NBA Power Rankings: Are the Timberwolves the Real Deal?

Minnesota is riding a three-game win streak behind a prolific Anthony Edwards.

 O.K., let’s not get too ahead of ourselves.

But … could the Timberwolves be good?

That’s the question I was asking myself after watching Minnesota outlast Boston in a thriller Monday, a game where Anthony Edwards outplayed Jayson Tatum down the stretch. After losing two of their first three games, the T-Wolves have won three straight, including over the Celtics and Nuggets.

So what gives?

Not the defense, that’s for sure. The Timberwolves, 10th in efficiency last season, lead the league in this one, with a defensive rating (100.7) nearly three points better than the second-place Knicks, per NBA.com. The Rudy Gobert–anchored D is allowing 43 points in the paint (third) and is second in the NBA in defensive rebounds (37.7 per game).

“He’s back to the Rudy that we had to face for many years,” said Timberwolves coach Chris Finch. “Which is a real problem.”

It’s not just Gobert, either. Edwards is having a stellar two-way season (he leads the league in defensive win shares) while Jaden McDaniels continues to be one of the NBA’s best wing defenders. He is shooting 50% from three, too.

Minnesota was rightly crucified for the results of the Gobert trade last season, but the start of this season shows the jury may still be out on it.

Watch the NBA with Fubo. Start your free trial today.

Edwards is on his way to a banner season in his fourth campaign with Minnesota :: Matt Blewett/USA TODAY Sports

On to Sports Illustrated’s NBA power rankings.

1. Boston Celtics

It was a pretty good week for Tatum, who passed 10,000 career points—the youngest Celtic to do it—and collected Eastern Conference Player of the Week. Boston absorbed its first loss in a thriller in Minnesota, but the Celtics’ point differential (+14.5) remains the NBA’s best.

2. Denver Nuggets

Twenty-one points in 19 minutes for Julian Strawther on Monday. Denver’s scouting staff strikes again.

3. Dallas Mavericks

An early candidate for Sixth Man? How about Tim Hardaway Jr., who is averaging 18.1 points off the bench? The Mavs’ Luka Dončić–led offense continues to chug along, but it’s a respectable defense (17th in efficiency) that’s perhaps most surprising.

4. Golden State Warriors

Sixty-two assists against just six turnovers for Chris Paul. This sixth-man role suits him.

5. Minnesota Timberwolves

What’s amazing about Minnesota’s start is that Karl-Anthony Towns has had little to do with it. He is averaging career lows in scoring, field goal percentage and three-point percentage. Towns was 1-of-7 from three-point range with seven turnovers against Boston. Think about how good Minnesota’s 21st-ranked offense could be if Towns gets going.

6. Philadelphia 76ers

Tobias Harris’s numbers: 19 points on 63.2% shooting, including 40% from three. Contract year!

Harris has helped the 76ers to a 5-1 record :: Bill Streicher/USA TODAY Sports

7. Milwaukee Bucks

Damian Lillard’s scoring (22.7 points), field goal percentage (40%) and three-point percentage (32.6%) are way off from last season. Bucks coach Adrian Griffin has urged Lillard to be more aggressive in looking for his shot. Said Griffin, “We just need him to be Dame.”

8. Oklahoma City Thunder

The Thunder’s defense looked sloppy in back-to-back losses to the Pelicans and Warriors. That could lead to more minutes for rookie Cason Wallace, who hounded Trae Young and Dejounte Murray in a win over Atlanta on Monday.

9. Atlanta Hawks

Jalen Johnson is averaging 14.3 points on 57.5% shooting while playing credible defense against top forwards. After trading John Collins, Atlanta may have found its power forward in the 21-year-old Johnson.

10. Phoenix Suns

Can we please just get the Suns’ Big Three on the floor together?

11. New Orleans Pelicans

Just as Brandon Ingram (knee) returned to the Pels’ lineup, C.J. McCollum (lung) went out. Meanwhile, Willie Green questioned the team’s defensive mindset after a double-digit loss to Atlanta. New Orleans has a brutal schedule for the next two weeks, beginning Wednesday in Minnesota, so that defense will need to tighten up.

12. Los Angeles Clippers

Will Russell Westbrook become the next star turned sub? With the versatile Terance Mann inching toward a return, the Clippers will have to decide whether he is a better fit in the starting lineup than Westbrook.

13. Indiana Pacers

Tyrese Haliburton is generating 56 points per game this season (averaging 24 points and 11.7 assists) and his assist percentage (50%) is nearly 10 points higher than the next best. Behind Haliburton, Indiana’s offense is cooking.

14. Cleveland Cavaliers

A win over Golden State offered a glimpse of what the Cavs’ starting lineup can do at full strength. Getting Max Strus (29.5% from three) back to his Miami shooting levels will help more.

15. New York Knicks

Is RJ Barrett ready to be the Knicks’ No. 2 option? He is off to a hot start, with career bests in scoring (22 points), field goal percentage (47.5%) and three-point percentage (44%). His production will take a lot of pressure (and attention) off Julius Randle.

Barrett is a bright spot amid Randle’s slow start (15.6 points on 29.9% shooting) :: Brett Davis/USA TODAY Sports

16. Houston Rockets

Dillon Brooks is shooting 59.3% from the floor and 56.5% from three. Dillon Brooks. He’s also the leader of a once-woeful Rockets defense that has been middle of the pack this season. Oh, and he’s still, you know, Dillon Brooks. Asked about facing LeBron James on Wednesday—the first time the two will meet since the Lakers eliminated Memphis in the first round last season, a loss Brooks was scapegoated for—Brooks told reporters, “ready to lock him up.”

17. Miami Heat

Tyler Herro, stat-sheet stuffer, has totaled 177 points, 39 rebounds, 35 assists and 10 steals. He has also connected on 25 three-pointers this season. Miami may have found something with Haywood Highsmith in the starting lineup. He is shooting 50% from the floor and 37.5% from three over the last two games, both wins.

18. Orlando Magic

A top-three defense in Orlando? The Magic rank third in the NBA in points allowed (105.4, down nearly 10 from last season) and are 2–0 when holding opponents under 100.

19. Los Angeles Lakers

Yes, the Lakers need to get healthy. But they also need more from D’Angelo Russell, who, after shooting 41.4% from three in 17 games with L.A. last season, is connecting on 27.9% of his threes in the first seven games of this one.

20. Brooklyn Nets

Cam Thomas is fascinating. He dropped 45 points on Milwaukee this week and is second in the NBA in 30-plus-point games, trailing only Tatum. He’s a high-efficiency pick-and-roll ballhandler, relentless in attacking the paint and the only player ranked in the top 10 in usage rate and turnover ratio. And he just turned 22.

21. Toronto Raptors

Scottie Barnes is looking more and more like a franchise player. He scored 17 of his 30 points against San Antonio in the fourth quarter Sunday and is above 50% from the floor (51.3%) and 40% from three (42.1%) for the first time in his career. Now, if only the rest of Toronto’s 27th-ranked offense could help him.

22. Sacramento Kings

With De’Aaron Fox out, the once-vaunted Kings offense is struggling. Sacramento was held to under 100 points in back-to-back losses to Houston (yikes), and, without last season’s top clutch performer, the Kings rank in the bottom third of the league in fourth-quarter scoring.

23. Chicago Bulls

Just blow it up already.

24. San Antonio Spurs

The Spurs’ defense surrendered 275 points in back-to-back losses to Toronto and Indiana last week. No amount of Victor Wembanyama brilliance will save them from that.

Wembanyama is averaging 19.4 points and 8.4 rebounds in his first season with the Spurs :: Trevor Ruszkowski/USA TODAY Sports

25. Portland Trail Blazers

It’s weird that Deandre Ayton is attempting four fewer shots per game this season. But he is getting it done on the glass, leading the NBA in rebounds per game (13.3) and ranking second in total rebounds.

26. Charlotte Hornets

LaMelo Ball broke out of a season-long slump against Dallas, with a 30-point, 10-rebound, 13-assist triple double. Charlotte’s offense has been decent this season. Its 26th-ranked defense—which has allowed opponents to shoot 39% from three—has not.

27. Detroit Pistons

The Pistons foul a lot. They turn the ball over a lot, too. And Monty Williams is already on his young team about riding the referees. Not a great start in Detroit.

28. Utah Jazz

Last season’s fast start is a distant memory. Lauri Markkanen is having another All-Star-level season, but the Jazz’s defense has been awful and Will Hardy can’t find a backcourt that works. Have to wonder if Danny Ainge & Co. will start looking to offload veterans (again) soon.

29. Memphis Grizzlies

Bismack Biyombo to the rescue! Maybe not, but the signed-off-the-street center had 11 rebounds and was a plus-18 against Portland in his debut. If he can give the Grizzlies 20 to 25 minutes per game at center—allowing Jaren Jackson Jr. to move to power forward—that would be a big plus for Memphis.

30. Washington Wizards

The NBA’s 30th-ranked defense. And often it looks like the Wiz aren’t even trying.