In a postgame interview following the Minnesota Timberwolves’ 120-109 win over the Washington Wizards on Nov. 19, center Rudy Gobert talked about his team still growing into its faster style of play.

Gobert said that Minnesota has leaned on its transition offense more this year than last year and noted that the Timberwolves’ pace ultimately correlates to their overall efficiency.

“I mean, that’s the reason why we’re more efficient offensively, but it’s not completely who we are yet,” Gobert said, speaking about playing in transition. “But it’s coming. It’s coming. We can sense when we stop doing it, how much it impacts us. And when we do it, first of all it’s more fun, and it’s harder to guard. So we’re more efficient when we play with pace, it’s just day and night.” 

Through the first month of the 2025-26 NBA season, the Timberwolves are fourth in offensive rating, so Gobert is spot on when he says Minnesota is more efficient offensively. 

The team is just 16th in pace, however, so the team will need to continue to improve upon that element of their offense moving forward, as according to the four-time Defensive Player of the Year, pace leads to more efficient play for Minnesota. 

Luckily for the Timberwolves, they have 67 more games left to solidify their transition game and overall pace. 

Through the first 15 games of the season, the Timberwolves are 10-5 and sit in sixth place in the Western Conference. 

Of Minnesota’s five losses, four of them are against teams that currently sit above them in the conference standings. In fact, those four losses came at the hands of the Los Angeles Lakers and the Denver Nuggets, as the Timberwolves have lost two games apiece to those teams early in the season. The team’s other loss this season came against the New York Knicks. 

“I think we know what we need to do to beat those teams,” Gobert said. “I mean, we lost to Denver twice on back-to-backs, which is not an excuse, but it plays a big part, right? Sometimes you look at [the] schedule and it is the NBA season. Most importantly, I think is to stay the course and to keep getting better throughout the year. And I think we have confidence in every single guy in this locker room to beat anybody in the NBA.”

What the Timberwolves can hang their hats on is the fact that they have won six of their last seven games and eight of their last 10. They have also only lost one game in the month of November. 

Next up are the Phoenix Suns, who Minnesota will tip-off against at 9 p.m. EST on Nov. 21.