Charles Barkley isn’t holding back his thoughts on the Timberwolves defense

The Minnesota Timberwolves are bringing back old-fashioned basketball.

They don’t need a lot of threes, they are big enough and play lockdown defense.

That formula has worked perfectly for them as they are two wins away from making the Western Conference Finals for the second time in franchise history.

Additionally, Hall of Famer Charles Barkley believes they have one of the best defenses he has ever seen.

During halftime on NBA on TNT, he claimed that numbers don’t lie, and the numbers showed that even without Rudy Gobert, they had put together one of the best defensive performances in recent NBA history.

“We saw one of the best defensive teams I’ve ever seen. The statistics don’t lie. … Even without Rudy, this is one of the best defensive teams I’ve ever seen.”

Chuck on Minnesota’s defense in the first half 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/asPKDV1GNt

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 7, 2024

The Denver Nuggets finished the night with 80 points and were unable to score more than 25 points in any quarter.

This is the fourth time in six playoff games that they have held their opponent to fewer than 100 points.

Anthony Edwards has made great strides defensively, going from being a nuisance to playing lockdown defense against the opposition’s best player.

Plus, as Barkley noted, this team has plenty of length and size, with Mike Conley being the only “small” guy playing heavy minutes.

Jaden McDaniels is an elite defensive player, and Karl-Anthony Towns has also improved as a defender, while Rudy Gobert anchors the paint and Naz Reid keeps the grit and physicality on the court when he comes off the bench.

Offense wins games, but defense wins championships, and no one plays better defense than this team.

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Skip Bayless reacts to the Nuggets’ Game 2 loss to the Timberwolves