On Saturday, rookie Joan Beringer played more than seven minutes of the fourth quarter for the Minnesota Timberwolves. It likely would have been even more had the 19-year-old not picked up his fifth foul 8 seconds into the final stanza.
It wasn’t garbage time minutes either. Minnesota entered the fourth against the San Antonio Spurs down 12, in a game they ultimately lost by three (were down 25 at halftime). Beringer seeing any court action with the game still in question would have seemed unfathomable even just a week ago.
Joan Beringer played in clutch time on Saturday
Now, it does need to be mentioned that Saturday was a rare instance where the Timberwolves’ frontcourt was undermanned. Rudy Gobert missed his first game due to injury with a bruised left hip (also missed last Tuesday due to a one-game suspension). Naz Reid, who hasn’t missed a game all season, left about 5 minutes into the game with left shoulder soreness.
Still, due to Beringer’s recent play, Chris Finch had less hesitation of having him out there in crunch time. The rookie big man finished the night with 10 points, eight rebounds (five offensive), three assists, and two blocks. The team was a +9 in his 23 minutes of game time.
That would have been the breakout game for the 17th overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, except that breakout game came four nights before that. In nearly 30 minutes against the Milwaukee Bucks, Beringer was a +30 while ending up with 13 points, five rebounds, and two assists.
Joan Beringer consecutive offensive rebounds + putback layup pic.twitter.com/rpMVz3SWT9
— Timberwolves Clips (@WolvesClips) January 18, 2026
Before that Milwaukee game, Beringer had appeared in just 14 games for the Timberwolves for a grand total of 62 minutes. Including the 6:33 that he played against the Houston Rockets on Friday, the Frenchman has nearly doubled his minutes on the season just over the last three outings.
Keep him with the NBA squad
Seeing Beringer’s performances of late has many fans wondering what took so long for Chris Finch to give him a chance. The team defense falls off a cliff when Gobert isn’t on the floor, and Beringer has always looked to be further along at that end.
After the Milwaukee game, Finch stated that Beringer isn’t likely done with going to Iowa, to play for the Iowa Wolves of the G League. He was sent down there in December and appeared in seven games. One would think that he should be having second thoughts on that, and instead keep Beringer with the NBA club for the rest of the season.
Nevertheless, for the 19-year-old rookie (who started playing basketball in 2021) to be this good this fast is impressive and a bit surprising.