Bill Simmons ranks Wolves among best defenses in NBA history

"The point is, that if the T-wolves sweep the Nuggets, the three spot is in play for me. It really is."

May 6, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker (9) steals / Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

Are the Timberwolves planting their flag as one of the best defensive teams in NBA history?

According to The Ringer's Bill Simmons, yes they are.

Minnesota is up 2-0 on the defending champion Denver Nuggets in the second round of the Western Conference playoffs. They are fresh off sweeping the Phoenix Suns. The Wolves' 108.4 regular season defensive rating was 2.2 points better than second place Boston. In the playoffs, the Wolves have improved that to 105.5 while playing the 10th (Suns) and 14th (Nuggets) highest-scoring offenses from the regular season.

That got Simmons to thinking about some of the best defensive teams in modern history.

"The best defensive team I've ever seen... it's down to the '04 Pistons and the '89 Pistons. Those are the two best defensive teams I've ever seen since I've been watching basketball," said Simmons on a recent podcast.

Simmons listed the '04 Pistons as the best defense because the rules favored the defense at the time and a lineup that featured "the two best defensive bigs in the league" in Ben Wallace and Rasheed Wallace, "shutdown guy" Tayshaun Prince and a Chauncey Billups-Richard Hamilton backcourt that "ended" the Kobe-Shaq Lakers.

In the 2004 playoffs, the Pistons held opponents to 80.7 points a game and just 39% shooting.

"I think about the '04 Pistons and how unbelievable it was to watch them," Simmons said. "Very similar to what we're watching in this Minnesota-Denver and what we watched with some of the Minnesota-Phoenix stuff. Where it just feels like they have eight guys but there's only five. They protect everything. They're able to change the flow of a game, and the pace and just teams are on their heels."

The '89 Pistons lost just two playoff games on their way to the title were ranked No. 2 on Simmons' list.

"They were just the Swiss army knife defensive team and they're physical as (expletive) and they just wanted to beat the (expletive) out of you. Impossible to play against. I have them second," continued Simmons.

Simmons' third best defensive team is the '91 Bulls that held opponents in the playoffs to 92.2 points per game. The next closest defense that year was Rockets at 99.0 points per game. Of course, the 1992 Bulls had Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen leading the defensive charge.

"That team was just loaded," said Simmons. "I would have them in the three spot but I think the T-wolves have the chance to take it, which is why I mention this."

"The point is, that if the T-wolves sweep the Nuggets and they're able to beat Jokic the way they're beating him, the three spot is in play for me. It really is," he continued. "It's between them and the '91 Bulls for the best defensive teams I've ever seen in my life."

In the two games between the Nuggets and Wolves, Denver guard Jamal Murray has shot just 28% from the field a 25% from 3, which are dramatic drops 48% and 42% in the regular season. League MVP Nikola Jokic has also seen his usually-prolific numbers drop from 58% from the field in the regular season to 42% in the series. Jokic's 3-point drop is even more stark, from 35% during the season to just 20% in the series.

"The size they have, Jaden McDaniels who, not only would call him one of the best perimeter defensive players in the league now, he's starting to be like 'Wow, where does this guy rank for best perimeter players we've seen in the last like 10-12 years.' It's like having the ultimate shutdown corner in football," glowed Simmons. "Then the size of Gobert and Towns and Naz Reid, who was so crucial against Jokic."

Meanwhile, 22-year-old superstar Anthony Edwards has earned much of the praise during the Wolves' postseason run, earning plenty of comps to Michael Jordan.

"Defense is one of the things that makes him so special," Simmons said of Edwards. "This was the thing Kobe always had from like '99, 2000, 2001 as he was trying to figure out who he was offensively, he was trying to figure out how to play with Shaq but the defense where it was like 'Man this guy is going to make some All-Defensive teams.' And especially in the playoffs he could just lock people down. Edwards has that too. The competitiveness, the ability to go both ways, they never seem tired. The difference is Edwards physically is just way stronger than Kobe was."

A four-game sweep of the Nuggets is certainly possible with the next two games in Minneapolis.

"I think Minnesota is going to sweep Denver. I think basketball is about to change as we know it," Simmons said.