Timberwolves' defensive excellence gets rewarded in recent ranking

The Minnesota Timberwolves had one of the better defenses in the league last season. They finished sixth in the regular season in defensive rating and fourth among the 16 playoff teams in the postseason.

On Friday, the NBA revealed their top 50 defensive plays from the 2024-25 season. Both Jaden McDaniels and Mike Conley had plays from the Western Conference playoffs that found their way into the top 10.

McDaniels' block considered the eighth-best defensive play in 2024-25

The top two plays on the list were both end-of-game Mikal Bridges steals for the Knicks in their second round matchup against the Celtics. Both of those plays put the final touches on huge come-from-behind wins for New York.

McDaniels’ defensive play came in at eighth. It took place in the third quarter of their Game 4 matchup against the Thunder in the Western Conference Finals.

It started with Anthony Edwards getting stripped. Alex Caruso dove to tap the loose ball to Cason Wallace in the frontcourt which led to a two-on-one fast break for the Thunder. Many defenders would have conceded a lay-up to the opposing team and moved on to the next possession. Not McDaniels though.

Wallace dished it to Jalen Williams who drove down the floor towards the bucket. McDaniels went to block his shot, but instead, Williams went behind-the-back to Wallace. Somehow, McDaniels was able to recover in time and cleanly block Wallace’s shot milliseconds before it was going to touch the backboard. McDaniels was then able to hustle to secure the rebound before the ball went out of bounds, completing what was an incredible defensive play.

While the Timberwolves ended up losing the game by two, and ultimately lost the series, it was a play that will forever be a part of McDaniels' highlight reel.

Mike Conley rejects an all-time great

Last season was Conley's 17th in the league, and he had the fifth-best defensive play in 2024-25 according to the NBA. It came against one of the few players with more league experience than him in LeBron James.

The Timberwolves squared up with the Lakers in the opening round of the 2025 playoffs. In Game 4, less than midway through the third quarter, James was posting up Conley down low, and Austin Reaves lobbed it from around half-court into James' hands. It was a huge mismatch as James is listed as nine inches taller and 75 lbs. heavier than Conley.

What happened next was completely unexpected. James went up for the two-handed layup, but Conley went up with him and blocked the shot out of bounds. At the time of Coney's rejection, LA was up 72-61. The Wolves outscored the Lakers 55-41 the rest of the game to pull out a three-point win. Minnesota ended the series with a Game 5 victory.