The Minnesota Timberwolves needed a win in the worst way and got one against the Los Angeles Clippers. The Wolves controlled the game from start to finish and looked far more like the team that began the season with three straight 20-point wins.

The goal for the Timberwolves these next couple of months without Anthony Edwards is to stay afloat in the standings while figuring out all they can about this roster, so when the team's best player returns, the whole organization can hit the ground running.

1. The sky is not falling

Following the loss to the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday and the news of Edwards' injury the previous day, Timberwolves fans, as they are known to do, began to feel some anxiety about where the season may be headed.

The reaction, in some ways, was understandable given how spectacular the first week of the season looked. Ultimately, it was just a single poor performance, as the Wolves bounced back with a professional win against the Clippers.

LaMelo Ball and Rudy Gobert played incredibly poorly during the Wolves' two-game skid, and both responded with much better performances after a day off with some time to practice and regroup.

Ball got back to controlling the Wolves' offense and knocking down three-pointers that wow the crowd. Ball finished with a team-high 24 points, including six makes from beyond the arc, and looked much more like the player who can increase his usage in the absence of Edwards.

Gobert was dominant on both ends of the floor. He shut the Clippers out of the paint, while the layups and dunks he was unable to finish in the previous two games ended up as made baskets against the Clippers.

The best sign was that Ball and Gobert found excellent pick-and-roll chemistry, which will be key for the Wolves to find their ceiling with this roster. Multiple times during this game, Ball hit Gobert rolling to the rim, and each time Gobert made the right next pass to an open teammate.

2. A different bench play can step up each night

With Ayo Dosunmu joining the starting group, the Wolves will need someone to increase their role off the bench. In their first game without Edwards, Terrence Shannon Jr. was the one to ascend into the sixth-man role.

On Friday against the Clippers, it was Bones Hyland who put up 19 points and a team-high eight assists. It is a major positive that the Timberwolves have multiple players on the bench who can go off on any given night, something that will go from a luxury to a necessity with Edwards missing two months.

"We loaded, bro," Hyland said about the team responding to the loss of Edwards. "We got a lot of talent on the team. A lot of guys that can step in. Last year, when we played the Nuggets, guys sat out from injuries, and we stepped up."

Without their best player, the Wolves will need their bench to continue playing well. Minnesota has shown that it doesn't need to be the same player each night, but it will likely need to be someone who plays better than expectations each game.

3. A great start ot the NBA Cup

The game against the Clippers was the Wolves' first in NBA Cup play. In their group, along with the Clippers, are the Oklahoma City Thunder, Memphis Grizzlies, and New Orleans Pelicans.

With a 26-point win to open up the group stage, the Timberwolves have given themselves a great chance to advance to the knockout stage in this midseason tournament. With the Thunder in their group, it may be difficult to outright win their group, but if they go 3-1 with a sizeable point differential, that will almost certainly be enough to move them through as the wild card.

This is the fourth season of the NBA Cup, and the Wolves have yet to advance past the group stage. The positive externality of that is the Wolves have won all six of the games that the NBA has put on their schedule while the team's who did advance take on each other.

For fans, their mileage may vary on how much they care about the NBA Cup. The Wolves themselves are at a time as an NBA franchise when winning any sort of trophy, or even just getting to compete for one is incredibly valuable.