The Minnesota Timberwolves hosted the Utah Jazz Friday night, welcoming back a few familiar faces. Former Timberwolves Jarred Vanderbilt, Malik Beasley, and Leandro Bolmaro all played their first game back at Target Center since being traded to the Jazz in July.
Coming into the season, Utah was expected to be a Western Conference bottom feeder. After two games and a gritty overtime victory over Minnesota, it may be time to rethink those expectations.
Similar to the opening night win against the Thunder, the Timberwolves outplayed Utah for the majority of the first half, but came out flat in the third quarter. The Jazz outscored Minnesota by 10 in the third frame.
After D’Angelo Russell made a clutch fourth quarter jumper to tie the game at 120 with four seconds remaining, Utah doubled up the Timberwolves in the overtime period to take the victory, 132-126. In all, this loss revealed one of the Timberwolves’ most glaring flaws: their defense.
Jazz loss revealed Timberwolves’ lackluster defense
When Rudy Gobert was brought in to the Timberwolves organization in the summer, one of the first questions pundits and fans alike had was about his fit with the current roster.
When he played with the Utah Jazz, Gobert was obviously a defensive stalwart. However, with less than adequate defensive pieces around him, the team burned out in the playoffs earlier than expected in several postseasons.
Many wondered if the same problem would exist for the Timberwolves. While Minnesota’s defensive personnel is far from awful, it’s clear they have some figuring to do and some adjustments to make before they’ll reach their potential on that end.
One of the biggest defensive improvements the Timberwolves must make is to their perimeter defense. For the game, Minnesota gave up 20 threes and allowed the Jazz to shoot 40% from outside.
Rudy Gobert: "I was joking around with the guys saying we're the best, worst defensive team I've ever seen."
— Jace frederick (@JaceFrederick) October 22, 2022
He noted Minnesota has a number of good on-ball defenders, but just has to find a way to maintain focus for 48 minutes..
Better perimeter defense will be key going forward
Those kind of numbers simply won’t lead to wins in a league dominated by great three-point shooters. According to NBA Advanced Stats, the Timberwolves gave up 33 “wide open” shots against the Jazz — defined as a shot attempt where the closest defender is greater than six feet away.
This came after Minnesota allowed 47 wide open shot attempts to the Thunder two nights earlier. Both numbers were the highest of any NBA team playing that night.
The good news is that the Timberwolves should have the means to fix this glaring problem. In implementing better defensive schemes, Chris Finch should be able to get more out of his players and allow his group’s defensive talent to shine.
It also seems that the team is well aware they have some growing to do on that end of the floor. Rudy Gobert joked in the postgame presser that the Timberwolves are “the best, worst defensive team” he had ever seen. They have the personnel to be successful, but they’ll need to figure out some new strategies. Fortunately, they have a lot of time to figure things out.