Timberwolves center Naz Reid showing he belongs

The first six games of the Minnesota Timberwolves’ 2020-21 campaign have raised a lot of questions.

Can D’Angelo Russell be a leader? Will Ricky Rubio gel with his new teammates? Can Jarrett Culver make the next step?

One thing that is clear, though, is second-year center Naz Reid belongs in the NBA.

Reid left LSU after one collegiate season only to surprisingly go undrafted in 2019. After signing a two-way deal with the Wolves — which quickly turned into a multiyear deal — Reid made his NBA debut last season and averaged 9.0 points and 4.2 rebounds in 30 contests.

In 2020-21, however, it appears Reid has elevated his game again. He’s started three of the last four games and has registered 13.0 points and 4.5 rebounds per contest while shooting 57.9% from the field. He’s been a big reason why the Timberwolves rank second in the NBA with 49.6% of their points scored inside the paint.

Dating back to last season, Reid has scored double-digit points in nine of his last 12 contests. His numbers have taken a big jump in that span, increasing from 8.1 points over his first 24 career games to 11.9 points per contest over the last 12. He’s also doubled his rebounding numbers — 3.1 to 6.2 per game.

The Wolves miss the injured Karl-Anthony Towns badly, but at least they have Reid in the frontcourt.

Reid and Minnesota will look to snap a nine-game losing streak to the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night. The last time the Wolves defeated Denver was April 11, 2018 — the win that broke a tie for the No. 8 seed and catapulted Minnesota into the postseason.

NOTABLE

— Minnesota has allowed 100+ points in 36 consecutive contests, which is the sixth-longest streak in the NBA since 2000-01. The New Orleans Pelicans own the longest streak in that span at 53 games.

— Jamal Murray notched his fifth career game with 35+ points and at least a 65% field-goal percentage in Denver’s 124-109 win over Minnesota on Sunday.

— D’Angelo Russell is shooting better as the game goes on. In the first quarter, Russell is shooting 22.2% from 3-point range and owns an effective field-goal percentage of 36.0%. In the fourth quarter, those numbers increase to a 60% 3-point clip and 60.7% EFG.

— The leader in assists per game? Denver’s 7-foot center Nikola Jokic with 12.8 per contest. It’s early, but Jokic is on pace to set a new assists record for 7-footers. Wilt Chamberlain currently owns the title with 8.6 assists per game for Philadelphia in 1967-68.

Statistics courtesy Sportradar