The real test was supposed to begin Monday night.
A night when the Cleveland Cavaliers came to Minneapolis – a team that’s made the last three NBA Finals behind the best player of the last 20 years, a top-three player in Wolves history and now features a couple more recent All-Stars – the stretch of tough games was supposed to truly begin.
To some, the test began on Saturday against the Pelicans. The Wolves put them away early, making Monday’s game the next measuring stick.
In theory, it made sense; the Wolves and Cavaliers post similar stat lines, net ratings, and even run with a similar wing-forward 1-2 punch.
Instead, just like Saturday, the Wolves defended well, shot a good percentage and blew the opponent out of the water early.
Again, the Timberwolves didn’t play like a team in the bottom-10 in defensive rating, like they were for the first 26 games. Instead, they played like a team in the top-10 in defensive rating over the past 16 games.
They won the game 127-99, and at several points were up by over 40.
It marks the seventh-straight game the Wolves have held an opponent to under 100 points, and puts them back at 10 games over .500.
“I’d like to think that we’re improving,” head coach Tom Thibodeau said after Monday’s win. “I see it in our meetings, I see it in practice. The concentration’s better.”
It was clear from the beginning that the Wolves were going to make their shots, and that the Cavs were not.
Part of it was the notably-improved defense from the Wolves’ end, but part of it was also the Cavs missing a slew of open jumpers; especially the right corner. Kevin Love and Isaiah Thomas got plenty of looks from the corner 3, but failed to convert on any of them.
“I think we did what we were supposed to do at home,” Jimmy Butler said in the locker room. “We’re a really good team; they’re a really good team. They missed a lot of shots they normally make. We all know that.”
Literally — Love and Thomas were a combined 0-of-13 from the field in the first half.
As the game continued, LeBron James failed to convert on some at-the-rim shots he normally makes. This, again, was due in-part to good defense, but also just some plain old missing.
This allowed the Wolves to build their big lead they refused to relinquish.
The one run that the Cavs went on in the second quarter occurred when the bench was mainly featured for the Wolves. But even then, the Cavs could only slim the deficit to 14.
Once the second half was underway, it was clear that the Wolves were going to win this game by a lot; it was only a matter of how historic the difference could get.
It got pretty historic.
The Wolves held James to just 10 points — his worst scoring output since 2007. At one point, they led the game by 41 points, the biggest lead the Wolves have had over any team all season.
It was a dominant performance in every way.
“I think we just came out the last two games with a certain mentality, a certain focus to attention,” Karl-Anthony Towns said. “Just paying attention to the things we sometimes overlook. We’re doing a great job defensively.”
Towns isn’t wrong.
This game, if nothing else, was a way to display the paths these teams have taken recently. As the Wolves’ defense continues to improve – they’ll likely move somewhere between 18th and 19th in defense rating Tuesday – the Cavaliers remain at the bottom.
More importantly, the Wolves took advantage. Early and often, the biggest difference-maker was their ability to capitalize on bad Cleveland transition defense.
But they also did a great job of capitalizing when things got slow.
And through three quarters – before Kyle Korver went on a 3-point shooting barrage – they forced the fully-loaded Cavs to shoot 39.1 percent from the field and 22.2 percent from 3-point land.
For the second straight time – against a team that won the title just two years ago – the Timberwolves not only looked like the better team, they looked dominant.
This also gave the Wolves a chance to grasp that “signature win” they hadn’t truly gotten to that point.
When they beat the Spurs it was without Kawhi Leonard. Both wins over the Thunder happened before their recent win surge. Both wins over Denver have occurred with Paul Millsap sidelined.
This gave them a win they wanted, and arguably needed.
“Coming into this year, there was two teams I’ve never beaten — the Spurs and the Cavs,” Wiggins told reporters. “This year, I’ve beat both of them.”
As they recover from one of the most travel-happy first-half schedules in the NBA, giving all five starters a chance to rest in the fourth quarter is huge, especially with a team as high-octane as Oklahoma City coming to town on Wednesday.
Even if the real test began Monday, that doesn’t mean it’s over. The rest the starters got from this blowout will be big, because games like this won’t happen often.
But it sure is entertaining when they do.
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