week, and the Timberwolves are now playing the version of their season that does not include him. Friday was the first clear look at it.

The result was a 26-point win in which Minnesota never trailed after the first quarter and led by double digits for most of the second half. That is not what a team missing its best player usually looks like.

Minnesota improved to 4-2, and every one of those four victories has come by more than 20 points. The wins are not close, which is either a sign of a system or a sign of a schedule.

Friday suggested the former. The ball moved, the bench produced and the defense held a Clippers team that has been struggling to score to 101 points.

The pace Minnesota played at is the part that will travel. Without Edwards the Timberwolves pushed the ball anyway, and the Clippers spent the night retreating rather than setting their defense.

Hyland and the bench

Bones Hyland finished with 19 points and eight assists off the bench, and he was the engine of the second unit for most of the night.

That is the role Minnesota needs filled while Edwards is out. Hyland is not a replacement for a 25-point scorer, and he does not have to be; he has to make the minutes Edwards usually plays look normal.

The bench as a group did that. Minnesota's reserves outscored their counterparts by a margin that turned a competitive first half into a comfortable second one.

There is a version of this season where the Timberwolves tread water until Edwards returns. Friday was the version where they do better than tread.

Hyland's eight assists are the number Minnesota's staff will look at first. A bench guard who scores is useful; one who scores and organizes the second unit is the reason a team survives an injury.

McDaniels as the connective piece

Jaden McDaniels scored 23 points on 11-of-15 shooting and added six rebounds and seven assists, which is the fullest version of his game in one line.

Without Edwards, McDaniels becomes the player defenses have to account for on every possession. He responded by making shots and by making the pass that followed the help.

That second part is the development that matters. McDaniels has been a defender and a cutter for most of his career; Friday he was a creator, and the offense did not slow down when it ran through him.

The Timberwolves have been waiting for this version of him. They need it for as long as Edwards is out.

McDaniels also spent time guarding the Clippers' best perimeter player, which is the part of his night that does not fit in a sentence about 23 points.

The fourth-quarter surge

The game was still a game until the fourth quarter, when Minnesota used a 20-2 run to turn a ten-point lead into a rout. LaMelo Ball made three 3-pointers in that stretch.

That is the pattern of Minnesota's wins this season: not a gradual pull away, but a burst that ends the game in four minutes.

The Clippers had no counter. They scored 20 points in the fourth quarter, their lowest of the night, and their offense looked like a team that has not found its shape.

Jaylen Clark deserves a mention for the defensive end. He took some of the assignment on Darius Garland, forced five turnovers by the Clippers star and finished plus-23 in 17 minutes.

The Clippers' fourth straight loss

Los Angeles is 1-4 and has lost four consecutive games. Garland scored 24 points on 10-of-22 shooting, and Brook Lopez added 13 points and six rebounds off the bench.

The supporting numbers were the problem. Rookie Keaton Wagler had 12 points on 2-of-11 shooting and was minus-24, and Rui Hachimura returned from a one-game absence with 12 points in 26 minutes.

The Clippers have been playing without newcomers Brandon Ingram and others, which is part of the explanation. It does not explain a 26-point loss to a team missing its best player.

Four straight losses in October is not a crisis. It is the kind of start that makes November feel long.

The Clippers' offense has now been held to a low total in three of their four losses, and the fourth was an overtime game. That is a pattern, not a slump.

What to watch

Three things. First, Edwards' timeline. The Timberwolves have not put a return date on the surgery, and every week he misses changes what this team can be.

Second, Minnesota's bench. Hyland's night was the best version of it; the question is whether it holds against better defenses.

Third, the Clippers. A 1-4 start with the roster they have is the most surprising record in the West, and it will be tested again quickly.

Fourth, Minnesota's defense. The Timberwolves have been good on that end all season, and Friday was the cleanest example of how they want to play.

The Timberwolves, meanwhile, look like a team that has decided not to wait for help.