The Wolves' defense has been back to its old dominant ways lately

Minnesota has led the NBA in defensive efficiency over its last ten games.

Nov 29, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; LA Clippers guard Kevin Porter Jr. (77) shoots as Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert (27) defends during the second quarter of an NBA Cup game at Target Center. / Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

As the Timberwolves (12-11) prepare to face the LeBron-less Lakers (13-11) on Friday night at Target Center, they're feeling a lot better about where they're at than they were two weeks ago.

A couple Fridays ago, the Wolves were 8-10 and had lost seven of their last nine games, including four in a row. Tensions were high and Anthony Edwards was publicly ripping the Wolves' effort and focus. Then they kicked off their best stretch of the season with a win over the Clippers, which was followed by victories over the Lakers, Clippers, and Warriors. Their four-game winning streak came to an end last Sunday against Golden State, but the vibes in Minnesota are still strong.

This surge has been driven by the team re-discovering its defensive identity. The Wolves had been OK but not great on that end early in the season as they adjusted to Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo replacing Karl-Anthony Towns and Kyle Anderson in the rotation. Over the last ten games, they have the best defensive efficiency in the NBA. That's mostly due to the four-game win streak where they held opponents to 92, 80, 80, and 90 points.

The Efficiency Landscape. What Jumps Out? pic.twitter.com/tSuoujyaDu

— Kirk Goldsberry (@kirkgoldsberry) December 13, 2024

The Wolves are up to fifth in the league this season with a 108.2 defensive rating, which is slightly better than their league-best 108.4 defensive rating from last season. Their offense is still a work in progress (17th in offensive rating, 23rd over the last ten games), but they're confident that will come around. As long as they lock in on defense every night, they'll always be competitive.

"I think we are in the right place," defensive anchor Rudy Gobert said on Friday. "We had a good stretch of games where you could feel that we're starting to be who we are. Mindset, collective effort and all."

Gobert, the reigning defensive player of the year, was dominant during the Wolves' impressive stretch. So was Jaden McDaniels, who was a second-team all-defense selection last season but didn't quite look like himself earlier this year.

"I feel like I'm back to myself now," McDaniels said. "One game, I guess I just decided to start playing defense again," he joked.

The goal, starting on Friday against the Lakers, will be to maintain that level of defensive intensity while seeing some growth on the offensive end. The Wolves have winnable games against the Lakers and Spurs this weekend, then will have a few more days off before a marquee matchup against Towns and the Knicks next Thursday.