As the Minnesota Timberwolves go for their fifth straight win, the Denver Nuggets aren’t looking too bad either.
The Wolves started their winning streak against the Nuggets on Dec. 20 — a game where they seemed to turn the corner in the fourth quarter.
In fact, since Dec. 1, the Timberwolves are second in the NBA in fourth-quarter net rating. While their overall fourth-quarter defensive rating hasn’t improved astronomically – 112.9 overall and 107.4 in the month of December – their offensive rating has jumped to 121.1.
“Guys are getting used to playing with each other,” head coach Tom Thibodeau said at Wednesday’s practice. “Actually, the last fifteen games have been really good, so, just keep improving. That has to be the focus.”
They haven’t necessarily changed the way they run offense against teams in December, but they have managed to find a certain flow on that end to find better looks.
The recent addition of Jamal Crawford into the fourth quarter lineup has added to their offense, giving Butler and Towns a third option while Andrew Wiggins works out his struggles.
“The eye test is telling me we’re doing a better job handling adversity,” Crawford said of the fourth quarter success. “We’re doing a better job when teams make runs not getting tight, not folding, doing what we did to get the lead in the first place.”
Meanwhile, the Nuggets – 11th this month in defensive rating – have been playing some of their best basketball since their loss to the Wolves in Denver.
Their three-game winning streak includes wins against the Golden State Warriors and Portland Trail Blazers, both heavy hitters (to different degrees) in the Western Conference.
“We’re going to have to be ready,” Thibodeau said. “They’re playing great basketball right now.”
While the Wolves were without Nemanja Bjelica the last time these two teams met, the Nuggets were without an even more impactful player in Gary Harris.
Harris, his team’s leading scorer, is shooting 48 percent from the field and 37.9 from 3-point land. He’s also the guy – along with Nikola Jokic –most often with the ball in his hands late in games.
Final Notes:
- Nemanja Bjelica is back and is no longer on a minute restriction. While he only played five minutes in the win over the Lakers, Thibodeau said he will bring his backup big back slowly, and he’ll eventually see his minutes return to normal.
- The Timberwolves also announced their new “City Edition” jerseys Wednesday. Take a look.
- Justin Patton will be reassigned and back in Iowa for the Wolves’ next game Friday against the Delaware 87ers.
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