By the Numbers: Big 3 Talks, Why the Timberwolves is a Worthy Adversary

The Wolves are Biting: In case you missed, they are on a 4-game winning streak

The Wolves are enjoying an early success thanks to the Big 3 of their own. 

Jimmy Butler. 

Andrew Wiggins.

Karl Anthony-Towns.

Who would have thought that these three players would end up playing together in one team outside of Team USA? While the rest of the league were excited when the Oklahoma City Thunder landed Paul George and Carmelo Anthony to play alongside reigning MVP, Russell Westbrook, when the Cleveland Cavaliers have reunited Dwayne Wade and LeBron James, not everyone is talking about the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Why should the Timberwolves be included in the talks?

Reason #1: They are on a 4 game winning streak.

Reason #2: They are currently the 3rd best team in the West.

Yes, folks. The Timberwolves, a team who used to spend a big chunk of time being at the bottom of the standings in the Western Conference, is now among the best teams in the West as far as their record is concerned. And yes, their numbers don't lie either:

109 Points per Game

With a starting unit that includes Karl Anthony-Towns, Andrew Wiggins and Jimmy Butler who was traded from the Chicago Bulls during the offseason, we can expect the Wolves to score more. And they didn't disappoint either. Through 9 games into the season, the wards of Coach Tom Thibodeau have been averaging 109 points per game and they have been able to reach the century mark in all of those 9 games. Impressive, isn't? What's more impressive is that they scored 119 and 115 against the Thunder- both were close wins. The Wolves' 109 points average land them in 7th among all teams, 2nd in the West alone. 

5 Wolves Scoring in Double Figures

• Karl Anthony-Towns: 22 points per game
• Andrew Wiggins: 19 points per game
• Jimmy Butler: 15 points per game
• Jeff Teague: 12 points per game
• Jamal Crawford: 10 points per game

One of the main reasons why the Wolves are so successful nowadays especially when it comes to scoring points is that they have multiple guys on their team who are capable of scoring on a consistent basis. And the guys above are not just about scoring.  

Anthony-Towns is also leading his team with  11 rebounds and 2 blocks per game. 

Jeff Teague, another newcomer to the Wolves this season, has been contributing as one of the new point guards of Tom Thibodeau as he is averaging 8 assists (6th in the league) and close to 2 steals per game (10th in the league)- both are leading the team, to go along with his 12 points per game average. 

Conclusion

If the Minnesota Timberwolves can keep up this level of consistency, they will keep on winning especially in the long haul. They will keep on biting and surprising teams. Who knows? They might be able to make a long-awaited return to the postseason should they keep on winning especially against the powerhouse teams in the league. But judging by their ongoing winning streak, KAT and company will be hard to limit and will be harder to defeat.