{"id":111161,"date":"2024-12-08T14:15:37","date_gmt":"2024-12-08T19:15:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=111161"},"modified":"2024-12-08T14:15:37","modified_gmt":"2024-12-08T19:15:37","slug":"timberwolves-flex-defensive-prowess","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/12\/08\/timberwolves-flex-defensive-prowess\/","title":{"rendered":"Timberwolves Elite Defense on Full Display During Win Streak"},"content":{"rendered":"

So far in December<\/a>, the Minnesota Timberwolves have done a great job establishing themselves on the defensive side of the ball. This is the Timberwolves defense fans were accustomed to last year. They\u2019ve held their opponents to under 95 points in four consecutive games. Something that they haven\u2019t done since 2012<\/a>. This is good news if they can sustain this throughout the month to climb up the standings in the Western Conference.<\/p>\n

After Anthony Edwards’<\/a> brutally honest comments<\/a> about the team following a loss to the Sacramento Kings on November 27th, the team looks more connected than ever. They could be the turning point the team needs, and if they keep it up, this is scary for other teams.<\/p>\n

Timberwolves Elite Defense on Full Display During Win Streak<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s All in the Numbers<\/b><\/h3>\n

Over the last four games, the Timberwolves have held their opponents to 85.5<\/a> points per game. Those games have been against the Clippers, Lakers, and Warriors. Outside of the Sacramento Kings, California teams have been having a tough time scoring against Minnesota. During that stretch, teams are shooting 39% from the field and 27% from three against the Wolves.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re also making life uncomfortable for the other teams. Thanks to their active hands, the Wolves are averaging 11.5 steals<\/a> during their win streak. It doesn\u2019t stop there, though, as other teams are turning the ball over an average of 20.3 times. Furthermore, in the last four games, the Timberwolves have posted an absurd 87.7 defensive rating<\/a>. For reference, the Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a> have the best overall defensive rating in the league with 103.3, and Minnesota’s 108.4<\/a> led the league last year. In November, the Timberwolves had a 111 defensive rating,<\/a> which ranked ninth in the league this recent stretch could be a turning point for Minnesota.<\/p>\n

This defense has led to outstanding offense. Outside of the nail-biting 93-92 victory against the Clippers, they beat the Lakers and Warriors by double digits. While the numbers detail how dominant the Timberwolves are playing, watching them play really shows how well they\u2019ve responded lately.<\/p>\n

They Pass the Eye Test<\/b><\/h3>\n

Watching the Timberwolves play from November in comparison to December is night and day. The only big component that\u2019s changed is effort. It\u2019s really that simple: earlier in the season, the Timberwolves were not great guarding in transition. Now, we\u2019re seeing players hustling back on defense and not giving up on plays. Naz Reid,<\/a> for example, had many phenomenal defensive plays in the Warriors game Friday night.<\/p>\n

Jaden McDaniels<\/a> and Rudy Gobert<\/a> have done a great job anchoring the defense. Paint defense has been a struggle this season, but the Timberwolves have cleaned that up as of late. It\u2019s what you want out of your four-time Defensive Player of the Year. Edwards and McDaniels have been hounding players on the perimeter. James Harden<\/a>, LeBron James<\/a>, and Stephen Curry<\/a> all struggled to score against the Timberwolves. Overall, the entire team looks very cohesive and reclaimed their defensive identity from last year.<\/p>\n

Another aspect that\u2019s helped is they are running teams off the three-point line, baiting them to take contested shots in the paint. This is something Timberwolves fans have been waiting for. The chemistry is clicking, and things are trending in the right direction.<\/p>\n

Can They Keep It Up<\/b>?<\/h3>\n

This could truly be the turning point of the season for the Timberwolves. They are 12-10, which puts them 7th in the Western Conference with plenty of games left. It\u2019s encouraging for the team to be clicking this early in the season before the New Year. You couldn\u2019t have asked for a better start in December. If you enjoyed how the Timberwolves played against the Lakers and Warriors, you\u2019re in luck because they play the Warriors on Sunday night, followed by the Lakers on Friday.<\/p>\n

The Warriors are looking for revenge, though. Stephen Curry didn\u2019t have his best game, with 23 points on 6-17 shooting. Anticipate some adjustments to be made, especially if Andrew Wiggins<\/a> and Moses Moody<\/a> are ruled out of today\u2019s game. For the Timberwolves, they should focus on what\u2019s been working and continue to show effort on defense. This mindset can allow them to go on a run and remind everyone they are still one of the top teams in the league.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So far in December, the Minnesota Timberwolves have done a great job establishing themselves on the defensive side of the ball. This is the Timberwolves defense fans were accustomed to last year. They\u2019ve held their opponents to under 95 points in four consecutive games. Something that they haven\u2019t done since 2012. This is good news […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5371,"featured_media":111176,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,21,62],"tags":[2109,2559,1881,394],"class_list":["post-111161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-timberwolves","category-nba","tag-anthony-edwards","tag-jaden-mcdaniels","tag-naz-reid","tag-rudy-gobert"],"modified_by":"Eamon Cassels, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5371"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111161"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111161\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":111177,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111161\/revisions\/111177"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}