Allen

Minnesota is 5-2 since they traded away Jimmy Butler, and the main reason is the defense is better. Much better. Over those seven games, the Timberwolves are allowing 100.9 points per 100 possessions, the third-best defense in the NBA over that stretch.

明尼蘇達灰狼自從交易走吉米.巴特勒後，打出一波5勝2負的好成績，主要的原因在於防守的提升。在這七場球賽灰狼隊每一百次進攻失分達到100.9分，在聯盟排到第三的位置。

(For comparison, Philadelphia, the team that got Butler, has allowed 113.2 per 100 in those same seven games, but they are 5-2 because Butler has hit some big shots.)

(同時費城76人隊也打出5勝2敗的成績，關鍵在於巴特勒投出幾顆致勝球，盡管他們在這七場球賽每一百回進攻失分為113.2。)

What changed? It’s not just one thing, as Dane Moore breaks down well at Zone Coverage (with a lot of video evidence), but the key thing is Robert Covington — who came West in the trade along with Dario Saric — has been playing lockdown defense, flying all over that end of the court, and is in Karl-Anthony Towns‘ ear about defense.

Dane Moore 在Zone Coverage提出很多證據，球隊的改變關鍵就在於將羅伯特·柯文頓與達里奧·薩利奇帶到了西區聯盟，並幫助球隊狀元科爾-安東尼·唐斯專注於防守方面。

Every team needs a defensive leader who communicates. Ideally that is a big on the back line directing traffic, but it doesn’t have to be. Covington has taken on that role.

羅伯特·柯文頓已經成為球隊在帶領防守下的領導者。

Minnesota is among the teams that generally drops its bigs against pick-and-rolls to protect the rim (they are not alone, the Bucks, Lakers, Jazz, and others do this as a primary defense). That works well, at least until they face a team with a center who can stretch the floor (Nikola Jokic in Denver, Nikola Vucevic in Orlando, Marc Gasol in Memphis) and then they can get burned. However, even in those situations you can see the improved communication on the Timberwolves defense and the steps they are making.

灰狼隊是其中幾隻當球隊面對擋拆時，不讓內線球員被拉出外圍的防守策略。(公路、湖人、爵士及多支球隊也是用此防守策略)這策略在面對像是金塊隊、魔術隊、灰熊隊這種擁有能裡能外的中鋒時，反使對方處在尷尬的局面。最重要的是他們提升了防守的溝通，並穩定自己的腳步。

They also added depth. Dario Saric is not an elite defender but he’s better than Anthony Tolliver and Saric is getting those minutes now.

而且他們提升了板凳的深度，達里奧·薩利奇並非最強的防守者，但仍然能做出貢獻並獲得上場時間。

Minnesota is just playing freer and unburdened since the trade. The questions now are can they sustain a very good defense (there will be some regression, but how much), and can they climb out of that deep early-season hole and make the postseason.

自從交易後灰狼隊的隊形更自由且無負擔，問題是他們能否保持穩定的防守到賽季結束，從西區聯盟中脫穎而出。