Today's Timberwolves are a bit of a slap in the face, they have defeated the Heat, which is currently the first in the East, although this Heat is missing the boss Jimmy Butler, but Lowry and Adebayo are good players in the team, and they still lost to the Timberwolves, who are all soldiers. It can be said that the Timberwolves are now more and more like a team, this game they did not play particularly well, the highest score is only 16 points, but a total of 8 people scored in double figures.
After winning the Heat, the Timberwolves have won 8-7 in the last 8 games, bringing their record to 39-30, only 1.5 wins away from the Nuggets, who are sixth in the West, and if there is no play-off rule, the Timberwolves are 8.5 wins higher than the ninth Lakers in the West, and have long been firmly seated in the playoffs. Who would have thought the Timberwolves would be on the west's top teams at the start of the season? Their roster hasn't changed much in the past two seasons, but their winning percentage has improved from 31.9% to 56.5%, the second highest in the last 17 seasons, and the last time was because of jimmy Butler at the peak level.
The Timberwolves were once the most talented team in the NBA, with Wiggins and Towns two draft picks, followed by Dunn and Lavin, and a number of high-ranking rookies, but none of them could play the price. In the end, the Timberwolves had to trade these "talents" in exchange for real instant combat power, but unfortunately, it was only the eighth sentinel in the West that made a playoff, until last season, they ushered in another Edwards. It was the most correct choice they had made in the draft besides Towns. It took Edwards just over a year to get the team to win, and the Timberwolves won six straight when they won with the Thunder last week, their first six-game winning streak since 2004, when Edwards was just 3 years old.
Although Edwards lost three goals in the best rookie selection last year, he is no worse than Ball now. Averaging 21.2 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists this season, the only fly in the ointment is that the shooting percentage is a little worse than the top scorers, but Edwards has shown his potential to dominate the field and superstar mentality. It's something Wiggins lacks, he's having a hard time standing up and taking responsibility when it's time to score, and every game isn't a tepid 18 points. Edwards, on the other hand, made him a great contender.
The Timberwolves are now a troika in tandem, and although Downs on the inside has slipped slightly, his playing style is getting tougher and tougher, and the three-pointer has not been pulled down, Edwards has better finishing ability than Wiggins, and Russell on the guard line can also provide a good organization. Coupled with the bench with beasley, McDaniels, Beverly and other quality rotations, it should not be surprising that the Timberwolves can play the seventh level in the West, in fact, they are not much worse than the jazz in the fourth place in the West, and the Jazz have only won 3 more games.
Unfortunately, now that there are playoffs, everything is left in suspense, Wolves have won 12 more games than the Pelicans, but they still have a great risk of being overturned by the Pelicans and Lakers in the playoffs, so it is crucial to improve to the top six in the West. At present, the nuggets and Timberwolves have little difference in the difficulty of the subsequent schedule, and the direct confrontation between the two teams on April 2 is crucial.