In the world of sport, a “signature play” is a three-dimensional calling card, something an individual or team performs that is at once familiar and distinctive, a vivid epitome of personality.
With less than three minutes left to play in their strikingly sudden yet clinically inexorable four-game extinguishment of the Phoenix Suns on Sunday night, the Minnesota Timberwolves tattooed tandem signature plays into the hearts of their justifiably adoring fan base.
The Wolves were clinging to a two-point lead with 2:40 left in the fourth quarter. For the next nine seconds, the Suns passed the ball six times.
It started with a toss from the three-point arc down to the right baseline, where the six-foot height of Mike Conley was 11 inches short guarding future Hall of Famer Kevin Durant, causing seven-footer Karl-Anthony Towns to come down for a double-team on Durant.
That set the chase in motion.
Durant whipped the ball back out to the man KAT was guarding in the right slot behind the arc, forcing Nickeil Alexander-Walker to fly over and contest. Three more quick passes ensued – bing, bing, bing – around a full three-quarters of the arc, until the ball was down in the left corner. With each pass, a hustling Wolves player – in order, Jason McDaniels, Anthony Edwards and Conley – leapt forward like a racer out of the starting blocks, albeit with arms akimbo and frame wide, hell-bent for leather. They arrived a split-second after the ball, preventing Phoenix from taking a shot clean and comfortable enough to ensure accuracy on this crucial possession.
The Suns’ Bradley Beal caught the fifth pass of the possession in the left corner and drove along the baseline past the onrushing Conley, who twirled in an unsuccessful attempt to swipe the ball off the dribble. But KAT had already arrived to meet the drive near the rim, and Beale sent a bounce pass to Durant for a three-point shot attempt in the opposite corner. Except it never arrived. NAW, scrambling over to cover Durant, made the steal.
Nine seconds. Six passes. Five noble contests in a defensive rotation as relentlessly syncopated as a sewing machine, culminating in one steal. Even without Rudy Gobert, who will be named the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year any day now, the Wolves showcased the hustle and teamwork that have epitomized why they have been the league’s stingiest defense since the first full month of the season.
NAW’s steal teed up the second signature play just a moment later. He passed the ball to Anthony Edwards who dribbled down the left side of the court while the four other Wolves, and the Suns players guarding them, took their positions on the right side. That left Beal to guard Ant in isolation.
Ant sized him up as his dribbled the ball between his legs, then suddenly drove hard down the left side, Beal helpless in his wake. Durant came over for a contest but quickly surmised he was going to be just late enough to become part of the poster of Ant’s dunk, and wisely held back. Ant soared, and sent the ball through the hoop like he was drilling for oil.
This is how announcer Kevin Harlan described the slam dunk on national television. “Ten (seconds) to shoot. Edwards – oh Edwards! A signature slam!”
The Timberwolves had not won a playoff series in 20 years, since the MVP season of Kevin Garnett. They had never swept an opponent in four straight games.
Then again, they have never had a defense that could play this well, featuring numerous players who can suffocate an opponent with on-ball pressure without any help and numerous more who hound the ball movement that pressure forces like, indeed, a pack of Wolves.
They have had a player as charismatic as Ant – KG, a Hall of Famer who in my opinion is one of the top 25 players ever to step on the court. But Ant is just 22 years old, and ascending at a pace and style that is already putting him in the conversation beside Garnett.
With the sweep of the Suns, Ant’s 2023-24 Wolves already have posted the second-best season in the 35-year history of the Timberwolves franchise, behind only KG’s 2003-04 team. As someone who has covered the Wolves since the second season of their existence, I am qualified to state that the future has never been brighter.
They have an identity and they have a superstar. They have character and chemistry, a diversity of young and old, wisdom and athleticism, a front office and a coaching staff with unified goals and mutual admiration. On the court, they are honing a killer mentality that regards formidable obstacles with a cold-blooded appraisal. Off the court, they treat each other with a generosity of spirit borne to sublimate the individual for the collective good.
(Yes, the contested ownership mess looms as a potentially wretched spoiler of all this. But I prefer to think that whoever wrests control of the team for good will understand that hands off the basketball side of operations is simply good business and all other options are a plunge into infamy.)
In the next couple of days I will go into greater detail about the fiber of this team and why it should be cherished. For now, hit the above links and watch the Wolves swarm on defense. Watch Ant rise as the opponent scurries for cover. These are signatures, circa 2024, and they happened in crunch-time against a desperate opponent featuring three likely Hall of Famers whose team was favored over the Wolves heading into this series.
Instead they were swept away. Almost certainly, the reigning champion Denver Nuggets will be up next. These Wolves will be ready.
Join Britt for a Tuesday evening Zoom to talk about the historic sweep and to look ahead to the second round of the playoffs.
Britt Robson
Britt Robson has covered the Timberwolves since 1990 for City Pages, The Rake, SportsIllustrated.com and The Athletic. He also has written about all forms and styles of music for over 30 years.
