Watch CBS News

Wolves Set For Next Intense Battle With Rockets

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- You could feel it at practice when the Minnesota Wolves returned home this week. This post-season thing intensifies.

"The big thing is you go game to game. And you know, the biggest thing is the aggressiveness, and that was, I thought, Chris Paul's biggest adjustment," said Head Coach Tom Thibodeau. "It's playoff basketball, and that's, you got to play for 48 minutes, there's a physicality to it."

Saturday night is about defending James Harden, because it's always about defending James Harden.

Andrew Wiggins
Andrew Wiggins (credit: CBS)

"He's always in attack mode, you know, and he can just do a lot," said Timberwolves small forward Andrew Wiggins. "It can go both ways. Great shooter, you know, great, crazy, crazy on shot, and … in the paint, you don't know what he's going to do."

The irony so far is that the Wolves have been better on defense than on offense.

"We never dealt with a struggle, really, offensively, so it's a little different for us," said Wolves point guard Jeff Teague. "But I mean, I think our defense has been good enough to win games, but … our offense hasn't, but you got to make shots."

Because this time it is different -- it's the playoffs.

"We finish one game out of the fourth spot, I'm proud of what they've done, and now our challenge is to win this next game," Thibodeau said.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.