The Minnesota Timberwolves were one of the top defenses in the NBA last season leading the league in defensive rating (108.4). So far this season, there have been some holes in the defense. Not so much to raise any alarms, but noticeable enough that could pose problems in the playoffs.
With new player personnel like Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo joining the team, there’s been an adjustment period. Mix that in with the returning players, and the Timberwolves still are 11th in defensive rating thus far. Even so, there are areas where the Timberwolves could be better at. Fortunately for them, we’re still early in the season so there’s enough time to fix these issues.
How Timberwolves Can Fix Glaring Holes In Defense
Protect the Paint
The biggest concern with the Timberwolves defense comes in the paint. The Timberwolves are allowing 53.6 points in the paint through nine games. In comparison to last year, they allowed 46.1 points in the paint in 2023-24. Though only a small sample size, it’s something to note moving forward. For starters, Rudy Gobert hasn’t shown the same interior presence which won him Defensive Player of the Year last season.
So far this season, players are shooting 51.7% when being guarded by Gobert less than six feet away from the basket. Compare that to last season when that percentage was 49.4%. Now it might not seem like that big of a change but there are times when the Timberwolves interior defense looked soft.
Take the Dallas Mavericks game from October 29. Both of these teams faced off in the Western Conference Finals last season, and in their first meeting of the season, Dallas came out with a 120-114 victory. The Mavericks scored 52 of those points in the paint. In that game alone, the Mavericks shot 7-7 when being guarded by Gobert in the paint. Now it’s just one game, and protecting the paint isn’t solely all on Gobert, but if he can set the tone there, it will help the Timberwolves throughout the rest of the season.
When the Timberwolves played the Spurs on November 2, it was a poor showing for them in terms of protecting the paint. The Spurs shot a combined 15-17 when being guarded by either Gobert, Randle, or Naz Reid in the paint. This simply can’t happen, especially coming from the three main bigs for Minnesota. They have to do better at protecting the rim and showing resistance to get back to their stifling defense last year.
Getting Back on Defense
The Timberwolves could do a better job with their transition defense. There are too many times when players would lose their man in transition, and it would result in easy points for the other team. Those are points that you can’t give up, especially in the playoffs. So far, the Timberwolves are giving up 16.4 fast break points this season. This is more than last season when they gave up 13.2 fast break points. This is something that can be fixed with simple communication and taking care of the ball.
Minnesota turns the ball over a lot which can lead to fast break points. This season, the Timberwolves are averaging 16.1 turnovers a game and allowing 20.3 points a game off of those turnovers. If they take better care of the ball, they won’t be giving up as many transition points.
Last word on Minnesota’s Defense
This is still a very solid team defense despite some of its flaws. The Timberwolves have All-NBA level defenders like Gobert, Jaden McDaniels, and Anthony Edwards. A lot of it will come down to effort and team chemistry, which they will gain as the season goes on. Their interior defense will be something to pay attention to as that’s a glaring weakness. The good news for the Timberwolves is that they’re trending in the right direction defensively. If they keep up the trajectory, it will be no surprise if they end near the top of the Western Conference.
