When the dust settled after a demoralizing loss to the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference finals, the Minnesota Timberwolves made several roster moves to become more agile and creative to keep up with Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving.
Out went Kyle Anderson and eventually Karl-Anthony Towns, two players who contributed greatly to their successful season, but who also had playing styles that obliged the Wolves in specific ways at both ends of the pitch. In came veterans Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo and No. 8 Rob Dillingham, three bucket-getters who can create shots and boost the team’s offense.
Dillingham, 19, has yet to play as he acclimates to the league, but Randle and DiVincenzo have shown they can add new dimensions to the Timberwolves offense.
What has been most difficult for the Timberwolves this young season has been getting their defense in order, a consequence few expected when Towns was traded to New York just before training camp. The latest example was a 120-114 loss to the Mavericks Tuesday night in a rematch of that 4-1 series loss in May.
The Wolves hit 51 percent of their field goals, including a blistering 19 of 39 from three-point range, against the defending Western Conference champions. But Minnesota’s inability to slow the Mavericks in transition and keep them off the offensive glass was its downfall. Dallas scored 20 fastbreak points, ran circles around the Wolves in semi-transition and had 23 second-chance points off 12 offensive rebounds.
For the team that had the league’s No. 1 defense by a wide margin last season, it was a surprising change in character.
“It looks like the offense is starting to get into a rhythm a little bit, but the defense needs to improve,” coach Chris Finch said.
Anthony Edwards scored 24 of his 37 points in the first quarter, Randle had 20 points, seven rebounds and seven assists and Nickeil Alexander-Walker was good on both ends. But Edwards had five of the team’s 20 goals, leading to 25 points for the Mavericks, and the defense forced just 10 miscues from Dallas.
ANTHONY EDWARDS 😱
5 threes and 20 points in the first quarter 🔥 pic.twitter.com/sX8Eqw8cD8
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) October 30, 2024
At this very early part of the season, the Wolves offense has improved from 17th last season to 11th, but the defense has plummeted from first to 13th. Who knew the biggest problem the Wolves would face after trading cities was defense?
“It shows how well we still played, but even with 20 turnovers it’s pretty good. But I can’t settle for that,” said Alexander-Walker, who scored 11 points and went 3-of-5 from deep. “It’s still a loss and we need to tighten those things up before April.”
In a sense, president of basketball operations Tim Connelly put together last season’s team to beat the Denver Nuggets. They were the reigning champions with the best player in the world, the mountain stood in the way. And the supersized Wolves climbed it into the conference semifinals with a thrilling seven-game win streak. Their big frontcourt of Rudy Gobert and Towns was able to confuse Nikola Jokić just enough for the Wolves to get past the Nuggets.
The conference finals were largely uncharted territory for everyone on the Timberwolves roster, even the most experienced among them. Mike Conley was there as a youngster with the Memphis Grizzlies, but there was a twelve-year gap between trips. Gobert had never been there before, nor had any of the younger core members, including Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, Naz Reid and Towns.
The euphoria of that 20-point comeback in Game 7 in Denver was quickly replaced by the realization that they were only halfway to winning a title. The Wolves were physically and emotionally exhausted by the time Game 1 of the West finals took place in Minneapolis, and they trailed the Mavericks 3-0 before they could catch their breath.
Dallas won its first two games by a total of four points, taking advantage of Minnesota’s late-game stumbles by utilizing two of the best pure scorers in the league in Dončić and Irving. The Wolves couldn’t match the ingenuity of that duo. While Towns struggled mightily, Edwards was the only player who could create his shot.
More than five months later, Conley is still shaking his head at some of the mistakes they made along the way. They led by four points with 3 minutes and 15 seconds left in Game 1 and by five points with 1:o6 to play in Game 2, but lost both.
“If we had just made the right decision, not had a turnover or been double-teamed when we should have been double-teamed, or if we had done some things correctly game plan-wise, we might have been able to come away with a win,” Conley said. “It could have changed the series completely. I think the late game situations were crucial for them. The way they handled that gave them an advantage last season.”
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That high-ranked Wolves defense had no answer for Dončić, Irving and Dereck Lively II on the perimeter. Finch joked before the game Tuesday night that the “400 lobs” that connected the Mavericks stuck with him more than anything from that series.
“IIt wasn’t our time. It wasn’t our turn,” Gobert said. “It’s about not dwelling on those losses, but making sure that the next time we get there, we’re better prepared and able to take that step and seize that opportunity.”
Big business has addressed this shortcoming in a significant way. One of Randle’s biggest strengths is shotmaking. The Wolves already saw that in action last week in Sacramento, when he bolstered a struggling offense with a barrage of tough buckets in isolation in the first half. DiVincenzo has also shown an increased ability to use dribbles to help when the clock runs out.
The Wolves believe they are a little stronger and a lot deeper after the trade, but they are under no illusions that they have gained an advantage over the Mavericks.
“We didn’t necessarily build a roster to beat Dallas,” Finch said. “Right now we’re trying to figure out every night who we are, what we can do on a very repeatable level.”
Finch is still experimenting with setup combinations to see what works and what doesn’t. That’s why Joe Ingles was on the field in the second quarter without Gobert to defend him. The Wolves were outscored by seven points in Ingles’ four minutes. But Finch also went to a small lineup with Randle at center in the fourth quarter, and that worked well to help the Wolves cut a double-digit deficit to three points in the final four minutes.
“We feel like we have some physicality in Donte and Julius now. It also gives us a little bit more defensive versatility,” Finch said. “That doesn’t mean we even have all the answers at this point. We’re still trying to figure out defensive chemistry.”
Edwards started the game on fire, posting a career-high with 24 points on 8-of-10 shooting in the first 12 minutes. But he didn’t score a point for the next 19 minutes of game action as the Mavericks, playing on the second night of a back-to-back, dug in. Edwards was 4 of 10 over the final 36 minutes. But he was more concerned about the rebounds the Timberwolves couldn’t get, especially when Gobert was off the floor.
“It’s on us, mostly on me, I’m big as hell,” Edwards said. ‘I have to be able to rule them out big time. But (the Mavericks) are doing a good job of getting those offensive rebounds. I have to find out.”
Irving scored 35 points and Doncic had 24 points, eight assists, eight rebounds and another Target Center dagger.
LUKA 🤯 pic.twitter.com/TV0Rc6HCNF
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) October 30, 2024
The growing pains the Wolves are going through were expected. The city’s trade was a fundamental move. Randle and DiVincenzo are a great fit from a personality and mindset perspective. Now it’s about finding the connection that can only happen over time. Their nemesis in the conference finals reminded them of that on Tuesday night.
“Just switch defense and rebound and you’ll be fine,” Edwards said. “I feel like we can beat anyone. When we get back into transition and we recover, and when I recover, we’ll be good.
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(Photo of Kyrie Irving: David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images)
