The Wolves led Detroit by eight in the second quarter on Wednesday, then lost 128-106. The stretch that turned it was about six minutes long, and Anthony Edwards turned it over four times in it.
I have been on the side of playing the two guards together since Chris Finch said on October 9 that he wanted them out there together, and one ugly preseason quarter doesn’t change that. It does show who has to clean it up, and that is Edwards.
Six minutes that turned it
The Wolves started well. They led 38-29 after the first quarter, per the CBS Sports box score. With 6:00 left in the second they were still ahead 48-40. At halftime they trailed 65-58. Detroit outscored them 25-10 over those last six minutes, and the Pistons won the quarter 36-20.
The play-by-play shows what happened. Edwards turned it over at 5:29, at 5:07, at 3:08 and at 1:32. Three of the four were bad passes, each picked off by a different Pistons player (John Collins, Paul Reed and Cade Cunningham). The one at 3:08 was an offensive foul. Jaden McDaniels added an offensive-foul turnover at 4:36.
Minnesota had 10 turnovers in the second quarter alone, and ClutchPoints reported that Detroit scored 16 points off them. The whole night was 20 turnovers for each team, per CBS. Half of Minnesota’s came in one quarter. The deficit at the half was seven, and the Wolves then lost the third quarter 32-24 and the fourth 31-24, so the second quarter did 16 of the 22 points of damage.
Edwards finished with 20 points on 5-of-15 shooting, 1-of-5 from three, 9-of-9 at the line, three assists and four turnovers in 27 minutes. His plus-minus was minus-15, the worst of any Wolves starter. His free throws were the only clean part of his night.
Ball had a rough night too
LaMelo Ball scored three points on 1-of-5 shooting in 18 minutes, with six assists, three turnovers and four fouls. Those three turnovers also came in the second quarter, so seven of Minnesota’s 10 second-quarter turnovers belonged to the two guards.
That sounds like the case against the pairing. I read it differently. Ball had six assists in 18 minutes, and the Wolves had 23 assists on 29 made field goals, so the ball moved. Ball’s three giveaways were an out-of-bounds step, a lost ball and one bad pass. Edwards’ were three bad passes, all stolen, and an offensive foul.
Edwards said at media day that with Ball bringing the ball up, “I can go to the corner for three, four plays in a row.” If Ball is the one initiating, Edwards doesn’t need to force the hard pass. He can catch, shoot or drive.
Who played the right way
Jonathan Kuminga finished with 16 points on 5-of-6 shooting, 2-of-3 from three, four rebounds and three assists in 21 minutes, with one turnover. ClutchPoints reported that Finch singled out his quick decision-making after the game. That is the same quality that made me argue he should start over Ayo Dosunmu, though the starting lineup Finch used Wednesday already has him in it.
McDaniels was 7-of-7 at the line and had six rebounds, but he had four turnovers and was 2-of-6 from the field. I wrote in our McDaniels three-point piece that I want him spending his offense on catch-and-shoot threes, and giveaways like these are why. Starters accounted for 13 of the 20 turnovers.
The rest of the box score
Detroit shot 45-of-79 (57.0%) and the Wolves shot 29-of-76 (38.2%). The Wolves went 11-of-34 from three, and the Pistons went 11-of-25. Duncan Robinson hit four of five from deep and was plus-20 in 24 minutes. Jalen Duren scored 24 points on 8-of-9 shooting in 15 minutes.
The worst plus-minus marks belonged to the bench. Trey Lyles was minus-19 in 14 minutes and Ayo Dosunmu minus-18 in 23, per the box score. Edwards’ minus-15 was the worst among the starters.
The Wolves did get to the line 44 times and made 37, against 27-of-33 for Detroit. They won the free-throw battle by 10 points and still lost by 22. Detroit made 34 of its 54 two-point shots to the Wolves’ 18 of 42. Joan Beringer had 10 points and seven rebounds in 17 minutes but was called for four fouls, an issue I laid out in the Beringer backup-center piece.
What I want to see next
It is preseason, and Minnesota is 3-2 in it, per CBS. One second quarter is not a crisis.
The full 2026-27 roster and depth chart is built around two guards who can both create. The test is whether Edwards takes the easy play when the defense takes away the hard one. If his turnovers stay under three a night, the Detroit loss is a footnote. If he has another quarter like Wednesday’s, Finch will have a real problem.
