Weekend in Frisco will be a stress test for the Timberwolves’ improved defense – Twin Cities

Only one NBA team has held an opponent to 80 points or fewer in a game this season. They’re the Timberwolves, and they’ve now done it twice in back-to-back outings.

Minnesota gave up just 80 to the Clippers on Wednesday after holding the Lakers to 80 on Monday in Minneapolis. The Clippers also only scored 92 points against Minnesota last Friday. Three games, three exceptional defensive performances.

Which, following an accountability session during and after a loss to the Kings on Thanksgiving eve, creates a narrative that the Timberwolves have turned the page and returned to their dominant defensive methods of years ago. a season.

Minnesota is now sixth in the NBA in defensive rating, allowing just 108.6 points per 100 possessions, two-tenths shy of the mark it sported a year ago to lead the League.

The wolves are back, baby.

Well, maybe.

Context is important when evaluating a schedule period, good or bad. SO. It’s worth noting that Minnesota is holding back teams that were already lying on the floor.

The Lakers have the third-worst offense in the NBA since Nov. 23, a seven-game stretch in which they have topped 105 points only twice. The Lakers have been held below 95 points in three of their last four outings, including another drubbing Wednesday at Miami.

After the loss to the Wolves, LeBron James rightly called his team’s offense “nasty.”

The Clippers are not much better, especially without Norman Powell. They rank 24th in offensive rating, scoring just 1.1 points per possession. But even that number plummets when Powell — who is averaging 24 points per game this season, while shooting 51 percent from both the field and from distance — isn’t on the court. The Clippers’ offensive net rating improves by nine points when Powell is on the floor this season, according to CleaningTheGlass.com.

This on/off split sits in the 91st percentile league-wide.

Powell missed both games against Minnesota, and the Lakers on Monday and the Clippers on Wednesday were playing the second game of a back-to-back. So the schedule certainly made Minnesota strong at a time when the Wolves seemed to need it the most.

But the Timberwolves took full advantage of the opportunity. Eighty points equals 80 points, no matter who you’re playing against or the circumstances. There’s no denying that Minnesota’s activity and attention to detail have both increased in recent contests, and it’s worth noting that the Wolves’ defense has been torched even by bad teams through the first dozen games of the season.

Recent results signify progress; How much progress is made is a question that will be determined over the weekend, when Minnesota plays two games in San Francisco. The Warriors have lost five straight Thursday afternoon and, get this, they’ll face Houston on Thursday night before their first matchup against the Wolves on Friday.

The two teams will play again on Sunday at the same venue.

Golden State sports the ninth best offense in the NBA. Steph Curry and Draymond Green are missing Thursday’s game due to injuries, and it appears Curry is a good bet to return against Minnesota, even if Green’s situation is a little murkier.

Regardless, the Warriors’ motion-based offense, centered around Curry’s shooting threat, will pose a tough test of the communication and commitment that Minnesota has struggled with to open the season. A defense is only as good as it is when it is driven by offensive creativity and skill.

After a perfectly timed three-game stretch that allowed Minnesota to rebuild its image and identity on the defensive side of the ball, it’s time for a stress test.