There are plenty of comments on social media right now, and for the unanimous consensus, you could be led to believe that the Minnesota Timberwolves are a horrible team. But that isn’t the case, just as 14 games into an 82-game NBA season does not tell the full story about how well that team will turn out at the end of the season.
Yes, the Minnesota Timberwolves are only 6-8 right now. But just one season ago, the Timberwolves were only 5-9 after 14 games, and would not reach .500 until they defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 121-120 in overtime in their 20th game.
Shortly thereafter, the Timberwolves would fall back to 11-15 and to 16-20 before rallying to play incredibly competitive basketball in the second half of the 2021-22 NBA season. And last year’s roster was not nearly as ambitious.
So how is the experiment of lining up two NBA All-Star bigs in the same starting five working out? Well, the Minnesota Timberwolves have their first ray of sunshine, a promise of better things to come:
First game that KAT and Rudy have had a double-double in the same game.
— Jon Krawczynski (@JonKrawczynski) November 14, 2022
Even as the Timberwolves continue to struggle in some areas, the first solid performance of both power forward/center Karl-Anthony Towns and center Rudy Gobert should not be glossed over. Both bigs hauled in 13 rebounds apiece, while Towns put up 29 points and Gobert put up 15 points.
Best of all, point guard D’Angelo Russell put up his season best with 30 points, 12 assists, and shooting 80 percent from the perimeter. D’Lo and KAT combined for 7 of 11 from three-point range, ensuring the Timberwolves would have great long-range accuracy in a game that the team needed to win.
For the first time this season, the two bigs and point guard performed almost exactly as designed. That proved to be too much for the Cleveland Cavaliers, a team that until that game had been undefeated on their home basketball court. But moreso than winning, the Timberwolves’ method of winning showed flashes of just how good this team has the potential to realize.
For a very frustrated fanbase, it could not have happened at a more opportune time.