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Minnesota Timberwolves Turning the Corner as of Late

By Paul Bellesen

Dec 9, 2016; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Tom Thibodeau reacts to a call in the first half against the Detroit Pistons at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 9, 2016; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Tom Thibodeau reacts to a call in the first half against the Detroit Pistons at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports /
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After last nights win, making the first back to back win streak the young Minnesota Timberwolves have had all season, are they turning a corner? If so, is it too late?

Last night, the Minnesota Timberwolves held out a nice win against a Dwight Howard-less Atlanta Hawks team. This was there first back to back win this season. The Timberwolves have now won 3 of the last 4, although it should be 4 straight.

Any fan can see that the Timberwolves have looked like a different team over the last week. Maybe something is starting to click.

The team defense looks night and day from what we had seen from the first quarter of the season.  The proof is in the pudding.

It may be a small sample size, but the Timberwolves are playing increasingly better in almost all defensive categories.

In comparison from the beginning of the season, to the last four games, the team defensive rating is down from 109.2 to 99.2. In defensive rebounds, the Timberwolves have recorded 35.8 per game in comparsion to 30.5 in the beginning of the season.

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The young Timberwolves were averaging 4.8 blocks per game, which is up to 6.8 per game over the last four. They are reducing their opponent’s second chance points from 14.4 per game to 10 over the last four. That is also the case with fast break points, which they were averaging 14.4 per game in comparison to 8.5 over the last four.

They are also averaging 1.5 points lower in their opponents points in the paint.

All of these stats are important in the scheme of a game. Could Thibodeau’s defensive teachings have started to stick? Let’s hope so.

If you watched the Houston game, that was the best defense that the Timberwolves have played all season, albeit their last 2 minutes in which they game up the win.

Last night all five Timberwolves starters scored in double digits. They also really turned it on in the fourth quarter.

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Hopefully this team can keep this up and continue to play at a high level on both sides of the ball. It was always going to take sometime for Thibodeau to instill his system and people threw out high expectations from the start which was unfair for this young team.

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