The Minnesota Timberwolves are sitting at 13-8, riding a three-game win streak, but don't let the record fool you - there are some cracks showing beneath the surface. Tuesday night’s 149-142 overtime win over the New Orleans Pelicans was the latest example. Yes, Anthony Edwards dropped a monster 44 points and played every second of the second half, but Minnesota also gave up a staggering 128.2 defensive rating - and that was against a Pelicans team dealing with injuries.
That’s been the story early in the season: a defense that just hasn’t looked like itself. For a team that’s built its identity around defensive toughness since the Rudy Gobert trade, slipping to 12th in defensive rating (per Cleaning the Glass, which filters out garbage time) is more than just a statistical hiccup - it’s a red flag. If that number holds, it would mark the first time in the Gobert era that the Wolves finish outside the top 10 defensively.
So the big question is: is this just a slow start, or are we seeing a deeper issue with this team’s defensive foundation?
A Defense That Can’t Decide What It Wants to Be
The Timberwolves’ defense has been all over the place - and not in a good way. Through the first five games of the season, they ranked 28th in defensive rating.
Then, in the next 10 games, they flipped the script and surged to fourth. Over the last six?
Back down to 14th. That kind of volatility isn’t just confusing - it’s dangerous for a team that has playoff aspirations.
The offense has largely held up its end of the bargain, currently ranking fifth in offensive rating. But without consistent defense to match, the Wolves’ two-way balance - the very thing that made them so dangerous last season - starts to fall apart.
Even more puzzling is how their defense performs in crunch time. In clutch situations, they rank third in defensive rating, but just 17th on offense. That suggests this team can lock in when it matters most - so why can’t they do it consistently over four quarters?
The Rudy Effect - and the Problem Without Him
Let’s be clear: Rudy Gobert is still doing his job. With him on the floor, the Wolves’ defense grades out as the second-best in the league.
Without him? Dead last.
That’s not an exaggeration - Gobert’s on-off defensive rating swing is a jaw-dropping -20.9, the highest in the NBA.
This isn’t a new issue, either. Last season, Minnesota finished sixth in defensive rating.
The year before that? First.
But the drop-off when Gobert sits has always been steep. The difference this year is that it’s become even more pronounced.
There is, however, a potential fix hiding in plain sight. In the limited minutes where Jaylen Clark and Jaden McDaniels have shared the floor without Gobert, the Wolves have posted a 115.5 defensive rating - good enough to rank 14th league-wide.
The problem? That lineup has seen just 74 possessions out of 626 non-Rudy minutes.
That’s a small sample, but it’s a promising one.
The takeaway? If Minnesota wants to survive Gobert’s bench minutes, they need to lean harder into the Clark-McDaniels pairing.
It’s not an easy puzzle to solve, especially when you’re also trying to bring along young guards like Terrence Shannon Jr. and Rob Dillingham. Both are promising offensively, but neither is known for their defense - which makes them better fits alongside Gobert, not in place of him.
Meanwhile, Clark and McDaniels - arguably the team’s second and third best defenders - are the ones who should be anchoring the defense when Rudy is off the floor.
What’s Really Going Wrong?
The Wolves’ biggest defensive issues aren’t about effort - they’re about execution, especially off the ball. Too often, they’re getting burned on switches, losing track of cutters, and failing to communicate in real time. That’s the kind of stuff that doesn’t always show up in the box score, but it kills possessions - and games - in the long run.
You can see it in the tape from the Pelicans game. Even in a win, there were multiple breakdowns in off-ball coverage.
These aren’t just isolated lapses - they’re recurring themes. And while Gobert can erase a lot of mistakes when he’s on the floor, those same issues become glaring when he’s not there to clean things up.
On-ball, the Wolves are actually holding their own. That explains why they’ve been so strong in clutch time - when the game slows down and individual matchups matter more.
But over the course of 48 minutes, it’s the off-ball discipline that separates good defenses from great ones. Right now, the Wolves are falling short in that department.
The Bottom Line
This team has the talent to be elite on both ends. The offensive firepower is there.
The defensive personnel is there - especially when Gobert, McDaniels, and Clark are all in the mix. But the inconsistency on defense is a real concern, and it’s the biggest thing holding them back from being true contenders.
The good news? These are fixable problems.
The Wolves have a recent track record of top-tier defense, and the tools to get back there. But if they want to be taken seriously in the West, they’ll need to clean up the defensive miscues, especially when Rudy isn’t on the floor.
Because in the playoffs, you can’t rely on flipping a switch in the clutch. You’ve got to be locked in for all 48.