The last time the Timberwolves played the Washington Wizards, they had Jimmy Butler, but Washington did not have John Wall.
The Wizards won anyway.
It was a month into the season and the Wolves still hadn’t quite found an identity. Butler hadn’t yet taken over as the team’s clear-cut alpha dog. It wasn’t the Timberwolves that many are familiar with.
Of course, the Wolves went on a run after that, and have given themselves a chance to finish with their first playoff berth since 2004.
The tricky part, as has been mentioned a number of times over the past few weeks, is the lack of Butler down the stretch.
In that time, they’ve naturally fallen a bit in the freakishly-close Western Conference standings. They’ve notched some impressive wins — most recently on Sunday afternoon against Golden State — but the fear of further freefall remains very real.
Meanwhile, Washington has had similar problems. Wall has been out since late January with knee troubles, and recent reports suggest he might be out longer than expected.
And while they’ve had some expected troubles, they too have won some impressive games without their multi-year All-Star.
When comparing the injuries to Butler and Wall — and the subsequent play of the rest of the team — there are a few key differences to consider.
For starters, the Wolves play in the Western Conference, and have a bit more to play for. The Wizards were in position to fall in the standings, but the gap between their fifth slot and the ninth slot is 7.5 games.
Out West, where the Wolves sat fifth as recently as Monday, the ninth-place Nuggets are only 1.5 games out. While the Wizards want to keep winning as many games as possible, they were never truly in a position to fall completely out of the playoffs.
Butler’s absence created a real fear in Minnesota about missing the postseason. Wall’s absence was a bummer, but never created much concern about playoff berths.
But what about the actual on-court impact it’s created in the short term? To start, let’s look at the team’s general success without their stars on the floor. This includes the time they’ve been healthy and simply taken a breather on the bench.
Anyone who’s watched the Wolves this year knows how important Butler has been to the team. His numerical value — the numbers above in particular — shouldn’t shock anyone.
But what have the Wolves looked like in the extended stretch of games since Butler went down? And how does it compare to Washington’s even longer stretch without Wall?
Wall hasn’t played since Jan. 25, so the sample size is larger and with a wide variety of results. But even in the brief six-game stretch the Wolves have fought through without Butler, the array of quality wins and brutal losses has been vast.
And the results are a bit surprising.
The depth of the Wizards helped Washington stay competitive even when Wall was healthy, but the wins the Wizards have put together in his absence have been impressive. This includes wins against Oklahoma City, Toronto and Cleveland and competitive matchups with Boston and Golden State.
The Wolves have the Warriors win to their name, but surprisingly high statistical success in Butler’s absence can be explained to a certain degree.
While they’ve yet to get blown out in this stretch — it can even be argued that they put forth a “good loss” in their road matchup with Portland — their first two wins were blowout wins against obviously tanking Chicago and flat-out bad Sacramento.
But that shouldn’t discount the success the Wolves have seen over the past couple weeks. They can take solace in the fact that they’ve learned to win without Butler. Early on this season, they failed to do so — to a miserable extent.
If they want to continue winning games and beating good teams, the Wizards might be a good team to study.
Both Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins — with some help from their teammates, namely Nemanja Bjelica — have stepped up at different times and led them to victory.
For Washington, Bradley Beal — a first-time All-Star, just like Towns — has done a similarly good job for Washington.
Meanwhile, max contract signee — just like Wiggins — Otto Porter has put up insanely good numbers in the meantime.
Since Wall went down, Porter is averaging 18.6 points per game, shooting 55.2 percent from the field and 43.2 percent from deep. Wiggins has had some success without Butler, but the efficiency to which Porter is contributing is something Wiggins is aiming for.
And he hasn’t been far off.
In the small sample it is, Wiggins is averaging 21.5 points, shooting 46.5 percent from the field and 40 percent from deep. His production has been a bit more up-and-down than the overall number suggest, and he has yet to have a massive fourth quarter in this stretch.
But efficiency is still efficiency, and Wiggins has enjoyed the recent uptick.
“I’m always ready,” the soft-spoken Wiggins said recently when asked about his increased role.
But it will take more than Wiggins and Towns taking on the world. It will take more than Bjelica or Jeff Teague having the occasional big night.
It will take a continued effort on defense and an efficiency on offense. To win a game like the one on Tuesday against Washington, it will require the Wolves to adopt the mindset the Wizards have created since Wall went down.
It won’t be easy, but it can be done. The Wizards have proven that.
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