The Minnesota Timberwolves are playing their best collective basketball of the season in December, but Naz Reid sees a clear area where the team can improve mightily.
The Minnesota Timberwolves kept the ball rolling on Sunday, earning their seventh win in eight games with a 117-103 result over the Sacramento Kings. Perhaps the most impressive part was that the Timberwolves’ triumph was their second consecutive win without Anthony Edwards in the lineup, as he has been sidelined with a foot injury.
The shortages didn’t stop with Edwards in Sunday’s game, either. Defensive stalwart and starting center Rudy Gobert left the game in the third quarter for personal reasons, which were later revealed to be the birth of his child. Gobert was also an early exit in Friday’s win over Golden State without Edwards after he was ejected for a flagrant two foul in the third quarter.
In Edwards and Gobert’s absence, Julius Randle predictably led the Timberwolves with 24 points and 10 rebounds while shooting 9-of-21 from the field. The Timberwolves also got a significant boost from forward Naz Reid off the bench, as Reid scored 20 points on an efficient 7-of-12 shooting (4-of-7 from 3-point range) in addition to grabbing 11 rebounds.
Second Half Team
Following the game, Reid credited the team’s ability to create distance in the second half consistently, despite sometimes not being the best first-half team. Still, Reid knows the Timberwolves have to show the same sense of urgency for a whole 48 minutes if they want to make another deep run in the playoffs.
“Obviously, you want to have that mentality from the rip,” he said. “Not that we don't, but I think a lot of the time, we kind of understand the sense of urgency in the second half.”
‘We kind of had that at the beginning of the game, but I think we just kind of figure it out as the game goes on. Then, once the second half comes, we kind of all the way turn it on, which is not normal. But we've been getting the wins. Like I said, that's just something you want to do in the first half.”
According to Reid, the main difference that allows the Timberwolves to lock in consistently in the second half is the collective sense of urgency the team feels defensively.
“Getting stops is the difference,” Reid said. “We kind of got challenged previously on just getting stops, trying to get stops in the first half. I think we've done that for the most part, but I think the second half is kind of where we keyed in. Obviously, when you're against a little bit of time, the urgency kind of kicks in."