Prior to Sunday’s game at Brooklyn, the Timberwolves had only played Karl-Anthony Towns and Gorgui Dieng together as the frontcourt pairing for 80 minutes spread over 13 different games out of the 26 they each had played in. That means Sam Mitchell was utilizing them as an entirely “either/or” proposition in half of the games, and trotting them out together for about 6 minutes per game in the other half. In those 80 minutes that Gorgui and KAT played alongside each other, the Wolves outscored opponents by 19 points. It was a small sample size, but suggested that it might be worth trying more, as finding enough minutes for these two has seemed to be an ongoing struggle for Mitchell.
Against the Nets, Mitchell deployed the KAT-Gorgui combo for over 16 minutes of action, and it worked well. In the first half, Towns started out with some uncharacteristic struggles on his jumper. When Gorgui checked in for Kevin Garnett midway through the first quarter — a rare move this season, probably reflecting a diminished faith in the struggling Nemanja Bjelica — the offense began to flow his direction. Ricky passed it to a pick-and-popped Towns, who then fed Gorgui, who had his man posted up under the hoop. He made a jump hook. Later in the first half, after Towns had rested and then returned to join Dieng again, KAT set an early high ball screen for Ricky and rolled toward the hoop on the right side. With Brook Lopez needing help defense, Rubio stared at Towns while dishing it instead to Dieng on the left side of the lane, who threw it down with authority.
Dieng had a lot of success as the ball screener, too. During the time when KAT was getting his first-half rest, Rubio found Gorgui on three assists for easy baskets. On two of them, Gorgui had sealed his man on the correct side so that Rubio’s pass — one of them thrown behind his back — led directly to an easy layup. Later in the game, Dieng set an early, semi-transition high ball screen (a staple set of the Seven Seconds or Less Suns that the Wolves would be wise to adopt as one of their own) and rolled toward the hoop. With the immediate entry pass not there, Rubio instead kicked it back to KAT at the top. The angle now better for entry, Towns fed Dieng on the high-low, as he did in the first quarter, and again Dieng converted the jump hook.
Towns got going as the game went on, developing the sort of synced-in chemistry with Rubio that Gorgui had in the first half. He ended the game with 24 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks. Dieng finished with 20 points, 10 boards and 3 assists.
In the time they shared the floor on Sunday, the Wolves outscored the Nets by 3 points. I had, and maybe still have, some doubts about whether this is a viable starting caliber frontcourt. Those doubts mainly exist because Dieng has struggled to defend big centers in the past, and may not have sufficiently refined skills to play power forward. However, Dieng’s defense seems to be improving, and Towns’s outstanding shooting allows them to use Dieng as the ball-screen roller and post man, with KAT stretching the defense out to the perimeter.
But perhaps more than anything about “fit,” the issue just comes down to these two being the team’s best big men, and benefits of getting both of them as much playing time as possible. If you remove the little-used Andre Miller, the Wolves field-goal percentage leaders are Dieng (54.7) and Towns (53.5). They’re both excellent foul shooters, with Dieng currently at a crazy 90 percent, and Towns just behind him at 85. Per 36 minutes, Towns leads the Wolves in rebounding at 11.7. Dieng is third on the team (also behind KG) at 9.8. Per 36, they lead the team in blocks. Towns gets 2.6, Gorgui gets 1.6. Dieng also gets 1.7 steals per 36; an underrated part of his game, reflecting his high motor and activity level. Scoring is where Towns shines much brighter than Dieng (20.3 points per 36, versus 13.0) but Gorgui is a better scorer than the alternatives that might play next to KAT for a lot of minutes — players like the struggling Bjelica and the largely written off Adreian Payne.
Mitchell must have had this pairing on his mind after the win on Friday over the Kings. They did not play together very much that night, but he said this after the game:
“I like Karl and G, the way they play. It’s almost like when G comes in for KG, it keeps us big and athletic and I think G’s defense has just been outstanding all year. He’s probably, of our young guys, he’s probably been the most consistent, defensively.”
After enduring the worst part of their season to date — going 1-8 in a nine-game span that included a soft schedule — the Wolves now have a winning streak. Andrew Wiggins was the star in the first win over the Kings. Ricky Rubio was incredible in the second win at Brooklyn. This new wrinkle of pairing Dieng and Towns might have staying power, if it continues to click like it did today with each player putting up over 20 points and 10 rebounds.
We’ll have to see how Mitchell feels about it tomorrow night at Boston, where the Wolves will try to extend this streak to 3 wins against a good Celtics team.
Until then.
Season Record: 11-16
Punch-Drunk Wolves 