Last night, the Minnesota Timberwolves got a big win over the New York Knicks to remain undefeated at home and maintain first place in the Western Conference standings. Minnesota’s defense was fantastic again, only letting the Knicks score 100 points while holding them to 34.8% shooting from the field. Alan Horton had a great tweet highlighting that this was the 6th time this season that the Wolves have held opponents under 40% shooting from the field and 30% from three-point range 6 times already this season. No other team has done that more than twice, and 12 teams have yet to do it at all.
The Timberwolves’ defense has ranked first in the league for much of the season, and they are currently tied for first with the Orlando Magic with a 106.5 defensive rating. However, last night’s win was a signal that the team is also starting to become dangerous on offense, especially when all three of Minnesota’s stars are clicking simultaneously.
Anthony Edwards had a slow shooting start in the first half, hitting only 2 of his 7 shots and missing both threes he took in the first half. Thankfully, it didn’t matter because both big men had it going immediately. Karl-Anthony Towns has been having a lot of success with his dribble drives lately and went to it early and often against the Knicks. He hit 3 of his 4 driving layups in the first half, scoring through at least two players every time as the Knicks attempted to bring help defenders to contest KAT’s shot once he got into the paint.
While KAT could score with finesse and skill, Rudy Gobert scored with force and athleticism. On Gobert’s first bucket of the night, two New York players went to double team Ant at the top of the key, leaving KAT open on the right wing. Ant swings the ball to KAT, which forces Knicks center Mitchell Robinson to step up and guard him. New York’s defense shifts, but the defender filling for Robinson happens to be 6’2” Jalen Brunson, who’s nearly a foot shorter than Gobert. Rudy recognizes this immediately, steps around Brunson with two giant strides, and gets an easy point-blank layup at the rim off KAT’s pass.
Gobert also got 3 other buckets in the first half using his hustle and athleticism. In Year 2, it’s hard not to notice how fast Gobert is for someone over 7 feet tall. It’s become especially evident to me now that I’ve watched him play more next to Towns. KAT has great burst and quickness for a 7-footer. His ability to get to high speed fast is part of why he’s so dangerous in one-on-one matchups against other centers. It’s also part of why some teams have opted to guard him with a power forward, even before the Wolves played two bigs all the time.
However, Gobert is so fast and athletic for his height that he makes KAT look average by comparison. Sometimes, Rudy even dusts some of Minnesota’s guards and wings on fast breaks. I’m not suggesting that Rudy would beat many of the Wolves wings in a 100-yard dash. However, Gobert seems to have a non-stop desire to hustle and get into position to help his team. That alone means he’s often running with or ahead of the pack.
Rudy’s ability to contest and alter a shot at the rim on defense, then get all the way to the other end of the court and help the play on offense is truly impressive. It’s probably unrivaled by any other center in the league. Last night, he made RJ Barrett miss, then sprinted down the court and got an alley-oop from Shake Milton with just 9 seconds running off the game clock during the sequence. He gets a lot of easy dunks because he’s big and strong, but also because he works hard to get into positions where he can help his team.
Going into the second half, the Wolves led New York 58-56. The team made an effort to get Edwards going early on, and it paid off. On the first play, the Timberwolves swung the ball to Ant, who used a few dribble moves to make space for himself, then pulled up in the midrange and nailed a jump shot.
Ant shot 50% from the field in the second half and ended the game as Minnesota’s leading scorer with 23 points. That, along with the continued stellar offensive play of KAT (20 points) and Gobert (16), was enough for the Wolves to build a big lead and ultimately win the game by 17 points.
When all three of the Wolves stars get going on offense, they can be a truly scary team on offense and defense. There was a symbolic moment during the third quarter when Ant went to the line for free throws. Gobert and KAT are on the blocks. After Ant makes his first free throw, he goes to high-five them like normal. However, rather than high-fiving one then the other, he’s able to high-five both simultaneously because all of their arms are so damn long that they can stretch across the paint.
Edwards almost looks like a mob boss from a cartoon movie who is constantly flanked by two larger-than-life bodyguards. Minnesota’s Big 3, featuring two “centers” and a “shooting guard,” may be unorthodox in the modern NBA. However, they are developing a special chemistry that may make them a true threat to win the Western Conference.
Last night was a good test of the Wolves offense because the Knicks have a very strong defense. Old friend Tom Thibodeau has a reputation for getting peak defensive effort and buy-in from his teams, and that has been no different this year. The Knicks rank 5th in the NBA in defense with a defensive rating of 109.1 and are the highest-rated defense the Timberwolves have played this year besides the Boston Celtics. But the Wolves were not only able to beat them but also break the game open in the second half and win by 17. That’s a testament to their improvement on offense.
The Wolves now rank 16th in offensive rating at 112.8, which is up significantly from their rating of 100.4 last week. They already rank 4th in net rating at 6.3. If they can keep improving their offense throughout the season, especially when the Big 3 are on the court, they will be hard to stop.
