Five things that stood out from Wolves' season-opening win in Portland

What a way to start the season.

The Timberwolves trailed for almost all of Wednesday's opener in Portland, but they kept the game within's arm length and then pounced for a thrilling 118-114 win in crunch time. Anthony Edwards led the way with a massive 41-point performance, including some key shots down the stretch to will his team to victory.

Edwards hit a go-ahead three with 3:37 left to the give the Wolves their first lead since early in the game. He hit another go-ahead three with 1:14 on the clock. And he delivered the dagger on a nasty step-back midrange jumper with 6.8 seconds left. After some struggles in the clutch last season, this was quite the way to begin what some think could be an MVP-caliber season for Edwards.

Julius Randle added 19 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists for the Wolves. Jaden McDaniels had 18 points. We'll get into a lot from this game, but the story of this game was the play of No. 5.

Ant's record-setting night

Edwards was questionable with back spasms coming into this game. He looked pretty healthy. He had 18 points at halftime, 31 through three quarters, and finished the game with a closing flurry to seal the win for Minnesota.

Ant's 41 points set a new Timberwolves record for scoring in a season opener, besting the 36 Karl-Anthony Towns scored in the first game of the 2019-20 campaign.

Edwards did it in a variety of ways. Last year's NBA three-point leader hit 5 of his 10 shots from beyond the arc. He hit 5 of his 9 jumpers from the midrange, which he said was his primary focus this offseason. He got to the rim for buckets. And he went 8 for 8 at the free-throw line. He shot 14 of 28 from the floor for the game in what was a scintillating scoring performance.

Donte's rough night

The Wolves moved Donte DiVincenzo into the starting lineup to begin this season, and while it's just one game, that decision did not exactly pay off on Wednesday. DiVincenzo scored the first two buckets of the game for Minnesota, but after that, his night was one to forget. He had five turnovers in the first half and finished with six in 20 minutes of action. The Blazers' relentless on-ball defensive pressure, which they extended the length of the court, caused major issues for DiVincenzo and other Wolves.

Because of his struggles, Chris Finch simply didn't play DiVincenzo down the stretch. The Wolves closed with Edwards, McDaniels, Randle, Rudy Gobert, and Terrence Shannon Jr. on the floor.

The reality is that DiVincenzo simply is not a point guard. That doesn't mean he can't function in the starting lineup, with Edwards as the primary ball-handler and Randle also serving as an offensive hub. But Edwards isn't a true point guard either, so that lineup has to try to survive without one. And that's harder to do against a relentless defensive team like the Blazers.

Coming into this season, the Wolves' biggest question mark was at the point guard position. And in the first game of the year, we saw exactly why that was the case. Which leads us to our next observation...

Dillingham not in 10-man rotation

The Wolves' first player off the bench was Naz Reid due to some early foul trouble for Gobert. Shannon was the second sub, Mike Conley was third, and Jaylen Clark rounded out Minnesota's nine-player rotation in the first half. Notably absent from that group is second-year point guard Rob Dillingham, who didn't play a single minute.

Finch even brought in a tenth player in the fourth quarter in Bones Hyland, who had a solid preseason. It feels quite notable that Hyland saw the floor before Dillingham did.

The Wolves traded up to eighth overall in the 2024 draft to take Dillingham, but they clearly still need to see more out of him in order to make him a part of their rotation. It'll be interesting to see if he gets a chance to play soon when the Wolves aren't facing teams with as much size and defensive pressure as the Blazers.

Shannon had 10 points and 5 assists off the bench, finishing fifth on the team with 25 minutes played. Clark had just 2 points, but his defensive impact was huge. Hyland was a +5 in his 8 minutes.

Defense needs work

This was not a great defensive performance from the Timberwolves out of the gate. Facing a Trail Blazers team that ranked 22nd in offensive rating last season, the Wolves didn't offer a whole lot of resistance over the course of the night. They allowed too many easy looks for Portland at the rim and from outside the arc, and they sent the Blazers to the line for 35 shots, of which they made 29.

The box score shows that Portland shot 40 percent from the floor and 31 percent from deep, but Finch won't be pleased with his team's defensive effort. It was particularly rough when Gobert was off the floor. Ultimately, though, the Wolves were able to lock in when it mattered most, holding the Blazers to just 19 points in the fourth quarter.

Jaden's two-way impact

McDaniels played a heck of a game to kick off this season. His 18 points came on 6-of-12 shooting, with three makes from long range on four attempts. Oh, and he landed a vicious poster dunk on Portland rookie Yang Hansen in the first half. He also had five rebounds, a couple assists, and three blocked shots.

This was an encouraging performance for McDaniels to begin the new season. If he can hit open threes, create some shots off the dribble, and continue to be a defensive menace, the Wolves are going to be quite difficult to beat.