We learned much about the Minnesota Timberwolves in their back-to-back losses to the Portland Trail Blazers and loss against the Los Angeles Clippers this past week. On a positive note, the Wolves shot fairly well from three in their two games against the Blazers, albeit on a low volume of shots. Combining both games, Minnesota shot 40.25% from three on an average of 25 three-point attempts per game. While everyone would like to see the volume of their three-point shooting increase to something closer to their volume from last season (41.3 three-point attempts per game last year), their efficiency from deep at least created a little bit of optimism for their three-point shooting moving forward.
The Wolves did a pretty good job of not turning the ball over. In the two Portland games, the Wolves committed only 13 and 10 turnovers, respectively. Considering that the Wolves rank 28th in the league with 16.1 turnovers per game, it was a marked improvement.
However, I must also grimly discuss some of the alarming troubles the Wolves faced in these back-to-back matchups against the Blazers and their Wednesday night matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers. Most primarily, their lackluster effort on the glass.
Portland absolutely crushed the Timberwolves on the glass in both games against them. In the first game, they outrebounded the Wolves 45 to 28, including 11 to 4 in offensive rebounds. The second game wasn’t much better. The Blazers outrebounded Minnesota 54 to 37, including 11-7 on offensive rebounds. Rudy Gobert came down with 20 rebounds in the second game, yet it appeared that it ultimately did not matter – the Blazers collectively dominated the glass against the Wolves.
Against the Clippers, the Wolves got outrebounded 52-43 and allowed the Clippers to grab 14 offensive rebounds on the night. In a low-scoring game, in which both teams struggled immensely shooting from the field and from three, the Wolves’ losing the turnover and rebounding battles ultimately sealed their faith in their 99-88 loss to the Clippers.
Minnesota’s trouble controlling the glass against Portland and Los Angeles continued a season-long trend, accentuating one of Minnesota’s core problems.
The Wolves rank 23rd in the league in rebounds per game, averaging 42.7 per game. The Philadelphia 76ers, Brooklyn Nets, and Sacramento Kings average fewer rebounds per game. However, those teams also possess exemplary offensive prowess, especially from three-point range, which mitigates some of their rebounding woes. On the other hand, Minnesota’s offense has not been strong or consistent enough to afford to get beat on the glass time and time again.
With Karl-Anthony Towns out, the Wolves are missing one of their primary rebounders. KAT was averaging 8.2 rebounds per game. Even in a down year for KAT, who has been a double-digit rebounder his whole career, it still boosted the Wolves’ ability to pull down boards.
In KAT’s absence, the Wolves need to find a way to stay competitive with opposing teams on the glass. It starts with getting more rebounding from their forwards.
Jaden McDaniels will need to pick up the slack. At 6’9” and averaging 30 minutes per game, McDaniels needs to average more than 3.2 rebounds per game. That’s down from 4.2 rebounds per game last season when he played fewer minutes (25.8). However, McDaniels has fluctuated within the rotation this season, and Chris Finch usually asks him to guard opposing players on the perimeter. Therefore, he is sometimes farther from the basket.
Finch should put McDaniels more in a position to come down with rebounds considering his height and agility. It would help McDaniels and the team secure more rebounds and prevent opposing teams from getting too many second-chance points by dominating the Wolves on the glass.
The Wolves could also use some additional assistance on the glass from Kyle Anderson. SloMo is averaging 4.3 rebounds per game this year. But now playing more minutes lately due to Towns’ absence, Anderson has averaged 5.3 rebounds per game in his last seven games. Anderson has averaged 5.3 rebounds per game over his past five seasons. He has only averaged 22 minutes per game through those five seasons, marking a reasonably effective rebounding rate. With SloMo continuing to play a more significant role with this team with Towns out, he could also be an important contributor for the Wolves in alleviating some of their struggles on the glass.
Gobert has done his job on the glass, averaging 12.2 rebounds per game this season, which ranks him second in the league. However, rebounding is not solely a one-man effort. The Wolves will have to rally together in battling down low and boxing out the opposing team to compete on the glass, especially during this month of games without KAT.
However, with Taurean Prince returning, they should get help from their forwards. As long as Gobert and Naz Reid continue to do what they can on the glass, this team can prevent any further showings like they had against Portland and Los Angeles and become more potent at cleaning the glass from here on out.
