The Timberwolves have been one of the NBA’s worst in transition defense this season but didn’t look the part on Sunday against Dallas, allowing just two fast break points in a 97-92 victory.

After the game, coach Tom Thibodeau pulled the curtain back just a bit on the process of improvement.

“What we’re trying to do is lock into one or two things now and just really work at it to see if we can continue to improve,” Thibodeau said.

Unsurprisingly, Jeff Teague said the focus of Saturday’s practice was transition defense. Narrowing the focus in practice seems to be Thibodeau’s latest attempt to get his team to consistently play well, particularly on defense.

“He’s been throwing almost everything out there, using his whole playbook, just throwing out different things, trying to get guys to just get into what he wants,” Taj Gibson said. “So, just taking it day by day and just taking two, maybe three things, it may work. But we have to see how it goes.”

So far, so good.

“Learning one or two things is easier to learn (than) 10 or 12 things at the same time,” Gorgui Dieng said.

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“Practice is shorter and it’s better,” he said. “It’s a lot better.”

Thibodeau noted the Timberwolves can’t work on everything every day, so he has to prioritize what his team needs to do better. Recently, transition defense was at the top of the list. Tomorrow, maybe it will be something else.

“You never have everything fixed,” Thibodeau said. “You might be working on your pick-and-roll defense, then that gets better, then you realize that there’s slippage in defensive transition, or your low-post defense or it’s catch-and-shoot (defense) — or whatever it might be. It’s the same thing.”

The goal is to continue to patch leaks until the Wolves’ are sea worthy.

“Hopefully over the course of the season, you get better and better at everything you’re trying to do,” Thibodeau said.

Jimmy Butler has seen improvement in certain areas, particularly in the days after something is emphasized in practice. But, as Gibson noted, the key is for the Wolves to demonstrate some level of consistency during games.

The Timberwolves’ transition defense was good against Dallas, but how will it fare Tuesday against Philadelphia?

“We’ve just got to keep doing it,” Butler said. “We can’t just let it go to where we do the exact opposite, then we’ve got to go back. … We’ve got to keep moving in the right direction.”