NBA Power Rankings: Here come the Golden State Warriors

team. 86. Things have been weird to say the least to begin the Tom Thibodeau era with the Minnesota Timberwolves. The defensive genius has so far had a bigger impact on the team’s offensive output than the defense. The Timberwolves have the seventh highest offensive rating (110.8 ORtg) and their defensive rating comes in at 23rd right now–it was 28th at the end of last season. Another weird stat that pops off the page when looking at Minnesota’s play is just how terrible they have been in the third quarter of games. It’s become a habit for the Timberwolves to outscore and even outplay their opponents for three of the four quarters, but they are so bad in the third that it erases all they good they did previously. It’s too soon to lock in on what the cause of these third quarter collapses could be, however, making adjustments out of halftime falls square on the shoulder of the coach. In their loss last night to the Boston Celtics, it was a horrendous start to the fourth quarter–Boston opened the quarter with a 17-0 run–that ultimately did the team in. If Thibs can’t get this team to execute better after the half than the franchise’s hope of making the playoffs could be over before they even get a chance to compete.. (4-9). Previous: . Minnesota Timberwolves. 20