On today’s episode, Ryan Eichten and Leo Sun break down the Minnesota Timberwolves’ 120-96 win over the shorthanded Dallas Mavericks on Monday, their 123-112 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Saturday, and the overall trends with the team 14 games into the season.
— The Wolves are now 9-0 against teams with a losing record and 0-5 against teams with a winning record. How worrying is their inability to beat good teams?
— Rudy Gobert has been the one struggling the most against good teams. In the Wolves’
nine wins, Gobert is averaging 13.3 points and 11.2 rebounds per game. In the five losses, his averages fall to 6.0 points and 6.6 rebounds per game.
— Over the past two games, Anthony Edwards is shooting 13-37 from the field and 1-17 from beyond the arc. It is likely just a dry spell for Edwards, who, despite the recent trend, is still making 38.8 percent of his 3-pointers this season.
— The Timberwolves fell behind the Nuggets 17-5 early in the game in large part due to Denver’s zone defense. The Wolves struggled to find open looks and had a few careless turnovers. Are the Wolves a team that is susceptible to zone defense?
— After struggling in many of the Wolves’ first dozen games, Naz Reid has returned to form. On Saturday, he torched the Denver defense for 19 points on 7-11 shooting, including four 3-pointers. On Monday, 22 points in just 22 minutes as the Wolves’ leading scorer in the blowout win over the Mavs.
— Back-to-backs have been a major issue with the NBA schedule. Both of the Wolves’ losses to the Nuggets came on the second night of a B2B, and the Mavericks came into town reeling after playing overtime the night before.
— The Wolves have their third NBA Cup game on Friday against the Phoenix Suns. Given their +56 point differential in NBA Cup play to this point, a win in Phoenix would almost all but clinch a trip to the quarterfinals as at least the wild card, even if they lose to the Oklahoma City Thunder next week.
