Over the last few years, the Minnesota Timberwolves has consistently been struggling to perform at even an acceptable level. But with players like Anthony Edwards, Karl-Anthony Towns, and D’Angelo Russell, the franchise is hoping to turn things around. And so far in the 2021-22 NBA season there has been some improvement at least.
Currently, the Timberwolves have a record of 9-9 and hold the eighth seed in the Western Conference. If they continue playing at this level, this might be the year they make it to the playoffs.
In fact, the Timberwolves are playing so well that one of their starting 5 lineups rank at the top of the pile in both the offensive and defensive ratings for the season. As posted on Instagram by “Basketball Forever” these numbers are only applicable for the 5-man lineups that have at least played 90 minutes together.
While this is without a doubt a good thing for the team, even the Timberwolves fans are quite surprised upon seeing their team perform so well. Here are some of the best reactions to the Instagram post by NBA, mostly Timberwolves fans:
frainick: “As a die hard wolves fan (yep, we exist) I’m both ecstatic and in disbelief.”
willturnquist: “The reason why this is different is to start the season the wolves played the lineup of Dlo, Edwards, Mcdaniels, Vanderbilt and KAT and we went on that horrible losing streak and then we switched out Mcdaniels for Beverly moving dlo to the 2 and ANT to the 3. Since then we’ve gone on a five game winning streak against mostly easy teams but we did beat all of them by more than ten points and only the heat got above 100 which they got to 101 and we beat Memphis by 43.”
nyke.ness: “They gonna be a problem if they can keep all of them together.”
ham_thorn: “Why they not winning then.”
frankie_the_creator: “If you were to tell me 3 years ago the KAT, Deangelo Russel, a number #1 pick and Patrick Beverly would be the best lineup, I would actually believe you.”
bostonjdfielding_: “They’re 9-9 and they’re the best on both ends… find that very hard to believe!”
thejasonpmills: “And this is why analytics mean nothing… .”
tmg.cp: “Props to @patbev21 for being a big reason in this happening .”
cam.terrell: “Some ain’t right they the 8th seed.”
rrrich.21: “Dlo’s legs still loading…”
tw_clam: “This team is a playoff team this year if they can live up to their potential.”
lucas_020602: “This doesn’t surprise me. It’s a lineup built with the perfect ratio of defensive to offensive talent.”
Although fans were impressed with the stats, they are still many who are wondering why are the Timberwolves still not at a higher seed. Well, the form they are in currently, it will not be a surprise, if they surpass expectations.
But as usual, the biggest enemy of the franchise is staying consistent. They need to make sure they do not slip up as the season progresses and end it on a strong note.
