McDaniels had a brutal night in Oklahoma City, shooting 2-of-13 from the field in an unfortunate end to his season. The finish will take away from what was a productive season for the Timberwolves wing, who exceeded his Yahoo! ADP (142) and provided top-100 value in eight- and nine-cat formats. McDaniels finished the regular season with career-high averages in points, rebounds, assists and steals while shooting 47.7 percent from the field and 81.3 percent from the foul line. At a minimum, he should be a safe top-100 pick in standard league drafts in the fall.

With Julius Randle limited to five points on 1-of-7 shooting and Anthony Edwards getting off to a slow start, Minnesota needed more production from its “others” in Game 4. McDaniels was one of the players who answered the call, shooting 66.7 percent from the field and recording a complete stat line. Despite being asked to serve as the primary defender of league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, McDaniels has scored 22 points in two of the last three games in this series. The Timberwolves will need a similar effort in Wednesday’s Game 5 to keep their season alive.

McDaniels has taken on the unenviable task of defending Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and his emotions got the best of him late in Game 2. The Timberwolves forward was whistled for a flagrant foul after shoving SGA to the floor, but that does not tell the whole story of McDaniels’ night. After scoring seven points in the series opener, he more than tripled that number on Thursday, shooting over 50 percent from the field. McDaniels can undoubtedly be productive as a scorer, but expecting 20-plus points per night while also having to defend a player of Gilgeous-Alexander’s caliber is a lot to ask. Game 3 is on Saturday night in Minneapolis.

With Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle handling most of the scoring, McDaniels was valuable on both ends of the floor in Game 4. In addition to the double-double, he took on the challenge of defending Luka Doncic for most of Sunday’s victory. While Doncic got his numbers, he was made to work for them, which is all you can ask when defending a player of his caliber. McDaniels and the Timberwolves now lead three games to one, with Game 5 scheduled for Wednesday in Los Angeles.