Anthony Edwards Shot 5-for-23. Minnesota Still Beat Orlando by 22.

Anthony Edwards scored 45 in Miami on opening night, then came to Orlando and shot 5-for-23. If you only follow star stat lines, you might assume Minnesota lost. Nope. The Timberwolves won 115–93 and never trailed. That's what happens when the rest of the roster does its job instead of waiting for the biggest name to save everybody.

Edwards finished with 15 points on 5-for-23 shooting, including 2-for-9 from three. Jaden McDaniels also scored 15, while Rudy Gobert gave Minnesota 14 points and nine boards. Ayo Dosunmu quietly put together one of the most useful performances of the night: 14 points, seven rebounds, ten assists and zero turnovers. That's a point guard making the game easier without chasing highlights.

The real beating happened on the glass. Minnesota grabbed 61 rebounds to Orlando's 43 and won the offensive-rebounding battle 22–8 in the official box score. Eighteen extra total boards and fourteen more offensive boards are not little details. They mean more chances, more fouls drawn and more time for Orlando's defense to keep working.

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Orlando actually shot a slightly higher percentage overall, 44 percent to Minnesota's 42.9. That's why I hate looking at field-goal percentage alone. The Magic took fourteen fewer shots, went 8-for-39 from three and committed sixteen turnovers. Minnesota generated more opportunities, passed for 33 assists and didn't need to be especially efficient to win comfortably.

Wendell Carter Jr. was Orlando's best scoring option with 20 points on 8-for-9 shooting and nine rebounds. Franz Wagner added 18, Paolo Banchero scored 14 and Jalen Suggs had 14. But the perimeter numbers were ugly: Orlando's 20.5-percent three-point shooting gave Minnesota permission to keep packing the paint and finishing defensive possessions.

The third quarter was the separator. Minnesota won it 29–15, stretching a twelve-point halftime lead into a 26-point advantage entering the fourth. Orlando scored 33 in the last period, but that's not the same as threatening a comeback. By then the Wolves had already controlled the meaningful minutes.

Banchero sat out the fourth with right ankle soreness, according to the official recap. That matters to Orlando's rotation, and his availability deserves watching. But don't turn it into an excuse for the first three quarters. The Magic were already losing the rebounding battle and struggling to create efficient perimeter shots before the game got away.

My take is that this win tells me more about Minnesota's ceiling than another 40-point Edwards night would have. A team that can win by 22 while its leading star shoots 21.7 percent has other ways to hurt you. Dosunmu's decision-making, McDaniels' two-way activity and the collective rebounding all mattered more than one player's scoring total.

Orlando needs a real response on the boards and better spacing. Minnesota is 2–0, but the Wolves should also be honest that 17-for-30 at the free-throw line won't cut it in every close game. That's the balance: celebrate a convincing team win, identify the flaws, and stop making every basketball story a referendum on whether Ant dropped 40.