On Monday night, the Minnesota Timberwolves got a statement win over the Los Angeles Clippers to keep their hold on first place in the Western Conference. Even though Minnesota’s starters didn’t shoot well from distance, the Wolves won 121-100 because of their dominance in the paint on offense and defense. Minnesota’s three bigs were a significant factor. They each found a way to make their mark on the game by scoring.
Karl-Anthony Towns had an efficient offensive night. Although he only hit 1 of his 5 three-point attempts, he was perfect inside the arc, hitting 8 of 8 shots in the paint. Towns got downhill under control with aplomb, hitting a couple of nice floaters over defenders collapsing into the restricted area.
Meanwhile, Rudy Gobert was making the Clippers pay on offense. He made 6 of his 10 shots, 3 of which were put-backs for crucial second-chance points. Gobert also had one incredible dunk over Kawhi Leonard, where he backed Leonard down into the restricted area, used a hesitation move to get Leonard up in the air, then stepped through and dunked.
To top it off, Naz Reid had some extremely impressive layups going downhill that felt emblematic of a new evolution, or at least a new level of consistency, in Naz’s driving game. In the 4th quarter, the Wolves ran a set that got Naz the ball in stride at the top of the key. It almost looked like a wide receiver end-around play in football. In an end-around, the quarterback snaps the ball, and the wide receiver runs to the opposite end of the backfield. The quarterback pitches him the ball in the backfield at top speed, attempting to use that momentum to get down the field fast.
The play starts with Nickeil Alexander-Walker running in front of Naz, creating a small amount of separation between Naz and his defender. As soon as NAW passes him, Naz takes off from the left wing, following the perimeter line to the top of the key. Instead of getting a pitch in the backfield, Naz receives a pass from Mike Conley in the backcourt at top speed and immediately turns up the court. By the time the Clippers defender recovers to guard Naz, it’s too late. He’s blowing past the entire defense for an easy layup.
Under a minute later, the Wolves ran a different set that got Naz the ball in motion on the perimeter, this time in a two-man game with Kyle Anderson. SlowMo is playing point guard, and Naz runs up from the paint to meet him near the top of the key shortly after he crosses half-court with the ball. Anderson passes the ball to Reid as he gets close, and Naz passes it right back, creating essentially a dribble handoff that provides Anderson with extra space.
Naz then ran out to the top of the key, where he got open, got a pass from Anderson in stride, and went downhill again immediately. Although this motion play didn’t progress at the blisteringly fast pace of the previous one, Naz still used his momentum to drive past his defender and Paul George, who was waiting to help in the paint and scored an easy layup.
These are exciting plays because they are entertaining to watch, and it means that the Timberwolves are scheming ways to help Naz play to his strengths. Although this isn’t the first time they’ve used actions like this, it’s encouraging that the Wolves try to enable him to score regularly. Reid is the best scorer off Minnesota’s bench and might be the third-best scorer behind only KAT and Anthony Edwards. Naz can manufacture his own points. But if the Wolves want to improve their offense, it makes sense to draw up and run more actions that get Naz into space.
Naz has always been good at scoring when he gets the ball going downhill. Even before entering college, Naz was known for his touch around the rim. He was a part of a group of New York area basketball players known as the Jelly Fam, who became famous in the NYC basketball scene and on YouTube for the “jelly roll,” their signature finger roll. Although Naz has added a lot to his game since then, you can see how some of the moves he learned in his youth translate into his game in the NBA. He still puts plenty of jelly on his layups.
Early in his NBA career, he made his mark with Minnesota’s bench units running the pick-and-roll with Jordan McLaughlin. Reid and McLaughlin made a good pair. Naz had the speed to get past many defenders while rolling to the rim, and McLaughlin had pinpoint accuracy on his passes, allowing him to get the ball in stride and lay it in with ease. Their scoring chemistry as a duo and their work ethic and hustle as individuals allowed them to carve out essential roles on the Timberwolves’ bench unit for the past three years. Their roles have never changed despite the many players the Wolves have brought in to help bolster their bench rotation, a testament to their talent and importance to the team.
McLaughlin’s minutes have decreased, and Reid’s have gone up, so their two-man pairing is no longer a focus of the Wolves bench unit. However, the Timberwolves seem to have prioritized finding new ways to enable Naz this season, and it has come with great success. Naz’s shooting has been on another level this year. He’s made 41.5% of his three-pointers while attempting 4.6 threes per game, the most of his career.
Minnesota’s coaching staff and Naz’s teammates have noticed and started finding him more consistently on the perimeter. They are running more pick-and-pop actions to give him space to shoot. Naz has the third-best three-point shooting percentage on the team, so it makes sense for them to scheme plays to get him open on the perimeter to give themselves an offensive boost.
Similarly, since Ried is one of Minnesota’s best rim scorers, it makes sense for them to draw up actions or improvise plays to get Naz the ball going downhill, especially when Ant and KAT are off the court. Therefore, seeing him run more two-man play-option actions with Anderson and pick-and-roll with Conley has been exciting. Reid, Anderson, and Conley excel at making decisive decisions with the ball and reading where defenders are going. When they work together, they can make some beautiful anticipatory plays that are so well executed they make the game look easy.
Given that the Wolves have struggled to create consistent offense this year, I’d suspect not only that the coaching staff wants to get Naz more involved in the offense but that they have made an intentional effort to do so by working on these backcourt actions that get Naz in motion. Regardless, it could pay huge dividends for the team if they do, especially going into the playoffs, where they will need all the scoring they can get from Naz and the rest of the bench unit. Hopefully, we will continue to see the team find new ways to feed Naz and keep defenses on their heels.
