The bench and the starters are still in the feeling out process of incorporating the styles of DiVincenzo and Randle. The defensive end has been just as inconsistent as the offensive end early on, and the Wolves were focused on tightening that end of the floor Monday. They did so in holding the Hornets under 100 points — the first time they did that this season after doing it 23 times a season ago.
“Take offense out of it,” DiVincenzo said. “Tonight’s focus was us on the defensive end. I think ball pressure was there, second-layer defense was there, rebounding was there. So it was a good game to get under our belt of getting back to who we are.”
DiVincenzo was 3-for-6 from three-point range after shooting just 31% to open the season. He said it isn’t unusual for him to start the season slowly, but his shot looked just fine Monday, especially as he closed the third quarter with a stepback three that got Anthony Edwards (21 points) off the bench all excited. The Wolves are also getting used to playing with him, and Finch has been mixing him in more with Mike Conley, who had one of his best games of the early season with 11 points on 4-for-8 shooting. He added five rebounds and four assists.
“I honestly love it,” Conley said. “I love being out there with Donte and Nickeil, just a bunch of multiple playmakers, multiple passes. The ball moves really well. I don’t have to do as much, honestly. I literally can just be a basketball player. … We don’t really have to truthfully have a point guard or somebody designated as that. It gives us another layer of attack for our offense.”
A lot of things looked the way the Wolves envisioned Monday night. Reid was cooking, and he said Monday was an important game for him. Now he wants to show he can stack those kind of performances on top of one another.
“It’s time to show that I’ve put the work in and being able to go to the next level,” Reid said.
