Minnesota Timberwolves: 3 takeaways vs. Washington

1. Defense

Throughout these first few games for the Timberwolves, Karl-Anthony Towns has been the only defensive bright spot for Minnesota this season. However, in this game, the entire team came out to play.

The Wolves forced 17 turnovers and recorded 10 blocks and nine steals. Along with that, Minnesota finally showed some hustle on the defensive end with 64.0 contested shots and 17.0 pass deflections.

If the Timberwolves can step it up on defense, they could become an incredibly good team during the regular season, and a perennial playoff contender. They’ve got the shooting and the ability to space the floor, and the youth to keep the team fairly durable into the back end of a long 82 game season. All they need is a strong defense, and they can compete with any team in this league.

If the Timberwolves show this kind of defensive pressure when KAT returns, they could be a huge headache for the other teams in the Western Conference.