Bring on Thursday.
That’s the vibe now after another devastating defensive suffocation from the Timberwolves, who this time locked down a Spurs team on Sunday that made them look silly earlier this season.
The season’s script has officially flipped, as proven by the Wolves’ 106-92 victory. Sunday, the Spurs were left searching for breathing room on numerous possessions, and often found themselves to be out of luck — such is often the case for Wolves’ opponents of late.
Minnesota has won six of its past seven games. In each of those victories, the Wolves have held their opponent to 92 points or fewer, unthinkable in today’s NBA. For reference, only 38 games across the league this season have featured a team scoring fewer than 93 points.
Over that seven-game span, the Wolves led the NBA in defensive rating, allowing just 92.8 points per 100 possessions. Second-best is Oklahoma City, at 103.5.
The Spurs were sitting at 79 points with two minutes to play before scoring 13 points over the final 103 seconds in a battle of the end of the benches.
The stage is now beautifully set for Minnesota’s next bout — Thursday at Target Center against … the New York Knicks.
Yes, it will be properly billed as Karl-Anthony Towns’ return to Minnesota. But the subplot of one of the NBA’s best offenses — the Knicks — battling what’s now cemented as one of the NBA’s best defenses is an intriguing storyline in its own right.
That will be the first truly elite offense the Wolves will get a chance to tame since their defensive resurrection. There certainly have been a number of paltry offensive units tackled during this recent stretch. But San Antonio doesn’t belong in that bucket. The Spurs were a top-10 offense over their previous 10 games, but even they had nothing for Minnesota.
Victor Wembanyama was his usual, impactful self. He tallied 20 points, 12 rebounds, seven blocked shots and five assists. But, as a team, the Spurs shot sub-41% from the floor and a dreadful 24% from deep. San Antonio had 34 assists Sunday but just three unassisted buckets.
Minnesota scored fewer than 110 points in regulation for the 11th consecutive game but had six players score at least nine points. Anthony Edwards led the way with 26 points, while Nickeil Alexander-Walker had 17 points off the bench and Mike Conley tallied eight assists.
The Wolves’ star of the game, though — for the second-straight contest — was Jaden McDaniels. He was again a defensive menace while often being freed up to play in different spots of the floor thanks to the opponent’s lack of a star wing scorer. McDaniels had 11 rebounds and four steals as he joined Rudy Gobert to be a game-wrecking tandem on the defensive end.
McDaniels’ bump in play after a slow start to the campaign can be closely linked to Minnesota’s return to form. When he and Gobert are at the peak of their powers, the Wolves are tough to score against, no matter the opponent.
Exactly how tough? Well, Thursday’s game will go a long way toward supplying that answer.
Originally Published: December 15, 2024 at 9:05 PM CST
