The Timberwolves Have Been Unstoppable Since Thanksgiving

Don’t look now, and definitely don’t tell anyone on the team, but the Minnesota Timberwolves are back in the mix and only two games out of second place in the West.

Other teams have won bigger, some teams have looked better, but no team has won more than the Timberwolves since Thanksgiving weekend. After another turbulent start to the season in which the Wolves went 10-8 with a few losses that truly make you want to puke, they are a league-leading 15-5 since the holiday weekend. That’s better than the Boston Celtics (13-5), Detroit Pistons (13-6), San Antonio Spurs (13-6), and the almighty Oklahoma City Thunder (12-6).

During this run of stellar play, the Wolves have beaten the Celtics, Spurs, Thunder, and New York Knicks. They’ve also lost a nine-point overtime lead on Christmas Day to the Denver Nuggets, and sleepwalked through losses to the Memphis Grizzlies, Brooklyn Nets, and Atlanta Hawks. It’s far from perfect, but early reports of Minnesota’s demise have been greatly exaggerated.

Minnesota’s offense and defense have improved over the last month-plus to help steady Chris Finch’s squad and propel the Wolves back into contention talks. They’re 6th in offensive rating since Thanksgiving, up from 11th before Thanksgiving. They’re averaging 1.1 more points per 100 possessions during the 14-5 stretch than in the first month of the season. The Wolves’ defense has improved from ninth to fifth in defensive rating, up from allowing 112.2 points per 100 possessions to 111.5. Neither number pops out as the exact reason behind Minnesota’s vast improvement because everyone has stepped up on both sides of the ball.

It took 36 games, but Rudy Gobert is making a break for a record-breaking fifth Defensive Player of the Year award. He took a month to get things warmed up, but the Stifle Tower has been dominating opponents for weeks. Since Thanksgiving, Gobert has averaged 12.2 points, 12.1 rebounds, 1.6 blocks, and 71.8 percent from the field. He’s devouring All-Star centers like Bam Adebayo, Chet Holmgren, and Karl-Anthony Towns and leaving them in his 7’1” wake. He’s got the second-best odds to win DPOY this year, according to FanDuel, just barely behind Chet Holmgren, who leads an Oklahoma City Thunder defense to a measly 7-6 record in their last 13 games.

The narrative around Rudy is always going to be there. The lowlights are easy pickings for internet trolls and former and current All-Stars who have beef with the way the Frenchman plays. But Rudy is playing some of the best basketball of his career and is the anchor to a defense that is inching closer to championship level.

Anthony Edwards has been outstanding all season and has made a leap into an elite three-level scorer, but his consistency is helping drive Minnesota’s success. For his first five seasons, Ant was a firecracker. Anytime you tuned in, you could hope to see the sickest dunk of the year, a 40-piece against a rival, or any multitude of awesome things that a young basketball star can do.

But with the good, like all young players, came plenty of bad. For every poster dunk, there were two heat check step back threes that clanked off the back of the rim. For every game Ant got his energy up and beat a better team, he would sleepwalk against lesser foes and stack bad losses.

Now, in Year 6, Anthony Edwards is a full superstar, and a superstar for almost every game he plays. He hasn’t scored fewer than 11 points in any game that he’s played more than four minutes this season. In the 16 games he’s played since Thanksgiving, Ant is averaging 30.5 points per game, 5.2 rebounds, and 3.6 assists on 53/42.2/79 shooting splits. He’s scored 23 or more points in each of his last 12 games, including 25 points, seven rebounds, and nine assists in Thursday’s win against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Ant, along with Julius Randle, Jaden McDaniels, and Naz Reid, has all raised their game to form one of the most formidable starting lineups in the NBA.

That talented group has finally fixed its Achilles’ heel, which has been holding the team back for years. They have stopped turning the ball over. Since Thanksgiving, the Wolves have been fourth in the NBA in turnover rate. They only trail fellow title contenders Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs, and Denver Nuggets. Donte DiVincenzo has cut out the drive-and-kick to the wrong team from his diet.

Julius and Naz have realized that spinning into a double team is a bad idea, and Edwards and McDaniels have locked down their handles. The high watermark for ball security came in the 136-101 obliteration of the Chicago Bulls. The Wolves only turned the ball over five times, including one by Leonard Miller and Joan Beringer in garbage time. Ball security is one of the many things that sunk the Wolves in the Western Conference Finals last season against the Thunder. If they continue to take care of the rock, the Wolves can compete with any team.

It’s about one quarter of the season, but if the Wolves keep playing how they have since Thanksgiving, they have a chance to make some noise again in the Western Conference playoffs.