During their past six quarters of play, the Timberwolves have looked eerily similar to the dysfunctional version of the team that took the floor for the first quarter of the season.
The Lakers and Trail Blazers were two of the five NBA teams to log 25-plus transition points in a single game between Friday and Sunday. and both did so against Minnesota.
The Wolves scored 43, 46 and 49 points over their past three second-half offensive performances — all losses. They averaged more than 18 turnovers per game in that span.
It’s all a product of a lack of connectivity. The transition defense is easy to attribute to having two lumbering 7-footers sharing the court — and that probably is one of the reasons for it, but there’s more to it.
Karl-Anthony Towns looks to be out of shape in his return from a calf strain . Anthony Edwards clearly isn’t himself in the energy department as he recovers from an illness. Their efforts in getting back on defense have left much to be desired.
And that same lack of juice shows itself on the offensive end, where the two aren’t moving enough without the ball to allow the rhythm-based approach to take hold. That has distorted the team’s flow to the point where everything looks hard.
Spacing is cramped. Floor balance is non-existent. It all leads to tight windows that produce contested shots and deflected passes, which in turn creates transition opportunities for the opponent.
“I don’t know if guys just need to get healthy or sleep or whatever, but we need to find a way to dig deep and stop thinking about that and worry about how I can cut harder or I can get open easier, make the passing lane a little easier,” veteran Wolves guard Mike Conley said. “Those things are all huge for us, especially when we’re struggling to score.”
Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said the starting lineup has occasionally found an offensive rhythm, but noted it’s been “very, very patchy.” He added guys have been “in their feelings” while trying to figure it out. For instance, Towns was stagnating the offense upon his return, with a lack of decisiveness while operating from the top of the floor.
When asked to operate more within the offense, he responded by taking just three shots in a foul-plagued 25 minutes of play Sunday.
“We needed him to still stay aggressive,” Finch said. “I thought in his second shift when he went out there, he drew a lot of fouls, but, you know, he wasn’t aggressive throughout the rest of the opportunities.”
Operating within the offense does not mean not shooting. Backup center Naz Reid epitomized what Minnesota looks for offensively with his constant movement and crisp decision-making in recent weeks before he went down with a broken wrist. Reid was getting up 15-plus shot attempts in roughly 20 minutes of action on a nightly basis, and they were all good looks that did not disrupt what everyone else was doing offensively.
His absence along with the re-insertion of Towns and, to some extent, Edwards, has led to a perfect storm of disruption. Minnesota scored 140 points against the Knicks in mid-March on a night where they had 34 assists and seven players score in double figures.
The Wolves achieved similar results in a victory over Sacramento last week. Even that was a game played without Towns, who rested on the second half of a back to back.
But, when at full strength, while the defense has been good, the offense has been choppy, at best. In some ways, Edwards’ 37-point output Sunday was a resurgence. But it’s not ideal for anyone in this offense to take 30 shots in a single game.
Edwards noted he didn’t wake up Sunday looking to put up that many attempts, but that’s what happens when an offense is so out of order.
“Obviously I think we’d rather play like we were playing against the Knicks or games like that. You can just tell the ball was moving, the guys are playing with force,” Conley said. “There’s no hesitation because the lane is what it is, guys are in the right spots, we’re running our plays with force. We need that energy offensively.”
Without it, there is no rhythm. And while players like Edwards can score in a rhythmless offense, others like Taurean Prince — who is 4 for 18 shooting from the field in his past two games — struggle mightily. Jaden McDaniels cannot have the same impact without some semblance of flow, either.
Minnesota is the best version of itself when it generates movement with the ball and bodies. The question is: Can it be that best version when its best players are all on the court?
“What I know is when we move the ball, when we space for each other, we’re a very dangerous team. Very, very dangerous team. And when we don’t, we hurt ourselves,” Rudy Gobert said. “And then obviously we can talk about A and B and C, but that’s not the point. The point is that we have one of the most talented rosters in the whole world. And if we decide to just do what the team needs, we’re gonna win and every one is gonna be able to show what they can do. And we’ve done it, we’ve just gotta do it consistently.”
