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The Minnesota Timberwolves lost a heartbreaker to the Denver Nuggets on Saturday night and dropped their second game of the season. Minnesota had its chances to send the game into overtime after they came up with a stop with less than 10 ticks remaining on the game clock. The Timberwolves got a running start in transition and had two opportunities right at the basket to tie the game. Unfortunately, Malik Beasley was turned away by Will Barton and Anthony Edwards failed to convert on a last ditch chance to tie the game.
This is a disappointing loss considering they held a 14-point lead at one point in the first half and failed to execute down the stretch to force overtime. Nonetheless, their 3-2 start is still very encouraging for a team that has won just 35.8 percent of its games the last three seasons. Through the early goings of the season so far, Minnesota seems to have taken steps in the right direction in their progress to becoming a competitive team in the West. With that, here are three early season overreactions to the Timberwolves' promising start to the 2021-22 season.
Timberwolves Overreactions
1. Anthony Edwards, Karl-Anthony Towns, and D'Angelo Russell are the best young trio in the NBA
Anthony Edwards has so far come into his own in his sophomore season. The dynamic shooting guard has emerged as one of their leaders and is turning into, not just one of the most exciting personalities in the league, but one of the most fun players to watch as well.
Towns, bad game against the Nuggets aside, has been putting up stellar numbers and should continue to do so for the rest of the season. He came into Saturday's game versus Denver with averages of 28.0 points, 7.8 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 2.5 blocks, and 1.3 steals. Meanwhile, Russell has struggled from the field early on, scoring just about as many points (86) as he's had shot attempts (84) this season. Still, for a player his caliber, you'd have to think he'll eventually find his rhythm at some, granted that he continues to stay healthy.
With the firepower that Edwards, Towns, and Russell have on the offensive end, it should only be a matter of time before all three find their groove and wreck havoc across the league.
But… young? D-Lo and KAT? Aren't they 7-year vets already? Yeah, but they're still just 25 years old. And this trio with him, Russell, and Towns will be a major problem in the West.
2. The Timberwolves are one of the top defensive teams in the NBA
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In a game where Towns, Edwards, and Russell scored just 14 points apiece and combined for just 16-of-45 (35.6 percent) from the field, you would think this Timberwolves team lost in a blowout. But as mentioned, they only lost by a basket and even had their chances to send the game into overtime. Despite the sour offensive night of their Big Three, Minnesota still managed to stick around and that speaks volumes to their significant improvement on the defensive end.
In fact, after five games, the Timberwolves have 4th best defensive rating in the NBA, per NBA.com. That's a catastrophic jump from last year, when they finished third to the last. But it's worth asking, how legitimate is this sample size? Looking at their five games, Minnesota played a paltry New Orleans Pelicans team twice (and lost one of them), a young Houston Rockets squad, a Nikola Jokic-powered Nuggets offense, and the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks — and beat them, too.
The wins over Milwaukee and even this 2-point loss to Denver suggests they could hang around with the elite teams due to their defense. They have been playing with more energy and effort on that end of the floor and that has been the main engine for their encouraging start to the season. Minnesota emphasized defense during training camp and it seems like they are walking the talk through the early going of the new campaign.
3. Minnesota will compete in the play-in tournament
Promising start aside, Minnesota will likely have a difficult time establishing itself as playoff lock in the West. There are just too many good teams in the conference and with the loaded number of talented teams there, there might not be enough spots for up-and-coming playoff aspirants like the Timberwolves.
Still, with the way they've been playing to start the year, Minnesota shouldn't be as horrible this season as they have been the last couple of seasons. If their emergence defensively is a real thing and with the offensive talent they have, they should at least be able to compete for a spot in the play-in tournament and get an actual chance of making the postseason.
