What have we learned from the Timberwolves’ NBA-leading 16-4 start?

With each passing day, the Minnesota Timberwolves’ rise in the Western Conference grows more and more eye-opening.

Now a quarter of the way through the NBA season, the Wolves are off to a franchise-best 16-4 start after a 102-94 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night. They are 10-1 at home, 11-2 in the conference and three games clear of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Denver Nuggets, who are tied for second place. They have the fourth-best net rating in the league and are 15-2 in their last 17 games, the best such stretch in franchise history.

Rudy Gobert will tell you he always saw this coming, that even in the darkest of days last season, he always knew that if the Timberwolves stayed committed to learning and growing, it would all come together the way it has this season. However, Kyle Anderson couldn’t say the same.

“No,” Anderson said with a sheepish laugh this week when asked if he was always confident the Wolves would figure things out. “I ain’t gonna lie. I was just trying to stay positive and take it one day at a time. So to see it now, it’s like, OK, I didn’t see this coming. But let’s keep it going.”

Either way, this remarkable start has thrust the Wolves into contender status. It is still too early to take any victory laps for the Gobert trade or to declare the struggles of this franchise’s checkered past to be over, but the sample size is getting larger and more compelling. At the quarter mark, it is a good time to take stock of where the team is and where it could be going.

Three stars

Perhaps the best news of the season to date is that the Timberwolves do have three stars. Anthony Edwards has leaped, Karl-Anthony Towns has bounced back from last season’s injury-plagued season and Gobert has been dominant after a subpar first season in Minnesota.

Edwards: The hype surrounding his fourth season was through the roof, but the 22-year-old has somehow exceeded expectations. He is averaging career highs in scoring (25.7), rebounding (5.9), assists (5.1) and 3-point shooting (37.8 percent) while showing a midrange game that could be a big part of the Timberwolves solving their crunchtime offensive woes of last season.

The Wolves are 22.0 points per 100 possessions better with Edwards on the floor versus when he sits, per Cleaning the Glass. Better news? Edwards missed the fourth quarter against OKC and games against Utah and Charlotte, but the Wolves were able to win all three thanks to their depth and, by luck of the draw, the weakness of the Jazz and Hornets.

Edwards returned against the San Antonio Spurs and was still visibly bothered by his hip. He was 4 of 17 from the field but did have seven rebounds, six assists and managed to find the catapult when he needed it.

WATCH ANT FLY 🐜 pic.twitter.com/1F8win1cSO

— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) December 7, 2023

Edwards said he was tentative early in the game while getting back on the court, but he was able to lock in defensively as the game went on.

“Not a lot of pain. Just scared. Nervous. I didn’t want to do too much,” Edwards said. “That was the main thing.”

He still played 37 minutes, and the Timberwolves outscored the Spurs by 14 points in those minutes. He got a day off on Thursday and will get another chance to work off some of the rust on Friday in Memphis before the schedule gets challenging for the rest of the month.

Gobert: He has been a revelation, never more so than in the Wolves’ uninspired performance against the lowly Spurs. Gobert had 16 points, 20 rebounds, two blocks and was a plus-31 in his 30 minutes, meaning the Wolves were outscored by the Spurs (3-17) by 23 points in the 18 minutes he sat.

“This is the best I’ve ever seen him play,” coach Chris Finch said.

Gobert has blocked at least two shots in eight straight games, the longest such streak for the Wolves since Darko Miličić did it in 2010. Gobert has eight games this season with at least three blocked shots after doing it 11 times all of last season. On top of the elite rim protection, Gobert has shown comfort with guarding out near the perimeter when teams try to spread the Wolves out.

NON. ⛔️ pic.twitter.com/Lhrj1JrqPM

— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) December 7, 2023

Edwards has been terrific. Towns has been outstanding. But Gobert may be the team’s MVP through the first 20 games.

“I think I’m the best Rudy I’ve ever been, and I think there’s still a lot of other ways to grow,” Gobert said. “I’m pushing myself every day to keep learning, keep getting better and stronger. I’m hungry. I want to win. Until you win, you never stop. And even when you win, you want to win again.

“Right now, I’m trying to win a championship, and I’ll do whatever it takes, anything that’s in my power. And make it fun. It’s about having fun too.”

Towns: He started slowly on offense this season, having trouble finding his shot and figuring out exactly where he fit in with Edwards and Gobert. But ever since he scored a season-low seven points on Nov. 6 against Boston, Towns has been on fire. He is averaging 23.9 points, hitting 56.7 percent of his shots and 52.2 percent from deep.

With Edwards out, Towns scored 32 points against Utah and 28 against Charlotte to help deliver needed victories. More importantly, Towns has been a rock-solid defender playing alongside Gobert in the frontcourt. He has been able to stay in front of power forwards, and the Wolves have not had their doors blown off in transition as they did last season.

“He’s more comfortable navigating all the actions he’s finding off the ball,” Finch said. “Containing drives has been a significant improvement, fouling less. We’re way more comfortable understanding the positions to put him in when we go through a game plan.”

He had 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting and 10 rebounds against San Antonio but also turned the ball over six times in his first jagged performance in some time. But the big picture has been exceptional on both ends of the court. When looking at exactly how far the Wolves can go this season, their ceiling lies with Towns. If he continues to play as well defensively as he has and supplements that with efficient shot-making, the Wolves can be a matchup nightmare for most anyone.

Getting defensive

Even with Towns, Edwards and Mike Conley, three excellent offensive players in the starting lineup, defense is what has propelled the Wolves to the top of the standings.

Their 106.0 defensive rating is 2.2 points per 100 possessions better than second-place Boston. They have the fourth-best net rating and have held their opponent under 100 points, 40 percent shooting and 30 percent from 3-point range five times this season. No other team has done it more than three times. The Timberwolves never did it last season.

Gobert is the lynchpin, but Towns and Naz Reid have proven more than capable in the frontcourt as well. In 432 minutes on the court together this season, Towns and Gobert have a 105.5 defensive rating, better than the team’s league-best rating, and a plus-12.3 net rating. The two-big configuration is working incredibly well.

“I would say for us, we know if things get tough, fall back on our defense, and hopefully it will turn into some turnovers, give us a rhythm where it’ll help us make some shots when we get in the half court,” Towns said.

Karl-Anthony Towns defends Victor Wembanyama this week in Minnesota. (Bruce Kluckhohn / USA Today)

It also gives the Wolves confidence that this hot start is not a fluke. They haven’t built this record by making an extraordinary amount of 3s or getting to the free-throw line over and over again. Aside from a game or two, their defense has shown up to deliver wins. Sometimes, like in the second halves against Charlotte and San Antonio, it appears in the nick of time.

“There’s a belief that it’s sustainable,” Finch said. “It’s built on the right things, defense.”

Offense needs work

While the defense has been superb, the Wolves offense has languished below average. They are ranked 19th with a 112.6 rating. Getting Edwards back to full health should help there, but there remains a lot of improvement that needs to happen if the Wolves are truly going to position themselves to make a deep playoff run.

One of their biggest problems has been turnovers. The Wolves are 23rd in the league in turnover percentage, and the carelessness both short circuits their offensive possessions and triggers breakouts for opponents.

“I think a lot of our turnovers are spacing or passing-related, or where the two meet,” Finch said. “Trying to get through or play in tight spaces, there’s a lot of easy passes and kick-out situations where we’re creating turnovers for ourselves. We’ve got to get rid of those.”

Another big issue is that two important bench players are struggling mightily on the offensive end. Shake Milton was signed in the offseason to be the bucket-getter Jaylen Nowell could not be last season, but the confident, aggressive scorer Milton was at his best in Philadelphia has been nowhere to be found in Minnesota.

Milton made 37.8 percent of his 3s last season but is shooting 21 percent this season. He is shooting 35 percent from the field overall and looks to be hesitant to take shots and attack. With the emergence of Troy Brown Jr., Milton’s spot in the rotation could be in jeopardy when Jordan McLaughlin and Jaden McDaniels return.

Anderson also has not looked like the same player on offense that he was a season ago when he hit 41 percent of his 3s and filled in admirably as the starting power forward while Towns was out with his calf injury. Anderson is shooting 16.7 percent from 3 and has resorted to rarely taking them anymore. Some of his shot selection inside the arc has been erratic as well. He is 1 of 10 on hook shots, according to Basketball-Reference.com.

He’s still playing well defensively and has Finch’s trust to close games thanks to his decision-making.

“He’s one of those guys that you just feel better when he’s on the floor and he has the ball in his hands,” Finch said. “We’re not worried about his production, and I’m sure he’s not either. Defensively, he continues to guard whoever we ask him to guard.”

Still, it would be nice to get some more consistent scoring punch off the bench, especially from Milton.

Nifty Naz

One of the bright spots of a largely ragged offensive night against the Spurs was Reid’s offensive activity. He had 15 points and nine rebounds, but it was how he compiled his points that was encouraging.

Reid found himself face-to-face with Victor Wembanyama’s alien form, and he never flinched in going right at the 7-foot-4 rookie.

Naz Reid nasty hesitation + finish, wow pic.twitter.com/KWTAkvF26c

— Timberwolves Clips (@WolvesClips) December 7, 2023

“I’ve said it before: Everybody’s food,” Reid said. “I don’t shy away from them. I’m willing to compete against anybody. That’s just who I am, competing, whether I’m down in the dumps or I’m in a situation like I’m in now. I’m competing regardless.”

Finch has been trying to get Reid involved in more actions to take advantage of his skills. There was a period before the last few games where Reid found himself hanging out on the perimeter and just jacking 3s. But he scored 23 points against Charlotte on Saturday and was in attack mode Wednesday.

BIG JELLY.

GOT 'EM.

🍇🍇🍇 pic.twitter.com/IgOU4lNdGb

— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) December 7, 2023

“He’s back to doing what he was doing at the beginning of the season,” Finch said. “A couple of weeks ago, he kind of fell into just being a spot-up shooter, but we need way more than that. Moving around the floor, coming off actions, diving hard to the rim, getting on the offensive glass.”

Health report

The Wolves have managed to keep winning even while playing short-handed, without Edwards for a couple of games, McDaniels for the last seven because of an ankle injury and McLaughlin for the last 14 games with a knee injury.

McLaughlin has started playing five-on-five in practice and appears set for an imminent return. The Wolves’ thinnest position is point guard behind Conley, so they could use McLaughlin’s leadership and offensive organization.

“I’ve been just waiting for my opportunity, and I think there are parts of the game I can help this team out, for sure,” McLaughlin said. “I think I’ll be able to push our pace, get us some more possessions offensively and get guys in the right spots and stuff like that.”

McDaniels has started practicing as well but has not yet been cleared for five-on-five, meaning his return likely will come sometime next week. As much as the Wolves miss his perimeter defense, they will likely get a big boost from his offense when he returns. McDaniels is a 40 percent 3-point shooter and one of the team’s best off-ball cutters.

It’s a good time to get healthy because the schedule is about to get daunting. After the game Friday at Memphis, the Wolves’ December slate includes road games against New Orleans, Dallas, Miami, Philadelphia, Sacramento and Oklahoma City. They have two home games against the Lakers, one against Indiana and one against Dallas.

Buckle up.

(Top photo of Rudy Gobert, Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns: David Sherman / NBAE via Getty Images)