It was not too long ago that many were wondering what happened to the generationally great defense of the Minnesota Timberwolves. After dominating the league and finishing with the association's top defense a season ago, the Wolves had gone through a period of extended struggle on that side of the ball to begin 2024-25.
Of course, much of that was due to the big roster changes that took place less than a month before the start of Minnesota's season. Less than two weeks ago, Anthony Edwards bluntly stated that his team's defensive identity was that they were "soft," and he emphasized that they had to figure things out.
Since that night, when the Timberwolves fell to the Sacramento Kings on November 27, they have done exactly what Edwards said and completely reversed their trend of being porous defensively. Minnesota has clearly found solutions to getting their defensive identity back, and Friday night's 107-90 win over the Golden State Warriors was further proof.
The win marked their fourth consecutive victory, and capped off a four-game stretch where they gave up an average of just 85.5 points per night. Even more impressive was the fact that the Timberwolves finished off this winning streak by holding four consecutive opponents under 95 points — a feat they had not accomplished since 2012.
Wolves have allowed under 95 in four straight games
This kind of accomplishment is a rare feat to pull off, especially with the high-scoring talent all over the NBA today. It is a testament to what Minnesota's defense can still achieve at a team level despite their significant roster overhaul following last season.
Moving one starter and adding two established players to your rotation would likely result in a lengthy adjustment period for any team in the league. The fact that the Timberwolves have seemingly figured a lot of things out already and been able to lock down on defense like this consistently means the players and coaching staff have truly rallied around Anthony Edwards' words to make things work.
Per Team Rankings, Minnesota ranks first in the NBA over the last three games in defensive efficiency. They are registering a 0.825 efficiency rating at that end of the floor in their last three contests, which is far clear of the second-best team in that category during the same stretch — the New York Knicks with a 0.959 rating.
Everything is working for the Timberwolves on defense right now. The more they can keep this type of performance up, the closer they will be to becoming a Western Conference favorite once again.