If you’ve been waiting for Donte DiVincenzo’s game, your wish was granted on Sunday night.

With one foot on his chest thanks to Victor Wembanyama and the visiting San Antonio Spurs, it was the former Villanova guard and player in the Karl Anthony Towns trade who breathed life into the Minnesota Timberwolves, leading them out of a first quarter lull third win in a row.

The foot on the chest was visible almost immediately. Another opening stint from the starting lineup that lacked energy resulted in the Wolves finishing the first quarter shooting nine percent from deep, outrebounding 12 to 6, not hitting a three-pointer until three minutes before the end of the quarter. scored a point field goal and found themselves in a double-digit deficit at one point.

Part of this was due to an inability to finish possessions. So many trickle-out rebounds and lack of rebounds from the guards led to San Antonio scoring 15 second-chance points for the game.

Enter DiVincenzo and the bank.

The confidence that came over the Wolves was palpable as Josh Minott, DiVincenzo, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Naz Reid joined Julius Randle on the floor. It was in Houston, Dallas and many other victories achieved this year.

“These guys all play very fast. “They put pressure on us and get into the game early,” head coach Chris Finch said afterwards. “We made enough plays, it was a good win… they won’t always be pretty”

A 32:12 second quarter, in which DDV played all 12 minutes, brought Minnesota back into the game and tied the score on the last possession of the second half.

There’s an important conversation to be had about the starting five and their inconsistent and sometimes downright poor play. After falling into a 12-point hole in the first quarter, they gave up a double-digit lead later in the third quarter.

If this game were lost, that would have to be the story, after several debacles with a group that almost cost them back-to-back games. But that wasn’t the case tonight.

A third win in a row is a good story. It’s also a good story, capturing Victor Wembanyama on a bad night of filming. But tonight marked the christening of a player that many people were beginning to want to give up on; And he did that right in front of a sold-out home stadium.

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Photo by David Berding/Getty Images

The big Ragu and the bench unit

33 minutes (16 of them in a row), 26 points, seven rebounds and a team-high plus-26.

This is the Donte DiVincenzo everyone was happy about when the unexciting news broke that a nine-year player was being traded. Someone who was considered a “plug-and-play” player who clearly needed an adjustment period is showing up in a big way off the bench and finding something that wasn’t there in the first few months of the season.

The 26 points will grab more headlines than the seven rebounds, but both were just as important for a team that was weak to begin with in both areas.

“He’s just stringing (games) together and making really quick decisions,” Finch said. “He and Julius have really good chemistry.”

Appropriate mention of Julius Randle. He is closely associated with DiVincenzo in the industry, but he too has been incredibly inconsistent and the subject of numerous investigations. Pairing on the field with his former Knick teammate and increasing his minutes on the bench was an awakening for him and a testament to his effectiveness.

“I have something with Julius,” DiVincenzo said afterwards. “When things don’t go right, I just go back to my comfort zone with Julius, and now it’s getting bigger with everyone.”

Why does Randle find it easier to run with the second unit?

“Our pace is really faster in their group,” he said. “We have multiple guys who can push the ball…everyone can run down the field.”

The theme is comfort, and for the first time this season, it’s coming more and more to the forefront for two guys whose initial circumstances upon arriving in Minnesota weren’t pleasant. That was evident back then both on and off the field, and now the opposite is apparent.

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Emptying the notebook

• The shot still doesn’t fall for Jaden McDanielsbut his increased activity on the glass cannot be overemphasized. He had 10 rebounds on Sunday, including six in the first half. When you think about it, it’s pretty crazy that this didn’t used to happen routinely, but the team’s inconsistency in this area has made their response to the bell all the more important.
• I wrote about it briefly above, but overall the starting unit had another tough night together. They may need to taste several games before any changes are made, but at this point it is clear how much the replacement team is superior to them. It’s bad news to roll over in the first quarter and lose a lead in the third quarter. But to their credit, they finished the game effectively and had an excellent final defensive possession that forced a poor Jeremy Sochan into a three-pointer.
• It was a fantastic game from Rudy Gobert. It showed up in the box score with a typical performance of 17 points and 15 rebounds, but was also a real defensive anchor again and showed an admirable performance against Victor Wembanyama with Julius Randle.
• The Wolves had six fouls in the fourth quarterbut it seemed like so much more. The referee’s performance wasn’t great, but there was a period where San Antonio single-handedly stayed in the game by simply going to charity. Defending without fouls is something this team has struggled with before, and it almost cost them late in Sunday’s game.

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Next

The Wolves travel to Oklahoma City for a big New Year’s Eve game against the Thunder.

Since losing to Milwaukee in the NBA Cup Final, OKC has rattled off six straight wins. Their six-game winning streak comes against a three-game winning streak for the Wolves.

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Highlights