Finding impact players off the bench in the NBA playoffs is difficult. Head coaches rely upon their best players and series lineup fits to give their team the best chance to win. Therefore, when a bench player has a slow start to begin a series or does not match up well with the opponent, their minutes are often in jeopardy.
Naz Reid is last season’s Sixth Man of the Year award winner, but he can’t always find a way to make an impact every night. Amidst Minnesota’s Round 1 series with the Los Angeles Lakers, Reid embodied the weirdness of being a bench player in the playoffs.
It started with Chris Finch’s utmost trust in Reid to play crucial minutes in the fourth quarter.
“Naz shows up in the fourth quarter again,” Finch said after Reid had eight fourth-quarter points in Minnesota’s Game 4 win. “I just told him, feel free to show up for the first three (quarters) anytime you like.”
Much of the conversation about giving Reid late-game freedom revolves around Rudy Gobert’s impact on Minnesota’s playoff ceiling and his viability against specific matchups. At this point, Gobert’s defensive schematic fit against high-level 5-out offenses has become a tired conversation, but the root of the problem is Gobert’s shaky offensive output.
When the Timberwolves toggle away from Gobert for Reid’s offense, it instantly creates more opportunities. Reid can simultaneously earn minutes alongside the starting lineup, in the frontcourt with Julius Randle, and be part of the end-of-game lineups. These are significant responsibilities, but this is where Reid has shone the most in the playoffs this season.
In Minnesota’s Round 1 series win, Reid was second to Anthony Edwards in fourth-quarter points per game, with 5.4. He’s shooting an absurd 9 of 11 from the field, 6 of 6 from three, and 3 of 4 from the free-throw line for a 105.8% true shooting percentage.
He was a part of the closing lineup in three of Minnesota’s tight finishes in their Round 1 series in Gobert’s place. Reid’s offensive output was monumental for Minnesota’s series chances, but his underrated impact has been his ability to hold up enough on defense.
“[Reid has] been a really good defender at times,” Finch said regarding Reid’s late-game viability after Game 4. “Tonight and in the playoffs, he knows that’s what we need him to do. And I thought he did a great job at just sitting down and guarding. Standing up those drives.”
Reid has had a unique defensive journey in his NBA career. At the beginning of his Timberwolves tenure, he was seen as a smaller 5. When he played minutes next to Karl-Anthony Towns, it caught people’s attention because it happened infrequently. However, now that Reid has found his role, he is much more of a big wing or forward. Reid’s minutes next to another big are not as rare, and his defensive fit has changed.
He’s an average to below-average defender. Still, his size, mobility, and overall athleticism are viable tools, especially in a series where the opponent’s lead ball handlers, Luka Doncic and LeBron James, are jumbo-creators.
The Wolves can sub Reid for Gobert because they don’t need Reid to lock down Doncic or James.
Given how often the Lakers’ offense looked to switch out other matchups into space, Minnesota had an advantage when one of their weakest links still has a lot of size and mobility. Reid’s athletic tools have allowed him to get valuable shot contests, wall up on downhill drives, and hold his own on defense to force the LA’s stars to work for their makes at a minimum.
Individually, Reid held Doncic to a respectable 5 of 10 from the field and 1 of 4 from three in their Round 1 matchup.
Reid can get by defensively and has flame-throwing ability late in the game as a catch-and-shoot threat who’s one pass away from Anthony Edwards. Therefore, he’s a more dynamic closing lineup fit for Chris Finch to have in his back pocket if needed. He’s a player Finch can toggle with Gobert, allowing Finch to insert offense when Minnesota needs to score.
Minnesota’s lineup versatility was a strength entering the Lakers series, and Reid was a big reason why as one of its multifaceted weapons. His ability to adapt to different situations and be effective on-ball and off-ball offensively has given Chris Finch much more freedom and flexibility with lineups.
The Wolves tested their versatility in the regular season and used it to their advantage in the playoffs.
Although the journey was imperfect, Minnesota’s Reid-Randle lineups struggled to finish possessions on defense for much of the regular season. They didn’t bring enough firepower offensively to make up for the deficiencies.
Even when the Timberwolves began to find their rhythm after Randle’s return from his mid-season groin injury, the Reid-Randle lineups were inconsistent. They finished with a plus-0.8 NET rating in 255 minutes after Randle’s injury, compared to their plus-3.1 NET rating in 581 minutes before he got hurt.
Despite the struggles of this frontcourt pairing throughout the regular season, the Randle and Reid lineups have been at the forefront of Minnesota’s best output in the playoffs.
Reid doesn’t need to keep delivering fourth-quarter heroics for the Timberwolves to keep winning in the playoffs. The 6MOTY caliber impact and offensive production already speak volumes. But his versatility ultimately raises Minnesota’s playoff ceiling the most, giving the Timberwolves more optionality for their future series.