Wolves may have found a fix to defensive issues in non-Gobert minutes

The Wolves have seemingly found a way to survive defensively when Rudy is off the floor.

Nov 9, 2025; Sacramento, California, USA; Sacramento Kings guard Malik Monk (0) shoots the ball against Minnesota Timberwolves guard Jaylen Clark (22) during the third quarter at Golden 1 Center. | Justine Willard-Imagn Images

Last week, after a blowout loss to the Knicks at Madison Square Garden, we wrote about how the Timberwolves' roster had two glaring issues. One was the lack of a true reliable starting point guard. The other, more pressing one was the lack of a backup center in the rotation, and what that had meant early on for Minnesota's defense whenever Rudy Gobert has to rest.

Since then, the Wolves have set a franchise record for points scored in a two-game span with blowout wins over the Jazz and Kings to get to 6-4 ahead of Monday night's rematch with Utah. And while the competition has to be taken into account, Chris Finch appears to have found a potential solution to the Timberwolves' defensive struggles in non-Gobert minutes.

With Finch not yet trusting rookie Joan Beringer, the frontcourt consists of Julius Randle and Naz Reid whenever Gobert sits. They're both 6'9", offense-focused power forwards, and that duo got off to an atrocious start to the season on defense, which is largely why the non-Gobert numbers were so bad through eight games.

When Randle and Reid are on the floor together, the Wolves can't also have offensive-minded players like Anthony Edwards, Donte DiVincenzo, Terrence Shannon Jr., or Rob Dillingham out there. There's just not enough defense in those groups to survive against NBA offenses. So Finch has made a logical change. Over the last two games, this is the lineup the Wolves have leaned on when Rudy is off the court:

1. Mike Conley
2. Jaylen Clark
3. Jaden McDaniels
4. Julius Randle
5. Naz Reid

That's now Minnesota's third-most-used five-man lineup so far this season, behind only the two starting groups with and without Edwards. And in 19 total minutes, that unit has a net rating of +14.6. Over just the last two games, it's +23.7.

It makes sense why that specific lineup has worked. To protect the Randle-Reid frontcourt on the defensive end of the floor requires strong perimeter defense in the backcourt and wing spots. Clark and McDaniels are the Wolves' two most tenacious on-ball defenders. McDaniels is also quite good as a help defender and weakside rim protector because of his length and instincts.

On offense, the lineup needs an extra ball handler and playmaker, which is where Conley fits in. (It's worth noting that the lineup could probably work with Edwards in for Conley, but Ant has to rest too, and his off-the-court stints tend to overlap with Gobert's).

To be clear, a two-game sample size against the Jazz and Kings isn't nearly enough to declare that the Wolves have fixed their issue of defending without Gobert. Their next two games are also against the Jazz and Kings, so we might not know if it's a real fix until they start to play some better competition. But for now, it's working a lot better than whatever the Wolves were trying before — and it's pretty clear that Clark needs to have a significant rotational role even when Shannon returns from his foot injury.

If Reid and Randle are on the floor together, must also have McDaniels and Clark on the floor. That's gotta be the band-aid, at least for now.

Finch's 1st quarter rotation hints that's the plan. McDaniels and Randle first subs out, and at the scorer's table to come back in for…

— Dane Moore (@DaneMooreNBA) November 10, 2025

Wolves have settled into this lineup when Gobert is off the floor over the past 2 games

Conley
Clark
McDaniels
Randle
Reid

135.9 offensive rating
112.2 defensive rating (!)

Need to see it against better teams but the Clark/McDaniels combo helps insulate the bigs.

— Jake Paynting (@JakePaynting) November 10, 2025

---