3 Things That Mattered in Wolves-Magic, Including TJ Shannon's Big Night

Already all but locked into the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference playoffs, the Timberwolves decided to give some of their key guys the night off on the second leg of a back-to-back on Wednesday in Orlando. Anthony Edwards remained out with his knee injury and was joined on the bench by Julius Randle, Rudy Gobert, Ayo Dosunmu, and Mike Conley. However, Jaden McDaniels returned to action after missing six games.

The Wolves' B squad hung around for most of the first half against a healthy Magic team fighting to stay out of the play-in tournament in the East. But Orlando led by 10 at halftime and by as many as 24 points in the third quarter on their way to a 132-120 win.

With the Wolves resting guys and now officially locked into their playoff seed, this was a fairly forgettable game. But it wasn't meaningless. Here are three things that mattered.

1. Shannon's career night

The star of the evening for the Timberwolves was second-year guard Terrence Shannon Jr., who has spent most of this season out of Chris Finch's rotation. Shannon got a chance to take on a featured role off the bench and wound up scoring a career-high 33 points in 31 minutes. He had previously never scored more than 25 in an NBA game. TSJ made 11 of his 14 shots, including 5 of his 7 threes, and also dished out 5 assists.

He's just the second player in Timberwolves history to have a game with at least 30 points, 5 threes, and 5 assists on 70 percent shooting. Anthony Edwards has done it twice, most recently in Game 3 of last year's Western Conference Finals.

Typically, when Shannon plays for the full-strength Wolves, he operates as a role player who doesn't have the ball much and hangs out in the corners. That can be a difficult ask for him. This context allowed him to play the way he did at Illinois or in summer league, which is as an on-ball initiator at the top of the key. He blew by defenders and got to the rim for buckets — including a nasty poster dunk — and he did his best James Harden impression with several above-the-break step-back threes.

We probably shouldn't overreact to this performance, especially considering 29 of Shannon's points came in the second half and 20 came in the fourth quarter with the score not particularly close. But it was a reminder of how talented he is and always has been as a scorer. Even if he isn't part of the Wolves' nine-man rotation when the playoffs begin, there could be a role for Shannon if the team needs a spark. And he could still factor into their plans next season and beyond.

"We know TJ can play this way," Finch said after the game. "Obviously, 33 (points), we don't expect that from him every night. But for him to be able to have the opportunity to go out and play this way, at this point, suits us for playoffs. Because it's a lot of situational stuff. You never know what the game's going to need."

2. Jaden and Naz look good

It was big for the Wolves to get McDaniels back from his knee injury with some time to spare before the playoffs begin, allowing him to shake off any rust that might exist. The most important thing is that McDaniels looked healthy on Wednesday. He also played pretty well, scoring 18 points on 8-of-16 shooting in 19 minutes of action. His three-point shot wasn't falling, but he was sharp from inside the arc.

It was also another encouraging night from Naz Reid, who had been slumping a bit while playing through a shoulder injury. Reid followed up a strong game in Tuesday's win over the Pacers with another good one, scoring 15 points and adding 3 steals and 2 blocks. He made 13 of his 21 shots over both ends of the back-to-back.

"Naz's game today was awesome," Finch said. "That's two games in a row now, he looks like he's back a little bit more like himself. Found his touch. And I really liked how he made a lot of gritty plays defensively, that kind of stuff."

3. Beringer still isn't ready

There have been plenty of flashes of upside from Timberwolves rookie big man Joan Beringer over the course of this season, both in the NBA and in the G League. The most recent one was a driving poster dunk late on Tuesday night in Indianapolis. There is a lot to like about the long-term potential of the 19-year-old from France.

With that said, Wednesday was a reminder that he just isn't quite ready for a major role in the NBA yet. Beringer picked up three fouls in his first 6:30 stint of action, then sat for the remainder of the first half. When he returned midway through the third quarter, he picked up two more fouls in a little over four minutes, giving him five fouls in less than 11 minutes on the court.

Beringer wound up playing the entire fourth quarter without fouling out, and he finished with a solid line of 9 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 blocks. But the fouling is something he's going to have to work on, among several other things. He's still raw, which is OK and to be expected.

"He's gotta learn to play without fouling," Finch said. "He plays hard, he goes after everything, but there's gotta be an intelligence and a poise that he has to learn, and he will."