Minnesota Timberwolves swingman Robert Covington is still the team's best wing defender and often gets the task of slowing down the opposing team's best player on a nightly basis.

The Timberwolves were in Ohio taking on Cleveland Cavaliers at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Saturday and were getting torched by the Cavs' recently acquired point guard Dante Exum for the better part of the match. With the game hanging on the balance in the final frame, the 24-year-old Australian was scoring at will against Minny's defenders, brushing off the challenge from Andrew Wiggins, Josh Okogie and rookie Jarrett Culver.

According to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic, Robert Covington personally asked head coach Ryan Saunders to allow him to slow down the red-hot Exum. But Saunders kept his faith on the 20-year-old Texas Tech product and let him shadow Exum the rest of the way.

Culver honored his coach's trust and did not let the team down, holding Exum scoreless the rest of the way.

Exum finished with a career-high 28 points on 11-of-13 field goals and an immaculate 4-of-4 from downtown in just 24 minutes. But it was all for naught, as the Timberwolves came away with an 118-103 road win, thanks in large part to Culver's defensive exploits down the stretch.
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The sixth overall pick of this year's draft also contributed 14 points, three rebounds and three assists in 28 minutes, helping the Timberwolves claim their second straight win and improving their record to 14-21.
Jarett Culver's name doesn't stack up to fellow freshmen like Ja Morant and Kendrick Nunn in the rookie race, but he is slowly becoming an integral part of the Timberwolves' rotation. He has scored in double figures in four of Minnesota's last five games, notching respectable averages of 8.3 points, 3.4 boards, and 2.0 assists this season.