Scoggins: Indefatigable Jaden McDaniels plays both ends to perfection as Wolves beat Lakers

Anthony Edwards took one second to consider his answer in explaining how a Timberwolves team that too often struggled in clutch situations this season put together a precise, clinical, almost perfect final five minutes on a night full of intense basketball.

“I got two words for you,” he said. “Jaden McDaniels.”

In a playoff series highlighted by its star power, the quiet guy with long limbs is proving to be the swing vote in whether the Wolves win or lose.

When McDaniels provides an offensive burst along with his usual defensive toughness, the Wolves have won, as was the case again in Games 3.

McDaniels smothered an ailing Luka Doncic on one end of the floor and led the Wolves with 30 points on the other end as the Wolves sprinted away for a 116-104 win over the Los Angeles Lakers to take a 2-1 series lead in the first-round NBA playoff series.

Fans who paid big bucks for entry to Target Center got their money’s worth with this one. LeBron James turned back the clock with 38 points, but the Wolves sealed the deal with a flurry of three-pointers in their final push. It was a wild, tense, raucous affair.

McDaniels’ performance stood out amid all the frenzy. He added a punctuation with a corner three-pointer with 39 seconds left for the game’s final points.

“He’s a monster,” Wolves coach Chris Finch said.

Edwards, who serves as McDaniels’ biggest cheerleader and hype man, believes his friend might not be human, considering that he never shows fatigue despite guarding the opponent’s best player while also expanding his role on offense.

Said Edwards: “I told him maybe two years ago, ‘I don’t understand what type of shape you’re in. I don’t know what you do in the summertime.’ Does he ever look tired to y’all?

“I know he doesn’t show any emotion, but you can tell if somebody is tired. If you watch me going to the end of the first quarter, I’m trying to catch my breath. Jaden never looks tired. It looks like he could play 48 minutes.”

He played 38 minutes in Game 3 in a full accounting of his two-way versatility.

McDaniels is the primary defender on Doncic, which might be the most challenging defensive assignment in the NBA. McDaniels had a little help this time — Doncic was “vomiting all afternoon” according to Lakers coach JJ Redick and clearly labored, even missing the start of the second half.

Doncic finished with 17 points on 6 of 16 shooting and made a few of his typical circus shots, but he never looked comfortable or in a flow offensively.

“I couldn’t tell that he was going through anything,” McDaniels said.

The blossoming of McDaniels’ offensive repertoire has made him a perfect complement to Edwards and Julius Randle as a third scoring option.

The Wolves view McDaniels as their barometer. When he scores effectively, their chances of winning increase significantly because he is a matchup problem when teams focus most of their attention on the Edwards-Randle tandem.

“I know they’re going to put lesser defenders on me,” McDaniels said.

He scored 25 points in a Game 1 victory, and only eight points in a Game 2 loss.

He took a business-like approach with the ball in his hands Friday. He repeatedly attacked the basket and feasted on the Lakers’ lack of a true rim protector.

He scored 30 points with only one made three-pointer and three made three throws. Everything was in the paint, a sure sign of his aggressiveness.

McDaniels’ offensive skillset is unique. His long arms make him look even taller than 6-9. He’s like a corkscrew on drives to the basket, twisting, bending, contorting until he rises for either a layup or pull-up jumper. He covers more ground that a water hose when he attacks from the perimeter.

And, as Edwards noted, he never looks tired.

“I condition in the summertime but other than that, I don’t do that much conditioning,” McDaniels said. “I think it’s just the compete factor and knowing I’ve got to hoop and play against some of the best players in the world.”

He’s proving to be awfully hard to guard himself.