Mitchell HansenWeb Editorial AssociateTwitter
As the new year began earlier this month, the Minnesota Timberwolves ran into some struggles.
The young Wolves team kicked off the 2017 year losing four straight and towing the line of being in the bottom two spots in the Western Conference standings.
But recently, Minnesota has flipped a switch and has become one of the hottest teams in basketball in the last two weeks. And their run as of late as has helped push them back into the playoff picture.
The Wolves enter Tuesday winners of five of their last seven games, including wins against playoff-caliber teams such as the Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder and Los Angeles Clippers. Minnesota rides into Arizona on Tuesday hoping to extend their winning streak to three games, which would be the second time this season that has occurred.
But before we look ahead to the games this week, let's dive into some reasons why the Wolves have found recent success as of late.
I think this one is pretty obvious. Towns has been outstanding all season, really. But in the last seven games, he's been on another level than everyone else.
Towns is averaging 22.5 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and 1.5 blocks this season. In the last seven games, he is averaging 28.6 points, 13.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 2.1 blocks and one steal per game.
Oh, and this dude is only in his second year and is just 21 years old. Just a friendly reminder.
And in many of those games, including the wins over the Clippers last Thursday and the Nuggets on Sunday, Towns has played some of his best basketball late in the game to give Minnesota the late push in close games.
We'll see if his efforts this season, especially in the last few weeks, help earn him a spot in the All-Star Game when the reserves are announced on Thursday.
Another reason for the recent success of the Wolves have been the production from their point guards.
It hasn't been just one guard in particular, but rather all three of Minnesota's point guards on their roster have stepped up when their numbers have been called.
Rubio has averaged 11 points, 12.3 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 2.3 steals while playing in six of the past seven games. He is averaging 7.7 points, 7.9 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game this season.
Kris Dunn and Tyus Jones have found themselves primarily coming off the bench, but have also played key roles in late-game situations recently.
In the last seven games, Dunn has averaged four points, 2.7 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.3 steals per game, highlighted by his near triple-double of 10 points, nine assists and eight rebounds in Sunday's win.
Jones has appeared in four of the last seven games, averaging five points and two assists. He finished with nine points and four assists on Sunday.
Dunn is averaging four points, 2.5 assists, 2.3 rebounds and one steal in 17 minutes per game this season. Jones is averaging 3.4 points, 2.1 assists and 1.1 rebounds in 10.8 minutes.
Minnesota's defense has also shown improvements in the last month, but more noticeably in the last few weeks.
According to NBA.com, from the start of the season leading up to Jan. 1, the Wolves ranked 26th in the NBA in defensive rating (107.9) and held a record of 11-22.
Since the first of the year, Minnesota ranks 10th in the NBA in defensive rating (105.1) and has resulted in them going 5-6 to get to 16-28 overall.
This season, one consistent thing throughout the season has been Minnesota's offensive production. The Wolves have been in the top half of the NBA in offensive rating this season, ranking 13th (105.8).
When you have three guys that are floating around 20 points per game, while also having other players on the team capable of heating up at any moment from multiple areas on the floor, that will happen.
One thing Wolves coach Tom Thibodeau has preached this season is ball movement. This season, Minnesota is 10th in the league in assists with 22.9 per game. But during their last seven games resulting in a 5-2 record, the Wolves have averaged 26 assists a game, which ranks third in the NBA during that span behind the Denver Nuggets (30.3) and Golden State Warriors (32.7).
During the past seven games, the Wolves have found themselves winners in four straight home games at Target Center.
This season, Minnesota is 10-13 in front of their hometown crowd, while going 6-15 on the road.
The Wolves are better in almost every category at home, which is to kind of be expected. Minnesota scores 104.7 points per game at home, while tallying 101.8 on the road. The Wolves are shooting 2.2 percent better from the field and 3.9 percent better from three at home, while carrying an overall +/- of +2.4 in Minneapolis compared to -4.9 on the road.
The good news? Nine of the next 12 games for the Wolves will be played at Target Center, starting with Thursday's game against the Indiana Pacers.
The Wolves look to continue to build off of that success at 8 p.m. Tuesday against the Phoenix Suns in Arizona. The game will be aired on Fox Sports North Plus and 830 WCCO.
