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  1. <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
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  3.  <title>Canis Hoopus -  All Posts</title>
  4.  <subtitle>82-0</subtitle>
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  6.  <updated>2024-05-04T21:35:53-05:00</updated>
  7.  <id>http://www.canishoopus.com/rss/current/</id>
  8.  <link type="text/html" href="https://www.canishoopus.com/" rel="alternate"/>
  9.  <entry>
  10.    <published>2024-05-04T21:35:53-05:00</published>
  11.    <updated>2024-05-04T21:35:53-05:00</updated>
  12.    <title>Wolves 106, Nuggets 99: Edwards’ Playoff Career-High 43 Points Wins Game 1</title>
  13.    <content type="html">  
  14.  
  15.    &lt;figure&gt;
  16.      &lt;img alt="Minnesota Timberwolves v Denver Nuggets - Game One" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ry-u-98D1-yfoEM7FhfTT1onUI0=/0x0:5671x3781/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73327794/2151492739.0.jpg" /&gt;
  17.        &lt;figcaption&gt;Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  18.    &lt;/figure&gt;
  19.  
  20.  &lt;p&gt;The Timberwolves got a playoff career-high 43 points from Anthony Edwards and 14 fourth quarter points from Naz Reid to steal Game 1 in Denver. Nikola Jokić had 32 points, nine assists and eight rebounds in the loss.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p id="bMgone"&gt;For the first time in 20 years, the &lt;a href="https://www.canishoopus.com"&gt;Minnesota Timberwolves&lt;/a&gt; are playing in the second round of the &lt;a href="https://www.sbnation.com/nba-playoffs"&gt;NBA playoffs&lt;/a&gt;, this time against a familiar opponent, Northwest Division rival and defending champion Denver Nuggets.&lt;/p&gt;
  21. &lt;p id="mrkgV7"&gt;This is the second straight postseason in which the two teams have met, with the Nuggets winning last year’s series in five games. The Timberwolves were without Jaden McDaniels and Naz Reid for the entirety of the series along with losing Kyle Anderson to an eye injury in Game 4.&lt;/p&gt;
  22. &lt;p id="Uhh9Ii"&gt;This year’s series is likely to be much more competitive with the Timberwolves completely healthy and the Nuggets’ bench thinner after the offseason departures of trusted veterans Bruce Brown and Jeff Green.&lt;/p&gt;
  23. &lt;p id="ZABNjT"&gt;This series promises to be a heavyweight fight between two teams with aspirations of winning the championship. It’s the kind of series every NBA fan dreams of and one Timberwolves fans have been waiting a long time to see.&lt;/p&gt;
  24. &lt;p id="XIh97R"&gt;After tearing his patellar tendon at the end of the series with the &lt;a href="https://www.brightsideofthesun.com"&gt;Phoenix Suns&lt;/a&gt;, Wolves Head Coach Chris Finch was able to make the trip to Denver and was sitting in the second row behind the bench.&lt;/p&gt;
  25. &lt;div id="IcLBQC"&gt;
  26. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  27. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;Chris Finch confirms that he will be on the bench for tonight’s Game 1. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;He’ll be in 2nd row w/ no seat in front of him, next to TV broadcast table which will help provide some protection.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Asst. Micah Nori will be on the sidelines, run huddles &amp;amp; interact w/ the officials.&lt;/p&gt;— Alan Horton (@WolvesRadio) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/WolvesRadio/status/1786872419262574856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 4, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  28. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  29. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  30.  
  31. &lt;/div&gt;
  32. &lt;hr class="p-entry-hr" id="q9QxPH"&gt;
  33. &lt;p id="K67F2f"&gt;The Timberwolves would pick up right where they left off at the end of the Suns series, going on an 18-4 run to start the game including 13 points from Anthony Edwards.&lt;/p&gt;
  34. &lt;div id="Q2bRdJ"&gt;
  35. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  36. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;TOO EASY.  ‍  &lt;a href="https://t.co/2oUjn8wLqE"&gt;pic.twitter.com/2oUjn8wLqE&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/Timberwolves/status/1786899173113024703?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 4, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  37. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  38. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  39.  
  40. &lt;/div&gt;
  41. &lt;p id="Hdu0N8"&gt;The Wolves offense was consistently able to get good looks of offense against the Denver defense, leading to the big lead. The Nuggets would immediately respond with a run of their own. Spurred on by missed layups and turnovers by the Wolves.&lt;/p&gt;
  42. &lt;p id="9QSyYc"&gt;Denver would finish the quarter on a 21-7 run, taking a two-point lead into the first quarter break.&lt;/p&gt;
  43. &lt;p id="PDokZt"&gt;One of the main keys to this series would be the minutes with Nikola Jokić on the bench for the Nuggets. With Denver’s short bench, they have struggled in the minutes with Jokić off the floor to start this season.&lt;/p&gt;
  44. &lt;p id="T8gzqq"&gt;To start the second quarter, with Jokić on the bench, the Nuggets won those minutes by two points. If that continues throughout the series, the Timberwolves will have a hard time winning games.&lt;/p&gt;
  45. &lt;p id="zlb2Wj"&gt;Throughout the first half, the Timberwolves offense would struggle to score the ball when it wasn’t Ant or Karl-Anthony Towns taking the shot. Aside from Edwards and Towns, the Timberwolves finished the first half shooting 3-20 from the field including 0-8 from beyond the arc.&lt;/p&gt;
  46. &lt;p id="22c4ep"&gt;Minnesota would finish the first half with only 40 points, trailing the Nuggets by four heading into halftime. &lt;/p&gt;
  47. &lt;p id="ks1Sv0"&gt;Edwards would lead the Wolves with 25 points with Jokić leading the way for Denver. Notably, Jamal Murray would go scoreless in the first half, missing all five of his shots. It was the first time in his playoff career he went scoreless in a half. &lt;/p&gt;
  48. &lt;p id="3ebbP5"&gt;Similar to the non-Jokić minutes, the Timberwolves bench will likely need to outperform the Nuggets’ bench to find success in this series. In this first half, the Nuggets bench outscored the Wolves bench 9-4.&lt;/p&gt;
  49. &lt;p id="08dALZ"&gt;Like he did in Games 3 and 4 on the road against the Suns, KAT would come out of the halftime locker room scorching hot, making his first five shots including a 3-pointer to start the half and this emphatic dunk coming off a block by Edwards.&lt;/p&gt;
  50. &lt;div id="wZQiES"&gt;
  51. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  52. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;Anthony Edwards incredible block, Karl-Anthony Towns transition poster dunk&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Great two-way sequence, wow &lt;a href="https://t.co/tpDYkhyE3y"&gt;pic.twitter.com/tpDYkhyE3y&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Timberwolves Clips (@WolvesClips) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/WolvesClips/status/1786915341794168838?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 5, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  53. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  54. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  55.  
  56. &lt;/div&gt;
  57. &lt;p id="erq1Dd"&gt;In the third quarter, turnovers would begin to mount up for the Wolves. They would finish the third frame with 12 total turnovers in the game, four in each quarter. Denver was able to score 20 points off those 12 giveaways, all of which were huge points given how difficult it is to score against the Timberwolves half-court defense — especially from downtown.&lt;/p&gt;
  58. &lt;p id="aVkKTe"&gt;Minnesota would finally settle into the game, getting the ball back to Edwards, who continued to put the ball into the basket in a variety of ways in the mid-range and at the rim.  The Wolves made a nice adjustment to get Rudy Gobert off the floor so Kyle Anderson would only be out there with one other big, which helped open up the floor for Edwards and spurred a 7-0 run.&lt;/p&gt;
  59. &lt;div id="XtdZk4"&gt;
  60. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  61. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;I keep coming back to how pivotal of a micro-adjustment this was.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Wolves went from down 67-64 late third and zero spacing to quickly getting Ant space to work.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Resulted in an Ant mid-range J, open NAW corner 3 (AST by Ant), and an Ant layup at the rim. I love Slow-Mo at the 5 &lt;a href="https://t.co/nGByUXZ6uh"&gt;https://t.co/nGByUXZ6uh&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Jack Borman (@jrborman13) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/jrborman13/status/1786942623166410918?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 5, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  62. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  63. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  64.  
  65. &lt;/div&gt;
  66. &lt;div id="FROA9c"&gt;
  67. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  68. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;Anthony Edwards post-up fake + layup over Reggie Jackson &lt;a href="https://t.co/gocJJHd3mD"&gt;pic.twitter.com/gocJJHd3mD&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Timberwolves Clips (@WolvesClips) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/WolvesClips/status/1786920681784869122?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 5, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  69. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  70. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  71.  
  72. &lt;/div&gt;
  73. &lt;p id="s2NSGV"&gt;The Timberwolves would take a 73-71 lead heading into the final quarter of Game 1.&lt;/p&gt;
  74. &lt;p id="dhjTum"&gt;Jokić would again sit to start the fourth quarter, giving the Timberwolves a chance to stretch their lead leading into the final stretch of the game. The Wolves would fail to take advantage, again losing the non-Jokić minutes, this time by three points.&lt;/p&gt;
  75. &lt;p id="HrytkM"&gt;With Jokić back on the floor, Ant would continue his spectacular shot-making, including this scintillating shot over Aaron Gordon.&lt;/p&gt;
  76. &lt;div id="y283PT"&gt;
  77. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  78. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;Anthony Edwards nasty crossover + midrange jumper, wow &lt;a href="https://t.co/zqLf9hBvuZ"&gt;pic.twitter.com/zqLf9hBvuZ&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Timberwolves Clips (@WolvesClips) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/WolvesClips/status/1786924298814583181?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 5, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  79. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  80. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  81.  
  82. &lt;/div&gt;
  83. &lt;p id="FIa9Dk"&gt;For the second time this postseason for the Timberwolves, the game would come down to crunch-time with the Timberwolves leading 91-88 with 4:32 left in the game. Denver has shown to be the best late-game playoff team in the NBA, so the Timberwolves would need to play nearly perfectly to walk away with this one.&lt;/p&gt;
  84. &lt;p id="yY9rVP"&gt;The Timberwolves would do just that, scoring 15 points over the final four and a half minutes of the game to cap off a 106-99 win in Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals. Minnesota shot 71% from the floor in the second half, their best in a half in franchise postseason history.&lt;/p&gt;
  85. &lt;p id="ijeofV"&gt;Anthony Edwards would finish with an incredible 43 points — a new playoff career-high — on 17-29 shooting including 3-7 from deep, 6-6 from the line, seven rebounds, and three assists. Karl-Anthony Towns scored 20 points on an efficient 8-13 shooting, headlined by 11 points on 5/5 from the floor in the third quarter. Naz Reid scored 16, 14 of which in the fourth quarter, to give him a new playoff career-high (previously 13) as well.&lt;/p&gt;
  86. &lt;p id="54g16u"&gt;Nikola Jokić led the way for the Nuggets with 32 points, nine assists, and eight rebounds. Jamal Murray scored 17 points after finishing the first half without a single point. Michael Porter Jr. provided 20 huge points on 4/7 from beyond the arc, leading the Nuggets’ 13/31 (41.9%) night from 3. &lt;/p&gt;
  87. &lt;p id="Gb2g12"&gt;Despite Denver scoring 26 points off 14 Minnesota turnovers and the Wolves getting just five combined points from McDaniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker on 2/13 FG (15%), the Wolves found a way just like they have all playoffs long.&lt;/p&gt;
  88. &lt;hr class="p-entry-hr" id="THrDaS"&gt;
  89. &lt;h2 id="ekXump"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Key Takeaways&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
  90.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  91.        &lt;img alt="Minnesota Timberwolves v Denver Nuggets - Game One" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/kluMjlvY8rccb50YqXgNZKyNVxg=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25433795/2151487342.jpg"&gt;
  92.      &lt;cite&gt;Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images&lt;/cite&gt;
  93.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  94. &lt;h3 id="MpS2eU"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Anthony Edwards’ Monster Playoffs Continue&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
  95. &lt;p id="r7hVyW"&gt;After closing out the Phoenix Suns last Sunday with a 40-point performance, Anthony Edwards decided to one-up himself scoring 43 points and completely dominating a Nuggets team that seemed to have no answer for him on defense.&lt;/p&gt;
  96. &lt;p id="NbWmE3"&gt;This has become a pattern for Edwards as each time he needs to hit another level, he does it and that was no different tonight. He made 3-pointers early, guarded Jamal Murray for stretches, made the mid-range shots the defense gave him, and then closed the game out by getting to the rim.&lt;/p&gt;
  97. &lt;div id="4wmQ1Q"&gt;
  98. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  99. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;NO HESITATION. &lt;a href="https://t.co/VDIDD7niNT"&gt;pic.twitter.com/VDIDD7niNT&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/Timberwolves/status/1786930409365713350?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 5, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  100. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  101. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  102.  
  103. &lt;/div&gt;
  104. &lt;p id="MtguXG"&gt;Ant has catapulted himself from “up-and-coming star” to “I’m here right now” in seemingly the blink of an eye. While Jokić will be a deserving recipient of his third MVP award this year, Edwards was the best player on the floor tonight and it wasn’t particularly close.&lt;/p&gt;
  105. &lt;p id="aVvQUS"&gt;With many of the Wolves role players playing poorly in the first half, Ant was able to keep the Wolves in it going into the second half. Once those role players started to hit shots, all it took was one last punch from Edwards to seal the victory.&lt;/p&gt;
  106. &lt;div id="j6XE3l"&gt;
  107. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  108. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;Players that have scored 35+ in 3 straight playoff games at age 22 or younger:&lt;br&gt;1. Lew Alcindor&lt;br&gt;2. Kobe Bryant&lt;br&gt;3. LeBron James&lt;br&gt;4. Anthony Edwards   &lt;a href="https://t.co/YS5jD45uZa"&gt;pic.twitter.com/YS5jD45uZa&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Kirk Goldsberry (@kirkgoldsberry) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/kirkgoldsberry/status/1786929725266407500?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 5, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  109. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  110. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  111.  
  112. &lt;/div&gt;
  113.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  114.        &lt;img alt="Minnesota Timberwolves v Denver Nuggets - Game One" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/qk_jHKrFTUG1PdK3AWu3IQgnNqk=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25433807/2151481998.jpg"&gt;
  115.      &lt;cite&gt;Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images&lt;/cite&gt;
  116.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  117. &lt;h3 id="NzAFQm"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Non-Jokić Minutes&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
  118. &lt;p id="nk6q6P"&gt;All year, the Nuggets have been vulnerable when Jokić is on the bench. They have been a negative in those minutes all year as they do not have much bench depth behind their starters.&lt;/p&gt;
  119. &lt;p id="sblITJ"&gt;The Timberwolves in their four regular-season matchups with the Nuggets failed to capitalize on those minutes, getting outscored by Denver with Jokić on the bench.&lt;/p&gt;
  120. &lt;aside id="opdsJC"&gt;&lt;div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"How the Non-Jokić Minutes Could Swing the Series for the Timberwolves","url":"https://www.canishoopus.com/2024/5/2/24146328/nikola-jokic-denver-nuggets-bench-minnesota-timberwolves-nba-playoffs-western-conference-semifinals"}]}'&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/aside&gt;&lt;p id="6EJdkr"&gt;That was again the case tonight as the Timberwolves lost the minutes with Jokić on the bench by a total of five points. With the Wolves winning the game by seven, the Joker finished the game with a +/- of -12, his lowest in a playoff game since the Timberwolves defeated the Nuggets in Game 4 of last year’s first-round series.&lt;/p&gt;
  121.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  122.        &lt;img alt="2024 NBA Playoffs - Minnesota Timberwolves v Denver Nuggets" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/rjb-8-RbfviI8b0h6_UZe-H3sk0=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25433809/2150963020.jpg"&gt;
  123.      &lt;cite&gt;Photo by Justin Tafoya/NBAE via Getty Images&lt;/cite&gt;
  124.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  125. &lt;h3 id="eBarWD"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Naz Reid&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
  126. &lt;p id="7RMFJl"&gt;After struggling greatly through the first four and a half quarters of these Playoffs, Reid exploded with 14 fourth-quarter points. He would finish the game with 16 total, all of which came in the second half.&lt;/p&gt;
  127. &lt;p id="RXDNlt"&gt;The 14 fourth-quarter points were more than any single game Reid had in the series against Phoenix and the 16 points is a playoff career-high.&lt;/p&gt;
  128. &lt;div id="yhbGN6"&gt;
  129. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  130. &lt;p lang="de" dir="ltr"&gt;Naz Reid monster putback dunk &lt;a href="https://t.co/mdoX1GA7Z5"&gt;pic.twitter.com/mdoX1GA7Z5&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Timberwolves Clips (@WolvesClips) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/WolvesClips/status/1786925668690801115?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 5, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  131. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  132. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  133.  
  134. &lt;/div&gt;
  135. &lt;p id="R6dMit"&gt;The run of scoring from Reid was greatly needed as Towns picked up his fifth foul early in the fourth quarter, sending him to the bench. With Reid’s flurry of buckets, the Wolves lead ballooned from two points to six, setting up Edwards to take it the rest of the way.&lt;/p&gt;
  136. &lt;p id="OIt2Oa"&gt;After missing last postseason with a broken wrist, Reid became a clear X-factor with the playoff rematch set against Denver. Through three quarters of this one, it was looking like Naz was going to have another lost night on the court, but he was able to keep his composure and have the best quarter of basketball in his life.&lt;/p&gt;
  137. &lt;hr class="p-entry-hr" id="RFviqv"&gt;
  138. &lt;h2 id="SfkYCY"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Rotation&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
  139.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  140.        &lt;img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/EzCLPox9YUOQKL57kZSxPKxDUIM=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25433853/Screenshot_2024_05_04_at_9.19.07_PM.png"&gt;
  141.      &lt;cite&gt;https://www.pbpstats.com/live/nba/0042300231/game-flow&lt;/cite&gt;
  142.      &lt;figcaption&gt;from PBP Stats&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  143.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  144. &lt;hr class="p-entry-hr" id="qdWCik"&gt;
  145. &lt;h2 id="GvJV6u"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Up Next&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
  146. &lt;p id="kDrkNZ"&gt;The series resumes on Monday night for Game 2 in Denver at 9:00 PM CT with the Timberwolves looking to take a commanding 2-0 series lead. Fans can again watch the game on TNT or listen on the iHeartRadio app.&lt;/p&gt;
  147. &lt;hr class="p-entry-hr" id="AruUxb"&gt;
  148. &lt;h2 id="a7pBZV"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Highlights&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
  149. &lt;div id="T1l61B"&gt;&lt;div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"&gt;&lt;iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qmQybtSUcyI?rel=0" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" allow="accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share;"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  150. &lt;div id="62MOIg"&gt;&lt;div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"&gt;&lt;iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/y_EbaSvRh_U?rel=0" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" allow="accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share;"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  151.  
  152. </content>
  153.    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.canishoopus.com/timberwolves-scores-results/2024/5/4/24148926/wolves-vs-nuggets-final-score-recap-game-1-playoffs-anthony-edwards-naz-reid-career-high-jokic"/>
  154.    <id>https://www.canishoopus.com/timberwolves-scores-results/2024/5/4/24148926/wolves-vs-nuggets-final-score-recap-game-1-playoffs-anthony-edwards-naz-reid-career-high-jokic</id>
  155.    <author>
  156.      <name>Ryan Eichten</name>
  157.    </author>
  158.  </entry>
  159.  <entry>
  160.    <published>2024-05-04T14:16:12-05:00</published>
  161.    <updated>2024-05-04T14:16:12-05:00</updated>
  162.    <title>Denver Primer: The Wolves’ Offense Has the Structure We All Want, and it’s Amazing</title>
  163.    <content type="html">  
  164.  
  165.    &lt;figure&gt;
  166.      &lt;img alt="Minnesota Timberwolves v Phoenix Suns - Game Three" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/xHvSYbH-i_whkUt8LVMQxV4epHU=/0x0:4113x2742/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73327391/2150373684.0.jpg" /&gt;
  167.        &lt;figcaption&gt;Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  168.    &lt;/figure&gt;
  169.  
  170.  &lt;p&gt;The Wolves offense had more snap to it in round one due to patience and more intentional action; the result was self-explanatory, and Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns profited.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p id="MH8qNE"&gt;A cool, composed, and not yet injured Head Coach Chris Finch took the stand after game 3 in the desert after another throttling of the &lt;a href="https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/"&gt;Phoenix Suns&lt;/a&gt;. It was yet another high-octane offensive performance in which the &lt;a href="https://www.canishoopus.com"&gt;Minnesota Timberwolves&lt;/a&gt;, looking unlike their regular season selves, put up 126 points and executed near-flawlessly on offense when the game called for it.&lt;/p&gt;
  171. &lt;p id="KBEUwZ"&gt;As a product of the display, Finch was asked to ponder the outward look of a more structured offense.&lt;/p&gt;
  172. &lt;p id="fjarRa"&gt;“We are play calling a little bit more than we had for the regular season,” he said. “But I really think conceptually we understand what we’re trying to do.”&lt;/p&gt;
  173. &lt;p id="DqFjow"&gt;It’s something fans had question marks around, and at points were pounding the table for as they saw the Wolves slip at the turn of the new year offensively. The virus of “your turn, my turn” basketball and a lack of organization in the clutch cause the Wolves to slip from the best clutch team in the NBA to dead last in offensive rating in clutch time (92.5); a part of the stat table that found them in woeful company.&lt;/p&gt;
  174.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  175.        &lt;img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/v53xv3-Y0rQ5KZaQZen9sLPHljI=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25433340/Screen_Shot_2024_05_04_at_12.28.16_PM.png"&gt;
  176.      &lt;cite&gt;NBA&lt;/cite&gt;
  177.      &lt;figcaption&gt;Clutch Time offensive rating, from the date period of January 7 through April 1.&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  178.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  179. &lt;p id="YBSdYw"&gt;As fast as things went south at the beginning of the year, or perhaps even faster, it seemed as is a completely different team entered the postseason offensively. In addition to more structure, it boiled down to the two top horses in Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards, more willing to get off the ball and not press when it felt like the game needed a bucket. They trusted to run the play and concepts and have further belief that when the ball got to the right person, they would end up making the shot.&lt;/p&gt;
  180. &lt;p id="7DeeFI"&gt;Edwards is currently averaging 6.3 assists in the playoffs to his season average of 5.1, and Towns’ patience has paid dividends in reducing the number of turnovers he commits. Over the last three seasons’ postseason first-round series, Towns’ turnover totals are as follows:&lt;/p&gt;
  181. &lt;p id="8MOldr"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2022&lt;/strong&gt; (vs. Memphis): 27 TOs, 21.3%&lt;/p&gt;
  182. &lt;p id="sqU7I2"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2023&lt;/strong&gt; (vs. Denver): 18 TOs, 18.1%&lt;/p&gt;
  183. &lt;p id="PV2Bal"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2024&lt;/strong&gt; (vs. Phoenix): 7 TOs, 11.1%&lt;/p&gt;
  184. &lt;p id="CGH0L0"&gt;I don’t have a math degree, but I see a positive correlation. You may ask, what’s been the overall benefit of Towns and Edwards practicing patience and getting off the ball quicker? The best offensive rating in the NBA during the postseason would be a good place to start.&lt;/p&gt;
  185.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  186.        &lt;img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/dMG17tSMoHoR-N5f_1FY-CrWobw=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25433380/Screen_Shot_2024_05_04_at_1.09.19_PM.png"&gt;
  187.      &lt;cite&gt;NBA&lt;/cite&gt;
  188.      &lt;figcaption&gt;Postseason Offensive Rating&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  189.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  190. &lt;p id="TjpOw5"&gt;Good half-court action off of an often called horns set...&lt;/p&gt;
  191. &lt;div id="2YIQtX"&gt;
  192. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  193. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;Karl-Anthony Towns deep off-screen 3 &lt;a href="https://t.co/JRNfw7D3bE"&gt;pic.twitter.com/JRNfw7D3bE&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Timberwolves Clips (@WolvesClips) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/WolvesClips/status/1784777412053524699?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;April 29, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  194. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  195. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  196.  
  197. &lt;/div&gt;
  198. &lt;p id="GGoWeh"&gt;Or running motion and getting downhill to the basket off of a screen to make a heavy-minute wing work a little bit harder. This could be something they try on an iffy defender in Michael Porter Jr...&lt;/p&gt;
  199. &lt;div id="J5h3nD"&gt;
  200. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  201. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;Naz Reid off-screen driving layup &lt;a href="https://t.co/Bhzb987kEY"&gt;pic.twitter.com/Bhzb987kEY&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Timberwolves Clips (@WolvesClips) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/WolvesClips/status/1784060087146774894?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;April 27, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  202. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  203. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  204.  
  205. &lt;/div&gt;
  206. &lt;p id="PAMHyP"&gt;How the Denver Nuggets decide to defend the Wolves will be markedly different than how Phoenix did, both in personnel and level of effectiveness.&lt;/p&gt;
  207. &lt;p id="1xCm0d"&gt;I could see a Porter Jr. bothering Towns when he’s away from the basket and having enough length to give him pause about pulling a high volume of threes (not as effective if Towns decides to post up at a higher volume). I could also see an initial wall-up with Aaron Gordon pestering Edwards out of the gate in an effort to be physical with him.&lt;/p&gt;
  208. &lt;p id="QMFhhh"&gt;But the good news is those things only work if regression to the February Wolves happens.&lt;/p&gt;
  209. &lt;p id="CyS9pW"&gt;If the same level of intentionality goes down as it did when the brooms were broken out almost a week ago?&lt;/p&gt;
  210. &lt;p id="BHt6Aa"&gt;Game on.&lt;/p&gt;
  211. &lt;p id="lmIgSC"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  212.  
  213. </content>
  214.    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.canishoopus.com/2024/5/4/24148876/timberwolves-nuggets-nba-playoffs-chris-finch-anthony-edwards-karl-anthony-towns-offense"/>
  215.    <id>https://www.canishoopus.com/2024/5/4/24148876/timberwolves-nuggets-nba-playoffs-chris-finch-anthony-edwards-karl-anthony-towns-offense</id>
  216.    <author>
  217.      <name>Andrew Carlson</name>
  218.    </author>
  219.  </entry>
  220.  <entry>
  221.    <published>2024-05-04T12:19:41-05:00</published>
  222.    <updated>2024-05-04T12:19:41-05:00</updated>
  223.    <title>Reacts Results: Wolves Fans Are Confident  Minnesota Can Beat Denver</title>
  224.    <content type="html">  
  225.  
  226.    &lt;figure&gt;
  227.      &lt;img alt="Minnesota Timberwolves v Denver Nuggets" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/WovGOoQEEkVubb90J6Ea54dJKg8=/0x0:4833x3222/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73327258/2115809795.0.jpg" /&gt;
  228.        &lt;figcaption&gt;Photo by Bart Young/NBAE via Getty Images&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  229.    &lt;/figure&gt;
  230.  
  231.  &lt;p&gt;The Timberwolves are in the second round of the playoffs for the first time in 20 years. How confident are Wolves fans in Anthony Edwards, Karl-Anthony Towns, Rudy Gobert and Co.’s ability to win an NBA Championship?&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p id="22BYyu"&gt;The Minnesota Timberwolves gave their fans a taste of playoff euphoria for the first time in two decades, dominating the Phoenix Suns 4-0 in the first round of the Western Conference Playoffs. Not only was it the first series win since Kevin Garnett wore trees around the waist back in 2004, it was the first sweep in the franchise’s 35-year history. &lt;/p&gt;
  232. &lt;p id="Qld0eL"&gt;Fresh off the win, earlier this week we asked fans three questions in the latest edition of Reacts. &lt;/p&gt;
  233. &lt;h3 id="4PLxAY"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1) What was your favorite part of the Wolves’ sweep over the Suns?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
  234. &lt;ul&gt;
  235. &lt;li id="9TYJYO"&gt;Anthony Edwards’ rise, finally getting the recognition he deserves&lt;/li&gt;
  236. &lt;li id="QI32nV"&gt;Revival of “They got KD, but we got Jaden McDaniels” clip&lt;/li&gt;
  237. &lt;li id="69QwUp"&gt;Karl-Anthony Towns winning a playoff series&lt;/li&gt;
  238. &lt;li id="GOEY4X"&gt;Wolves proving everybody wrong&lt;/li&gt;
  239. &lt;/ul&gt;
  240.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  241.        &lt;img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/QfOu3iBmt_Vnnb18pJ7GiX3BsQE=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25433294/Minnesota_1_50124.png"&gt;
  242.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  243. &lt;p id="sqSF9s"&gt;Fans kept an impressively petty number of receipts in the days leading up to Round 1, and it had to feel good for them to press send when they unloaded the bookmarks folder last weekend after the Game 4 win. Seeing national media members and NBA fans at-large eat crow about the Timberwolves’ playoff viability was tremendous content. While Wolves fans have believed in this team all season long and didn’t need a proof of concept in the playoffs as much as national media members did, it surely had to be reassuring to see a historically elite defense translate to postseason. &lt;/p&gt;
  244. &lt;p id="MGjzks"&gt;Beyond that, to see Edwards take a leap on the floor as a playoff Apex predator, and then have media members, fans, and everyone in between all over social media crown him as a future face of the league and seriously compare him to Michael Jordan was something that will stick with me for a long time. 30% of fans felt similarly. Ant was incredible in Round 1, but he hopes that is just the beginning.&lt;/p&gt;
  245. &lt;h3 id="5Jj5ri"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2) What is your prediction for the Western Conference Semifinals?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
  246. &lt;ul&gt;
  247. &lt;li id="nIxilU"&gt;Wolves in 4/5&lt;/li&gt;
  248. &lt;li id="DlObBA"&gt;Wolves in 6/7&lt;/li&gt;
  249. &lt;li id="LShFE1"&gt;Nuggets in 4/5&lt;/li&gt;
  250. &lt;li id="Vhpbiy"&gt;Nuggets in 6/7&lt;/li&gt;
  251. &lt;/ul&gt;
  252.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  253.        &lt;img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/yXhvqHDu0kAN97EmE31eNZiFyL8=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25433295/Minnesota_2_50124.png"&gt;
  254.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  255. &lt;p id="QRUSAH"&gt;The manner in which the Wolves demolished the Suns unquestionably inspired confidence in this fanbase. Not only did the Timberwolves’ defense shine in slowing down a high octane Suns offense, but &lt;a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/advanced?SeasonType=Playoffs&amp;amp;dir=A&amp;amp;sort=OFF_RATING"&gt;Minnesota held the highest offensive rating (123.2) — by nearly four points — of any team in Round 1&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;
  256. &lt;p id="T8aeXp"&gt;Edwards was an impressive engine, averaging 31.0 points on 51.2/43.8/83.9 shooting splits, 8.0 rebounds, 6.3 assists, and 2.8 stocks per game. But Towns added 19.3 points on 53.1/52.9/88.9 shooting splits, 9.5 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per contest while registering the highest assist-to-turnover ratio (1.43) and 3-point rate (34.7% of his total shots) of his playoff career. Add in a combined 31.6 points per game from Gobert, Jaden McDaniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and the &lt;a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/traditional?SeasonType=Playoffs&amp;amp;StarterBench=Bench&amp;amp;dir=A&amp;amp;sort=PTS"&gt;third-most bench points of any team in Round 1&lt;/a&gt; (27.0), and you’re cooking with some serious gas on that end of the floor. &lt;/p&gt;
  257. &lt;p id="wztIOI"&gt;The offense — fueled by Edwards’ ascension to megastardom and Towns following a successful blueprint — to me is why fans are so optimistic about the Wolves’ chances of knocking off the defending champion Nuggets in Round 2. We’ll see what happens.&lt;/p&gt;
  258. &lt;p id="fJ9o1i"&gt;And finally...&lt;/p&gt;
  259. &lt;h3 id="4aZLBt"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;3) After the sweep of the Suns, what is your confidence level in the Wolves’ ability to win the NBA Finals?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
  260. &lt;ul&gt;
  261. &lt;li id="aPYceC"&gt;0-3&lt;/li&gt;
  262. &lt;li id="rtHR5X"&gt;4-6&lt;/li&gt;
  263. &lt;li id="r3Tkqn"&gt;7-8&lt;/li&gt;
  264. &lt;li id="yN8UxF"&gt;9-10&lt;/li&gt;
  265. &lt;/ul&gt;
  266.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  267.        &lt;img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/9Y-BdnJ9J4SVuM_gDeYpz_Jbxns=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25433296/Minnesota_3_50124.png"&gt;
  268.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  269. &lt;p id="IU0WiV"&gt;What I love about Timberwolves fans is their collective basketball intelligence. They &lt;em&gt;respect &lt;/em&gt;the Nuggets. They understand how difficult of a task it will be to knock off the Nuggets, one of the greatest clutch time teams we’ve seen in quite some time. Denver tests your discipline for 48 minutes, and two-time MVP Nikola Jokić will destroy you when you lose focus, even for a split second. Fans get that. But they also recognize that the Wolves have everything they need to win a title.&lt;/p&gt;
  270. &lt;p id="M75MHA"&gt;That middle ground — respecting the Nuggets but maintaining a confidence in the Timberwolves that is based in reality — reflected by the 7-8 entry collecting a leading share (46%) of the vote. The 4-6 crowd probably skews more towards “I’ll truly believe the Wolves can win a title if they beat the Nuggets, which is unlikely,” while the 9-10 legion likely leans more in the opposite direction of, “Let’s see the Nuggets stop score against this elite defense &lt;em&gt;and &lt;/em&gt;find a way to stop Anthony Edwards.”&lt;/p&gt;
  271. &lt;p id="dhLLCO"&gt;Time will tell which group ends up being correct. We’re about to find out.&lt;/p&gt;
  272. &lt;hr class="p-entry-hr" id="6EG74A"&gt;
  273. &lt;p id="NeKyx4"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Check out &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href="https://sportsbook.draftkings.com/featured?wpcid=163864&amp;amp;wpcn=SBNation&amp;amp;wpcrid=Reacts&amp;amp;wpscn=Social&amp;amp;wpsrc=Vox&amp;amp;category=live-in-game"&gt;&lt;em&gt;DraftKings Sportsbook&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;em&gt;, the official sportsbook partner of SB Nation.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  274.  
  275. </content>
  276.    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.canishoopus.com/2024/5/4/24148897/minnesota-timberwolves-survey-denver-nuggets-phoenix-suns-nba-playoffs-anthony-edwards-towns-gobert"/>
  277.    <id>https://www.canishoopus.com/2024/5/4/24148897/minnesota-timberwolves-survey-denver-nuggets-phoenix-suns-nba-playoffs-anthony-edwards-towns-gobert</id>
  278.    <author>
  279.      <name>Jack Borman</name>
  280.    </author>
  281.  </entry>
  282.  <entry>
  283.    <published>2024-05-04T11:16:14-05:00</published>
  284.    <updated>2024-05-04T11:16:14-05:00</updated>
  285.    <title>Playoff Game Preview #5: Wolves at Nuggets</title>
  286.    <content type="html">  
  287.  
  288.    &lt;figure&gt;
  289.      &lt;img alt="Minnesota Timberwolves v Denver Nuggets" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/kQe-yUNTer0lHaZUcYsD6-ZlsS0=/0x0:5010x3340/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73327169/2148222963.0.jpg" /&gt;
  290.        &lt;figcaption&gt;Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  291.    &lt;/figure&gt;
  292.  
  293.  &lt;p&gt;Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves look to win their fifth straight playoff game as they go a Mile High to take on two-time MVP Nikola Jokić and the defending champion Nuggets in Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p id="EWHEF4"&gt;It’s time, &lt;a href="https://www.canishoopus.com"&gt;Minnesota Timberwolves&lt;/a&gt; fans... The second round is upon us for the first time in 20 years. &lt;/p&gt;
  294. &lt;p id="65b7Bd"&gt;Across the sports landscape, winning a playoff series is but a ho-hum achievement. For Wolves Nation, this has been two decades in the making. An entire generation of Minnesota sports fans have grown up while the Timberwolves have floundered around in the cellar of the NBA. As the incompetence on 1st Ave. continued to mount, the Timberwolves were left in a perpetual free fall with zero hope in sight. To make matters worse? As the rest of the NBA world thrived under the stewardship of the LeBron James and the &lt;a href="https://www.goldenstateofmind.com"&gt;Golden State Warriors&lt;/a&gt;’ dynastic run, the Timberwolves were thrown into the corner and forcefully given a dunce cap as the rest of the NBA routinely placed the Wolves as the butt of all their jokes.&lt;/p&gt;
  295. &lt;div class="c-float-right"&gt;&lt;div id="oqyEQD"&gt;&lt;div data-anthem-component="aside:12299189"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  296. &lt;p id="MvrZSz"&gt;No longer. These Timberwolves have made a joke out of the &lt;a href="https://www.brightsideofthesun.com"&gt;Phoenix Suns&lt;/a&gt;, cooling down the Suns’ radiating offense on their way to sweeping them right out of the 2024 &lt;a href="https://www.sbnation.com/nba-playoffs"&gt;NBA playoffs&lt;/a&gt;. The Wolves will now square off against the very team that punted them right out of the 2023 NBA playoffs in five games. The Denver Nuggets are a force that have taken the NBA landscape by storm. Serbian big man Nikola Jokić has cast an inescapable shadow over the 29 NBA franchises. The pathway to winning an NBA Championship will inevitably lead you into the belly of the beast. The Timberwolves have been presented with an opportunity to slay the dragon who desperately seeks to defend their treasure. &lt;/p&gt;
  297. &lt;aside id="gZhgfW"&gt;&lt;div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"Series Preview Guide: #3 Timberwolves vs. #2 Nuggets","url":"https://www.canishoopus.com/2024/5/2/24146867/timberwolves-vs-nuggets-preview-odds-nba-playoffs-western-conference-anthony-edwards-nikola-jokic"}]}'&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/aside&gt;&lt;p id="x2ov8p"&gt;Fortunately Wolves Nation, the Timberwolves have their own fire-breathing basketball savant. Anthony Edwards has quickly ascended to the forefront of the NBA. Unafraid of the moment, the 22-year-old superstar is knocking on the door of greatness.&lt;/p&gt;
  298. &lt;div id="B5Ppjk"&gt;
  299. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  300. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards has generated more than 100 million video views across NBA social and digital platforms since the start of the NBA Playoffs, second among all players (trailing LeBron James with 130M video views).  Edwards finished the regular season as the 7th…&lt;/p&gt;— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/NBAPR/status/1785353403440279853?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;April 30, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  301. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  302. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  303.  
  304. &lt;/div&gt;
  305. &lt;p id="LLTBC0"&gt;As bright as Edward’s star shines, he does not walk into this battle alone. These Timberwolves are a monster of their own. With enough length to warp themselves around the Earth's circumference, this team is capable of utter disruption to NBA offense. This is a true clash of two titans that NBA fanbases far and wide will bear witness to. &lt;/p&gt;
  306. &lt;p id="NblgYi"&gt;Remember to enjoy this Wolves fans. &lt;/p&gt;
  307. &lt;p id="4kxyrH"&gt;Let’s dive into the matchup and what to expect as these two titans prepare themselves for battle Saturday night.&lt;/p&gt;
  308. &lt;hr class="p-entry-hr" id="Gxas5g"&gt;
  309. &lt;h2 id="jLCRAG"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Game Info&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
  310. &lt;ul&gt;
  311. &lt;li id="9ZWOL8"&gt;
  312. &lt;strong&gt;Who:&lt;/strong&gt; #3 Minnesota Timberwolves (4-0) vs. #2 Denver Nuggets (4-1)&lt;/li&gt;
  313. &lt;li id="lrgfQH"&gt;
  314. &lt;strong&gt;When:&lt;/strong&gt; Saturday, May 4th at 6:00 PM CT&lt;/li&gt;
  315. &lt;li id="F5qibU"&gt;
  316. &lt;strong&gt;Where:&lt;/strong&gt; Ball Arena — Denver, CO&lt;/li&gt;
  317. &lt;li id="GFNgyA"&gt;
  318. &lt;strong&gt;National TV:&lt;/strong&gt; TNT (Kevin Harlan, Reggie Miller, Jamal Crawford and Allie LaForce)&lt;/li&gt;
  319. &lt;li id="aDNwee"&gt;
  320. &lt;strong&gt;Radio:&lt;/strong&gt; KFAN FM 100.3, Wolves App&lt;/li&gt;
  321. &lt;li id="H9ONkZ"&gt;
  322. &lt;strong&gt;Line:&lt;/strong&gt; Wolves +4.5 | &lt;strong&gt;Total:&lt;/strong&gt; 208.5 (courtesy of &lt;a href="https://sportsbook.draftkings.com/teams/basketball/nba/minnesota-timberwolves"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;DraftKings Sportsbook&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/li&gt;
  323. &lt;li id="N8IAt5"&gt;
  324. &lt;strong&gt;Jerseys:&lt;/strong&gt; Wolves (Association), Nuggets (Statement)&lt;/li&gt;
  325. &lt;/ul&gt;
  326. &lt;hr class="p-entry-hr" id="Wr0Rsi"&gt;
  327. &lt;h2 id="SsQL0B"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Injury Report&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
  328. &lt;p id="1SMxzg"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Updated as of Saturday, May 4 at 11:00 AM CT&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  329. &lt;h3 id="kNS2i0"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Minnesota&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
  330. &lt;p id="Zyou2b"&gt;Fully Healthy&lt;/p&gt;
  331. &lt;h3 id="3hRiF5"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Denver&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
  332. &lt;p id="RHEkpW"&gt;Questionable&lt;/p&gt;
  333. &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li id="sHPmmE"&gt;Jamal Murray (calf)&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;
  334. &lt;p id="JjENmb"&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.denverpost.com/2024/05/03/jamal-murray-nuggets-injury-status-timberwolves-series/"&gt;Murray has been in and out of practices this week leading up to the Round 2 clash&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  335. &lt;hr class="p-entry-hr" id="t1cNY8"&gt;
  336. &lt;h2 id="fG0X7y"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What to Watch For&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
  337.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  338.        &lt;img alt="NBA: Playoffs-Phoenix Suns at Minnesota Timberwolves" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/LUvVoCTym4SBic6fDqf7oU2oxBE=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25432706/usa_today_23074881.jpg"&gt;
  339.      &lt;cite&gt;Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports&lt;/cite&gt;
  340.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  341. &lt;h3 id="4MX4GS"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Chris Finch’s Capacity to Coach&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
  342. &lt;p id="gwb9dV"&gt;In the closing minutes of Game 4, Mike Conley raced Suns guard Devin Booker up the court. With Conley a step ahead, Booker bumped Conley sending him out of control into the sideline where he abruptly collided with Timberwolves Head Coach Chris Finch. The beloved coach took the brunt of the collision and ultimately suffered a torn patellar tendon in his right knee; he underwent surgery on Wednesday and traveled to Denver on Friday morning before meeting the team for practice at Ball Arena that afternoon. While the Wolves promptly dispatched the Suns in the waning minutes, losing Finch to injury has thrust lead assistant Micah Nori into a pivotal role in leading this team with Finch’s ability to patrol the sidelines in doubt.&lt;/p&gt;
  343. &lt;div id="B65Zws"&gt;
  344. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  345. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;Micah Nori says Finch’s surgery went well. Team still looking at options for him for Game 1, including joining them on the bench by moving some seats around or having him watch from a suite and joint them pregame and at halftime&lt;/p&gt;— Jon Krawczynski (@JonKrawczynski) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/JonKrawczynski/status/1785713534636064895?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 1, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  346. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  347. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  348.  
  349. &lt;/div&gt;
  350. &lt;p id="e5Kq8v"&gt;After years of turnover and instability, Finch has established a culture of accountability, confidence, and optimism in a team without a talent shortage but little know-how. With his status in doubt, Nori will be asked to lead the Wolves into Denver and put his imprint onto the game plan and rotation. &lt;a href="https://www.cleveland19.com/2024/03/09/timberwolves-coach-chris-finch-not-feeling-well-sits-out-minnesotas-visit-cleveland/"&gt;This isn’t the first time Nori has filled in for Finch, who sat out a March 8th game in Cleveland with illness.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  351. &lt;p id="RQhECF"&gt;This team features veteran talent capable of holding to their standard on both sides of the ball. Center Rudy Gobert already commands the defense, as he calls out coverages and constantly communicates with his teammates to effectively rotate defensively. On offense, Mike Conley is an elite organizer, pulling the strings of his teammates. Both players know what needs to be done, and look for their leadership among Nori to keep this team focused and firing on all cylinders.&lt;/p&gt;
  352.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  353.        &lt;img alt="NBA: Playoffs-Minnesota Timberwolves at Phoenix Suns" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/HAgj7q5_K0Lpk40XuyboSeKfkhE=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25432713/usa_today_23141175.jpg"&gt;
  354.      &lt;cite&gt;Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports&lt;/cite&gt;
  355.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  356. &lt;h3 id="OWJhSU"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How Will Denver Guard Anthony Edwards?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
  357. &lt;p id="cc3Crm"&gt;The Timberwolves have long established themselves as a premier defensive powerhouse this season. Clocking in with a defensive rating of &lt;a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/defense?dir=A&amp;amp;sort=DEF_RATING"&gt;108.4, the Timberwolves are far and away the top defensive team in the league and a commanding 2.2 points ahead of the second-in-line&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://www.celticsblog.com"&gt;Boston Celtics&lt;/a&gt;. We know this team will show up and play defense, but how will they keep pace with the high-powered Denver offense? It’s an important question that begins and ends with how the Nuggets attempt to contain Edwards.&lt;/p&gt;
  358. &lt;p id="QV4UFX"&gt;In last year’s playoff matchup, Edwards ran rampant against the Nuggets, averaging &lt;a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/e/edwaran01.html"&gt;31.6 points per game on 54.8 eFG%.&lt;/a&gt; Denver threw all they could at the flamethrower that is Edwards to no avail.&lt;/p&gt;
  359. &lt;div id="wOgKhE"&gt;
  360. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  361. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;Anthony Edwards' totals in Round 1 vs. Denver last year when defended by...&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Caldwell-Pope: 37p | 52% FG&lt;br&gt;Jokić: 32p | 43.3% FG&lt;br&gt;Gordon: 28p | 47.6% FG&lt;br&gt;Murray: 25p | 44% FG&lt;br&gt;Brown: 21p | 50% FG&lt;br&gt;Green: 21p | 63.6% FG&lt;br&gt;Porter Jr.: 12p | 50% FG&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Who's stopping him this year?&lt;/p&gt;— Charlie Walton (@CharlieWaltonMN) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/CharlieWaltonMN/status/1786468615958458791?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 3, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  362. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  363. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  364.  
  365. &lt;/div&gt;
  366. &lt;p id="RmGZgU"&gt;Aaron Gordon is an elite defender with the capability of playing physically while possessing enough athleticism to stick with the uber-athletic Ant. That said, if you pull Gordon up to guard Edwards, the Nuggets leave Karl Anthony-Towns in a favorable matchup where he can settle into the game. This leaves Denver in a position where they are going to have to pick their poison. Do you utilize Gordon to try and take Towns out of the game while letting Ant get his, or do you sell out on Ant and leave Towns room to operate?&lt;/p&gt;
  367. &lt;p id="rPnUDm"&gt;When you hear people say Minnesota is a tough matchup for Denver, this is why. They do not have a clean way to match up with the Timberwolves offensive weapons. Their usual perimeter stopper Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, struggles to slow down bigger wings who can play with force and physicality, as you can see in the clip from last year’s playoffs below:&lt;/p&gt;
  368. &lt;h5 id="mvkbPQ"&gt;(Editor’s Note: If you are reading this on Apple News, please &lt;a href="https://www.sbnation.com/e/23911735"&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; so you can view embedded videos important to the analysis, and enjoy the best overall reading experience.)&lt;/h5&gt;
  369. &lt;div id="OGqg1L"&gt;
  370. &lt;div&gt;&lt;div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"&gt;&lt;iframe src="https://cdn.iframe.ly/api/iframe?url=https%3A%2F%2Fvideos.nba.com%2Fnba%2Fpbp%2Fmedia%2F2023%2F04%2F21%2F0042200143%2F365%2F193c0c7c-0066-6eef-7f82-9120aaee85f1_1280x720.mp4&amp;amp;key=9ef4a209439e42bc59783ba959d50197" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen="" allow="encrypted-media *;"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  371. &lt;script async="" src="https://cdn.iframe.ly/embed.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  372. &lt;/div&gt;
  373. &lt;p id="w91Eqa"&gt;I expect the Nuggets to throw several different bodies and looks at Edwards, but who matches up with him in game one will be a point of interest. &lt;/p&gt;
  374.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  375.        &lt;img alt="NBA: Playoffs-Minnesota Timberwolves at Phoenix Suns" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/zEizHJOCCpYsKQ7pMVxXXjlYE2w=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25427897/usa_today_23140789.jpg"&gt;
  376.      &lt;cite&gt;Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports&lt;/cite&gt;
  377.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  378. &lt;h3 id="KFrQHR"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Can the Timberwolves’ Bench Keep Cooking?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
  379. &lt;p id="HkSoaZ"&gt;A staple during round 1 was the enormous contribution from the Wolves bench, outscoring the Suns' bench 27 - 21.5 in points per game in Round 1. Nickeil Alexander-Walker played a crucial role in holding the Timberwolves defensive standard. Of the five best three-man lineup pairings from the first round, you can find&lt;a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/team/1610612750/lineups-traditional?GroupQuantity=3&amp;amp;SeasonType=Playoffs&amp;amp;dir=D&amp;amp;sort=PLUS_MINUS"&gt; Alexander-Walker in three of them:&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  380. &lt;ul&gt;
  381. &lt;li id="1djj4K"&gt;Rudy Gobert, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and Anthony Edwards - +14&lt;/li&gt;
  382. &lt;li id="S3BCAW"&gt;Mike Conley, Rudy Gobert, Nickeil Alexander-Walker - +10.5&lt;/li&gt;
  383. &lt;li id="mBTF0s"&gt;Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Naz Reid, and Anthony Edwads - +9.5&lt;/li&gt;
  384. &lt;/ul&gt;
  385. &lt;p id="Gdda61"&gt;I talked quite substantially in the last second on how the Nuggets will try and guard us, but NAW will play a crucial role in how we guard the Denver. Jamal Murray has quickly become the epitome of the saying “Playoff Riser”. See last year’s difference:&lt;/p&gt;
  386. &lt;ul&gt;
  387. &lt;li id="Fi96HN"&gt;
  388. &lt;a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/player/1627750?SeasonType=Regular+Season"&gt;2022-23 Regular season&lt;/a&gt; - 20 PPG | 6.2 AST | 4 REB | 45.4 FG%&lt;/li&gt;
  389. &lt;li id="4r7duv"&gt;
  390. &lt;a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/player/1627750?SeasonType=Playoffs"&gt;2022-23 Playoffs&lt;/a&gt; - 26.1 PPG | 7.1 AST | 5.7 REB | 47.3 FG%&lt;/li&gt;
  391. &lt;/ul&gt;
  392. &lt;p id="6mOAD3"&gt;Alexander-Walker was perhaps the best defensive matchup Murray saw on Denver’s pathway to a title. In 40 minutes guarding Murray, NAW held the elite shotmaker to &lt;a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/player/1627750?SeasonType=Regular+Season"&gt;36% from the floor and 13/36 overall.&lt;/a&gt; Look for Nickeil to play a crucial role in disrupting the flow of the Denver offense. &lt;/p&gt;
  393. &lt;p id="USAGDe"&gt;You can’t talk about the Timberwolves bench without bringing up the newly minted sixth man of the year Naz Reid. &lt;a href="https://www.the-sun.com/sport/11022043/naz-reid-towel-minnesota-timberwolves-wrestlemania-wwe-nba/"&gt;I expect the towels to be out in full force&lt;/a&gt; throughout the series. Naz will be crucial in punishing the weak Denver bench unit while Jokić sits. Like the series before, the depth of this Wolves squad plays into the ability to wear teams down with fresh legs and constant effort on both ends of the court. &lt;/p&gt;
  394. &lt;h3 id="Dmag6F"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Keys to Victory&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
  395. &lt;p id="2PLmY8"&gt;The Timberwolves have a legitimate shot to win this series. You read that right, but one more time so you believe it: the Wolves CAN beat the Nuggets. Denver does not have the same level of bench as last year, and there are vulnerabilities for Minnesota to exploit. I have four keys to securing a Game 1 victory:&lt;/p&gt;
  396. &lt;ul&gt;
  397. &lt;li id="wa75v3"&gt;Disrupt Denver’s offensive flow&lt;/li&gt;
  398. &lt;li id="R16wZV"&gt;Force Jokić to be a scorer&lt;/li&gt;
  399. &lt;li id="OeVAsg"&gt;Obliterate Denver in the non-Jokić minutes&lt;/li&gt;
  400. &lt;li id="U7dfIV"&gt;Find secondary scoring outside of Edwards&lt;/li&gt;
  401. &lt;/ul&gt;
  402. &lt;aside id="sl3lf5"&gt;&lt;div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"Keys to Round 2: What Will it Take for the Timberwolves to Dethrone the Nuggets?","url":"https://www.canishoopus.com/2024/5/3/24147655/minnesota-timberwolves-denver-nuggets-nba-playoffs-western-conference-nikola-jokic-anthony-edwards"}]}'&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/aside&gt;&lt;p id="itxiF9"&gt;The Wolves will need to lean into their length. By clogging passing lanes, you force Jokić into scoring the basketball and take away tilted floor situations that lead to open shots from sharpshooter Michael Porter Jr. On offense, getting Towns percolating within the flow next to Edwards is option number one. That said, if Denver sells out on taking Towns out of the game with Gordon and doubles, then we need the veteran big man to continue making smart reads as a passer and open up tilted floor looks for Jaden McDaniels or open shots for Conley and Alexander-Walker.&lt;/p&gt;
  403. &lt;p id="l1q2Ma"&gt;Above all else, remember to soak this up. Win or lose, this is going to be a battle. These are two of the premier teams in the NBA currently and remember to appreciate the Wolves being in this position. We are here to win, but these moments have been so fleeting over the last 20 years, remember to appreciate what we have while we have it.&lt;/p&gt;
  404. &lt;p id="IBjEOm"&gt;With that said, go kill everything in front of you Edwards.&lt;/p&gt;
  405. &lt;div id="BAC2IX"&gt;
  406. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  407. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;Anthony Edwards : “I just want to kill everything in front of me man, thats the main thing pretty much, that’s all there is to it.”  &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Ant man adding to his growing personality. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Link: &lt;a href="https://t.co/EYZpA1govw"&gt;https://t.co/EYZpA1govw&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://t.co/UOVbfsBrrj"&gt;pic.twitter.com/UOVbfsBrrj&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— The Whole Delivery (@TWDTV1) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/TWDTV1/status/1784100348463906819?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;April 27, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  408. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  409. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  410.  
  411. &lt;/div&gt;
  412.  
  413. </content>
  414.    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.canishoopus.com/2024/5/4/24147694/wolves-vs-nuggets-game-1-preview-starting-time-tv-schedule-injury-report-odds-anthony-edwards-jokic"/>
  415.    <id>https://www.canishoopus.com/2024/5/4/24147694/wolves-vs-nuggets-game-1-preview-starting-time-tv-schedule-injury-report-odds-anthony-edwards-jokic</id>
  416.    <author>
  417.      <name>Tim_Garrison</name>
  418.    </author>
  419.  </entry>
  420.  <entry>
  421.    <published>2024-05-04T01:50:07-05:00</published>
  422.    <updated>2024-05-04T01:50:07-05:00</updated>
  423.    <title>Lynx 92, Sky 81: Collier, Williams Shine in Preseason Opening Win</title>
  424.    <content type="html">  
  425.  
  426.    &lt;figure&gt;
  427.      &lt;img alt="Chicago Sky v Minnesota Lynx" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/gDFnFR1r8H5QX-CLXBGVGz5xdDQ=/0x578:3266x2755/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73326654/2150770093.0.jpg" /&gt;
  428.        &lt;figcaption&gt;Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  429.    &lt;/figure&gt;
  430.  
  431.  &lt;p&gt;Lynx star Napheesa Collier and free agent acquisition Courtney Williams scored a combined 34 points on 14/20 shooting to lead Minnesota over the Chicago Sky, whose No. 3 overall pick Kamilla Cardoso left early with a right shoulder injury.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p id="KLRvN3"&gt;The Minnesota Lynx took the floor to take on the Chicago Sky in their preseason opener at Target Center on Friday night, marking the first &lt;a href="https://www.swishappeal.com"&gt;WNBA&lt;/a&gt;/NBA basketball eclipse we’ve had in the Twin Cities in quite some time. &lt;/p&gt;
  432. &lt;p id="ypV82H"&gt;Kayla McBride (rest, illness) did not play in this one after arriving midweek on the heels of finishing her overseas season with EuroLeague Champion Fenerbahçe alongside fellow Lynx star Napheesa Collier. The First Team All-WNBA did take the floor on Friday, along with another EuroLeague performer in Bridget Carleton and sophomore wing Diamond Miller, who is coming off left knee surgery in November. &lt;/p&gt;
  433. &lt;p id="aobCin"&gt;Dorka Juhász, Sika Koné and Cecilia Zandalasini all remain away from the team as they fulfill their overseas contractual agreements. Since they each have less than three years of WNBA service, none of them are subject to a season-long suspension for arriving late to camp as mandated by the league’s prioritization rule. Their late arrivals probably won’t affect personnel decisions, though, as each of them are likely to make the opening day roster of 12 players. &lt;/p&gt;
  434. &lt;p id="325oeK"&gt;Talented college superstars and WNBA rookies Kamilla Cardoso of South Carolina and Angel Reese of &lt;a href="https://www.andthevalleyshook.com"&gt;LSU&lt;/a&gt; made their highly anticipated league debuts for the Sky. Reese started alongside Elizabeth Williams, while Cardoso came off the bench for Chicago, who were without Isabelle Harrison (knee) and offseason acquisition Brianna Turner (knee), who was part of the return in a trade that sent 2021 WNBA Finals MVP Kahleah Copper to the Phoenix Mercury.&lt;/p&gt;
  435. &lt;p id="L1eDks"&gt;Let’s get into seven takeaways from the Lynx/’s 92-81 win over the Sky in their preseason opener.&lt;/p&gt;
  436. &lt;hr class="p-entry-hr" id="wGyF2j"&gt;
  437.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  438.        &lt;img alt="Chicago Sky v Minnesota Lynx" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Eg-kokJszPRajuwkLWlQXD7sxzw=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25432913/2150777303.jpg"&gt;
  439.      &lt;cite&gt;Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images&lt;/cite&gt;
  440.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  441. &lt;h3 id="bfniJ4"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1) Get Ready for an Even More Efficient Napheesa Collier&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
  442. &lt;p id="Igm9HK"&gt;The Lynx captain was one of the best stories of the 2023 WNBA season. Collier averaged a career-high 21.5 points on 48.5/29.8/84.0 FG/3PT/FT shooting splits, 8.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.2 blocks across 37 appearances, earning her First Team All-WNBA and All-Defensive Second Team honors, and she finished fourth in MVP.&lt;/p&gt;
  443. &lt;p id="9On65b"&gt;Those numbers very well could be her &lt;em&gt;floor&lt;/em&gt; in 2024. Collier thrived in a five-out alignment, with Alanna Smith and Courtney Williams spaced to the corners, and Miller and Natisha Hiedeman playing above the break with Phee. The off-the-dribble creation from Williams combined with the spacing of capable 3-point shooters in Hiedeman, Miller and Smith created a ton of room in which Collier could work. Collier will be the heartbeat of the Lynx offense. She quarterbacked everything from atop the key, where she engaged handlers in the dribble hand-off (DHO) game, set screens in the pick-and-roll, passed to cutters back door, and everything in between. When she was in the slots, she spaced effectively for guards, set good off-ball screens, and sealed nicely in a more cleared-out paint to get looks at the basket or set up post-up chances. &lt;/p&gt;
  444. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  445. &lt;p id="6DZYIo"&gt;“I hope it will open the paint up for me more. I mean, that’s no secret. I like to be in the post, and so, I’ve really been working hard to expand my game so that I’ll knock down those shots when I’m open and they’re available to me,” Collier told Canis Hoopus postgame. &lt;/p&gt;
  446. &lt;p id="ypDStb"&gt;“But it opens the court up for me because if people have to guard me close up high, I can get to my spot down low.”&lt;/p&gt;
  447. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  448. &lt;p id="IoBfGh"&gt;Collier was everywhere in the early going, forcing an airball in help defense, grabbing an offensive rebound and hitting a cutting Smith for the game’s first score, hauling in a tough contested rebound, clearing space for Williams score in a DHO action up top, and drilling her first shot of the game. All of that took place in the first 4:03. &lt;/p&gt;
  449. &lt;p id="QH4hoX"&gt;The three-time All-Star kept it rolling in the second quarter, scoring eight points, making all three of her shots, including an acrobatic and-one finish and a 3-pointer from the left slot to bail out a dead possession. She also had a pair of steals and a block, too. The best part? She did it all in just 5:31 of action in the second period. &lt;/p&gt;
  450. &lt;div id="g89CNE"&gt;
  451. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  452. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;PHEE FOR THREEE &lt;a href="https://t.co/X0OkGtOdFZ"&gt;pic.twitter.com/X0OkGtOdFZ&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Minnesota Lynx (@minnesotalynx) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/minnesotalynx/status/1786567246497636492?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 4, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  453. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  454. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  455.  
  456. &lt;/div&gt;
  457. &lt;p id="0CV9L9"&gt;Her jump shot looked as good, consistent and confident as ever, and she was in complete command of her game on both ends of the floor. &lt;/p&gt;
  458. &lt;p id="oErjFr"&gt;Collier was matched up with Reese on both ends, and dominated the matchup. Reese scored just six points on 1/4 shooting, recorded an assist and a turnover, and committed four fouls in the 14:10 she played in the first three quarters (Collier did not play in the fourth). Phee, meanwhile, scored a hyper-efficient 17 points on 7/9 shooting, made both of her 3-pointers, collected three rebounds, had one assist, amassed three stocks, and was a +16 in 19 minutes of action. &lt;/p&gt;
  459. &lt;p id="TCiuT8"&gt;Pretty damn good for a player who practiced in full just once (on Thursday) during the opening week of training camp. &lt;/p&gt;
  460.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  461.        &lt;img alt="Chicago Sky v Minnesota Lynx" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/RQBQz0DeU9pBwTOvGdcUeGcOzGg=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25432920/2150777220.jpg"&gt;
  462.      &lt;cite&gt;Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images&lt;/cite&gt;
  463.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  464. &lt;h3 id="4HQwzL"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2) Courtney Williams Breathes New Life Into the Offense&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
  465. &lt;p id="WQXb5r"&gt;Williams, a free agency pickup from the Sky, was everything as advertised — and more. She scored 17 points on 7/11 shooting, with most of her scores coming on mid-range looks off the dribble coming off screens or hand-off actions — a scoring element the Lynx sorely lacked last season. Adding a true scoring lead guard that can use her speed not only to support Collier as a scorer but create open shots for others is going to be a massive lift for a Lynx offense that struggled profusely to score consistently outside of Collier and McBride in 2023. &lt;/p&gt;
  466. &lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p id="KDUeKR"&gt;“It’s why we signed her, that’s what I told her. That’s why we paid her the big bucks. She should be in the conversation this season for one of the best guards in the league,” Lynx Head Coach and President of Basketball Operations Cheryl Reeve told Canis postgame. “She absolutely should be in that conversation, so she should be a First or Second-Team All-WNBA. She’s that good, and we want to get her back in that conversation.”&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  467. &lt;p id="NuJQED"&gt;She wasted no time introducing herself to the Target Center crowd, scoring nine of the Lynx’s 13 points of the game in a variety of ways. She opened with a tough mid-range bucket, before sinking two of three free throws after drawing a shooting foul on a 3, and then added a made triple shortly after. The home crowd of over 7,000 showered her with praise heading to the first media timeout. &lt;/p&gt;
  468. &lt;p id="s169Ry"&gt;The 2021 All-Star punished the Sky’s deep drop coverage with her jumper, but made great reads when the defense committed to her and willingly made plays to get her teammates open looks. After passing out of a shot on the first possession of the game and turning it over, Williams went the rest of the way dishing out five dimes without turning it over.&lt;/p&gt;
  469.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  470.        &lt;img alt="Chicago Sky v Minnesota Lynx" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/_cF_sdjGDIS2Q4by3ia56aGOiek=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25432929/2150777284.jpg"&gt;
  471.      &lt;cite&gt;Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images&lt;/cite&gt;
  472.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  473. &lt;h3 id="WiRgo5"&gt;
  474. &lt;strong&gt;3) Natisha Hiedeman Ready to Provide a Steady Bench Presence&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/h3&gt;
  475. &lt;p id="eH8TEU"&gt;The Lynx have struggled to find consistent point guard play ever since Lindsay Whalen retired in 2018, but that certainly could change in 2024. Reeve confirmed that Hiedeman will lead the bench unit this season as the backup to Williams. The former Connecticut Sun mainstay displayed exactly why the Lynx traded for her in January. &lt;/p&gt;
  476. &lt;p id="T2YUKz"&gt;Hiedeman did an excellent job of spacing the floor, made good decisions when attacking off the catch, made an extra pass to set up and assist a wide open Carleton corner 3, and really got after it defensively with active hands and good timing. She scored eight points on 3/7 shooting, grabbed four rebounds, and recorded six assists to just two turnovers. Reeve would like to see the career 39.2% 3-point shooter get up more than three 3-pointers, but that will come. &lt;/p&gt;
  477. &lt;div id="Uyc7Jr"&gt;
  478. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  479. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;FLEX ON EM, T   &lt;a href="https://t.co/EMN4jOBqmo"&gt;pic.twitter.com/EMN4jOBqmo&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Minnesota Lynx (@minnesotalynx) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/minnesotalynx/status/1786570526112006612?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 4, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  480. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  481. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  482.  
  483. &lt;/div&gt;
  484. &lt;p id="SnE5yz"&gt;Hiedeman and Williams — who played together in Connecticut — as a starting back-court dropped 11 dimes while committing just three turnovers, a 3.67 assist-to-turnover ratio that, if it sustains, will definitely help Reeve sleep easier at night. &lt;/p&gt;
  485. &lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p id="7MFrqQ"&gt;“Oh man I loved it. T came in as my rookie, so I’ve known T for six plus years now. I’m excited for her to kind of get that leash off of her so you can really see what she do.” Williams said of her former and now current teammate. “Because she can go. T can really go. I’m excited that she’s about to be able to get in her bag so I’m excited for her.”&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  486. &lt;p id="3uBucW"&gt;Collier echoed those sentiments. &lt;/p&gt;
  487. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  488. &lt;p id="rGezUk"&gt;“T has a really calming presence, which is great, obviously in a point guard. She’s really curious too. She’s one of the people who I was talking about who is asking where people like the ball, how they like to get into their actions, where they’re most successful,” she said.&lt;/p&gt;
  489. &lt;p id="01Iy9D"&gt;“I think that’s a really good quality in a point guard. Courtney does the same thing. It’s really important when you’re at that commander spot that you know what your soldiers like to do. And so the fact that we have people taking that initiative is one of the reasons our chemistry is coming so quickly and that we were able to come out and play so well today.”&lt;/p&gt;
  490. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  491.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  492.        &lt;img alt="Chicago Sky v Minnesota Lynx" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/h1KEg6h-ghMbOaVhnRSsdeISu-8=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25432941/2150770140.jpg"&gt;
  493.      &lt;cite&gt;Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images&lt;/cite&gt;
  494.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  495. &lt;h3 id="lI9XFq"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;4) A “Give and Take” Kind of Night Defensively&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
  496. &lt;p id="ezbVVo"&gt;The Lynx put forth a defensive performance you would expect to see from a team that is severely undersized without their defensive anchor in Juhász. They got out-rebounded 33-29, gave up 12 offensive rebounds for 12 second chance points, and lost the free throw attempt battle 25-17, but flew around and relied heavily upon forcing turnovers. Reeve’s group turned the Sky over 22 times and scored 20 points off of them. Outside of allowing a pair of offensive rebounds on free throws (and allowing 28 points on 9/14 shooting in the third quarter), it was a solid night given the circumstances. &lt;/p&gt;
  497. &lt;p id="ue5eff"&gt;Minnesota also had some defensive breakdowns centered around communication in their pick-and-roll coverages — something you expect to see this time of year when players are arriving to training camp at different times. But a nice plus was Miller looking very comfortable on that end of the floor. She held Diamond DeShields to 0 points on just one shot, communicated well on the back side of the defense and came away with a block and a steal. &lt;/p&gt;
  498. &lt;p id="yomMEs"&gt;Part of that comes from the Lynx generally playing drop coverage, but not strictly adhering to that scheme on Friday night. With a player as long, agile and athletic as Smith is at the center position, you will see her at times play more aggressive coverages — up at the level of the screen or even switch out on the perimeter, like we saw from Juhász last season. But Smith figuring out when and when not to be aggressive on the perimeter is something that will take time. Nonetheless, Reeve is excited about the prospect of playing Miller, Collier, Smith and Juhász switching in big, long, and athletic defensive lineups. &lt;/p&gt;
  499. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  500. &lt;p id="DgrOnj"&gt;“Lan, like Phee, they get aggressive on the ball screens. We’re trying to make this recognition of, we’re supposed to be playing a certain scheme and let’s say we miss it and the guard comes off and [the opponent is] wide open. I don’t like [the big to] step up (in coverage)”, Reeve told Canis, referencing two plays in which the big playing at the level resulted in Sky baskets. &lt;/p&gt;
  501. &lt;p id="E2OO5i"&gt;“If you’re Lan and you’re big like that, [switching] is going to be an easy thing to do. Not all of our personnel behind Lan (on the back side) are capable of turning [at the level coverage] into a positive. ... Dorka’s got it down. She’s not gonna step up when she shouldn’t step up,” Reeve added, saying Smith is still learning when to step up versus stay in a drop. “Lan has been really, really good. She’s a very, very trustworthy player. ... I’ve really, really enjoyed watching her and seeing her instincts.”&lt;/p&gt;
  502. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  503. &lt;p id="oMixJE"&gt;Collier is excited to play with Smith, especially defensively. &lt;/p&gt;
  504. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  505. &lt;p id="qgitnP"&gt;“I think [it’s Alanna’s] grittiness. I was so excited to get Lan because it’s so hard to play against her. I remember when she was at Chicago, she’s really strong, and she’s just a worker. She’ll get the rebounds, defend in the post, she does what she’s supposed to on offense. She’s just a smart player who knows what she’s supposed to be doing. And [she’s] reliable, which is like the most important thing,” Collier told Canis Hoopus. &lt;/p&gt;
  506. &lt;p id="QwYo4N"&gt;“She’s definitely stronger than she looks too. I think that’s one thing where she can move positions, where we can have her guard that five player or we can move her up and we have a bigger lineup.”&lt;/p&gt;
  507. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  508. &lt;p id="rcisuc"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  509.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  510.        &lt;img alt="Chicago Sky v Minnesota Lynx" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/y4Mj3uhs4AM_1QHTnM6fCAkBOkg=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25432954/2150777218.jpg"&gt;
  511.      &lt;cite&gt;Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images&lt;/cite&gt;
  512.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  513. &lt;h3 id="Q3PcBz"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;5) A Tale of Two Bench Performances&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
  514. &lt;p id="dX4PPG"&gt;Alissa Pili and Bridget Carleton both project to be in a nine-player rotation this season with Williams, McBride, Miller, Collier and Smith starting, and Hiedeman, Juhász coming off the bench before them. They checked in together as the first subs of the game, with Pili drawing a huge ovation from a home crowd ready to welcome the rookie to Target Center. &lt;/p&gt;
  515. &lt;p id="DEN655"&gt;Pili, who is listed at 6-foot-2 but closer to 5-foot-11, in the first half mostly played the 4 alongside Collier and later Ruthy Hebard, tasked at first with defending the 6-foot-7 Cardoso. Offensively, Pili did a great job flowing around the perimeter into open spaces, creating windows for her teammates to find her for open 3-point shots. She also flashed her evident passing ability with some nice passes to back-door cutters, even if a couple got away from her for turnovers. &lt;/p&gt;
  516. &lt;p id="cRoXAU"&gt;But unfortunately, the rookie went 0/6 from the floor and 0/5 from deep after making her first attempt of the game, and at times struggled with the speed of the game defensively. Pili shot 41.1% on 209 triples in her two years at Utah, so she will unquestionably shoot the ball with more success moving forward — and was good to see her get open looks — but the Lynx will need her to knock down shots at a higher clip to keep her in the rotation once the season gets going. &lt;/p&gt;
  517. &lt;p id="EwrxUP"&gt;Carleton went home to Chatham-Kent, Ontario for a few days after concluding her overseas play for Uni Györ in Hungary and did not arrive in Minneapolis until earlier this week, so she did not get much work in practice. But it didn’t matter. &lt;/p&gt;
  518. &lt;p id="VaDtQN"&gt;After a somewhat slow start, getting up just one shot (a made mid-range jumper) in the first half, Carleton found her stride playing alongside Hiedeman, Williams, Pili and Smith in the back half of the third quarter. The Canadian National Team wing knocked down two of her three 3-point looks, grabbed an offense rebound and came away with a steal, before draining another triple and technical free throw for good measure in the final frame. &lt;/p&gt;
  519. &lt;p id="jOfMNB"&gt;Carleton finished with 12 points on 4/6 shooting (3/4 from deep) in 20 minutes to go along with a pair of rebounds, two assists and a turnover. That is exactly what the Lynx will need from her this season; efficient and high-volume 3-point shooting, providing some help on the glass, and moving the ball when the shot isn’t there. &lt;/p&gt;
  520. &lt;p id="DSqz45"&gt;If one of Pili or Carleton can become a consistent fifth scorer behind Collier, Williams, McBride and Miller, and some nights score north of 15 points, the Lynx will be in good shape offensively. Tonight it was Carleton, but Pili will certainly have her nights given how talented of a scorer she is. &lt;/p&gt;
  521.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  522.        &lt;img alt="Chicago Sky v Minnesota Lynx" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/SAjwNwGIgqOTS3hoQRoaH6IGgeA=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25432956/2150777507.jpg"&gt;
  523.      &lt;cite&gt;Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images&lt;/cite&gt;
  524.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  525. &lt;h3 id="Va9FOU"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;6) Rotation Notes and the Fight for Roster Spots&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
  526. &lt;p id="ThXDSf"&gt;Reeve for the most part played an 11-deep rotation with French guard Olivia Époupa, Kayana Traylor and Hebard as the initial seventh, eighth and ninth women in the first half mix. Fan favorite from training camp last year Taylor Soule also played a couple of second quarter minutes before the starters returned in a hockey line switch for the final 5:31 of the half. &lt;/p&gt;
  527. &lt;p id="I8vvXi"&gt;The starters then opened the third quarter before Collier and Miller exited at the 4:22 mark for Pili and Carleton, respectively. Instead of Hebard (who did not play in the second half) as the third substitution, Reeve went to ex-&lt;a href="https://www.gobblercountry.com/"&gt;Virginia Tech&lt;/a&gt; teammates Traylor and Soule, who played very well in their extended second half minutes. &lt;/p&gt;
  528. &lt;p id="TaC9Dc"&gt;Traylor, who spend time with the Lynx last season on a hardship contract, looked very comfortable in the half-court. She was explosive off the dribble, created looks at the rim, and made both of her free throws, too. &lt;/p&gt;
  529. &lt;p id="gK9hGV"&gt;Soule really turned it on in the early part of the fourth quarter. Much like she did in last year’s preseason, the former All-ACC player at Boston College and VT took over with incredible hustle plays that helped get the Lynx to the finish line. She first made a mid-range jumper from the right slot, then got positioning inside before drawing a &lt;em&gt;hard &lt;/em&gt;foul, and doing the same thing on the next trip, splitting her four free throws. A couple trips later, Soule won a foot race for a loose ball in the back-court and threw a perfect bounce pass to Camryn Taylor for a layup to give the Lynx a six-point lead with 6:31 to play. &lt;/p&gt;
  530. &lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p id="59lbii"&gt;“We have seen Taylor Soule, I don’t want to take her for granted. We’ve seen that, she does it every day in practice. She’s the closest thing we’ve had to Brunson in terms of, it doesn’t matter the drill, doesn’t matter what type of day, she never has a bad day when it comes to [effort and energy]. So you can really count on that from her,” Reeve said. “You can make a living in this league for a long time [doing that]. You can win rings. Brunson has five of them.”&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  531. &lt;p id="z5Y8WY"&gt;Taylor, an energizer bunny in her own right, took the baton from there, adding three more scores inside, five rebounds, a steal and a block in her very loud 7:06 of work in the fourth quarter that leaped off the court. &lt;/p&gt;
  532. &lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p id="IuJWAx"&gt;“Cam Taylor I think also brought that. Cam is such a competitor. It’s what we’ve been seeing at practice. I kind of figures that if she got the moment, she would rise. She certainly didn’t do everything perfectly, but incredibly coachable.” &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  533. &lt;p id="sCvqFZ"&gt;2024 Lynx third-round pick Kiki Jefferson played the final 2:42, while Mimi Collins and Quinesha Lockett saw a 2:08 and 1:06 of action, respectively to close things out. &lt;/p&gt;
  534. &lt;p id="JyU7W8"&gt;Down two players that will be on the opening day roster in McBride and Juhász and two more likely to make the roster in Koné and Zandalasini, Carleton, Pili, and Traylor played the next most minutes, with Époupa and Soule close behind. &lt;/p&gt;
  535. &lt;p id="GH4BDo"&gt;Here is a look at the full rotation:&lt;/p&gt;
  536.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  537.        &lt;img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/eyYOQUhXkXAEDfWlSsJHhLYjhl4=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25432815/Screenshot_2024_05_03_at_9.17.29_PM.png"&gt;
  538.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  539. &lt;hr class="p-entry-hr" id="OjewIl"&gt;
  540. &lt;h3 id="q78FMW"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;7) A Disappointing Night for the WNBA&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
  541. &lt;p id="QuGFq2"&gt;The WNBA did not broadcast this Lynx/Sky game in any fashion, instead choosing to focus their efforts on airing Caitlin Clark’s W debut with the Indiana Fever against the Dallas Wings. That ended up being a great game, with Arike Ogunbowale making a game-winning 3 with three seconds to play. &lt;/p&gt;
  542. &lt;p id="UVpEvx"&gt;But it is still pretty disappointing that the league couldn’t find a way to broadcast a game that featured three rookies with massive social media followings, incredibly unique stories and backgrounds, and the talent to match. With no streaming options available, one fan took things into her own hands. &lt;/p&gt;
  543. &lt;p id="6pcBqr"&gt;Twitter user &lt;a href="http://twitter.com/heyheyitsalli"&gt;@heyheyitsalli&lt;/a&gt; decided to stream the game on Twitter, holding her phone up to capture all 40 minutes of action. More than 173,000 people tuned in to watch at least a portion of the game on a pixelated Twitter broadcast with no commentary, just in-arena sounds.&lt;/p&gt;
  544. &lt;div id="RHZ61m"&gt;
  545. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  546. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;y’all these are some of THE WILDEST numbers WOW &lt;a href="https://t.co/DJF6Xloss1"&gt;pic.twitter.com/DJF6Xloss1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— alli (@heyheyitsalli) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/heyheyitsalli/status/1786578523408195697?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 4, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  547. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  548. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  549.  
  550. &lt;/div&gt;
  551. &lt;p id="RRZeaX"&gt;The stream caught the attention of the WNBA world, including legendary point guard Sue Bird. &lt;/p&gt;
  552. &lt;div id="40OOk7"&gt;
  553. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  554. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;This is amazing   . I hope you got that mophie! &lt;a href="https://t.co/Ng5GuV6JEH"&gt;https://t.co/Ng5GuV6JEH&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Sue Bird (@S10Bird) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/S10Bird/status/1786572416853925961?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 4, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  555. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  556. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  557.  
  558. &lt;/div&gt;
  559. &lt;p id="1T5CTv"&gt;But it also brought to the forefront how frustrating life in the WNBA is. The fan demand for the product is growing at a rate that far exceeds the growth rate of the league’s infrastructure and available resources for things such as broadcasting preseason games, which are not included in most of the league’s television deals. Clark’s debut on Friday was the only WNBA preseason game that will be broadcast on TV or the WNBA app — a pretty crazy fact considering how the league should be doing everything they can to capitalize on a new wave of needle-moving college stars turned rookies. &lt;/p&gt;
  560. &lt;p id="kQZQaW"&gt;The WNBA seeing the exponential growth rate of women’s college basketball viewership —largely driven by four college superstars who are now WNBA rookies in Clark, Reese, Cardoso and ex-Stanford star Cameron Brink — and not having a plan in place to capitalize on that growth is beyond crazy to me. But it shouldn’t be, because the W has a long history of dropping the ball every time it is passed to them. &lt;/p&gt;
  561. &lt;p id="dPZbRG"&gt;“I think that what I would say is that the growth is happening so fast. It’s so accelerated. And I’ve been saying this in our own organization, that business as usual isn’t going to work anymore. You’re gonna get left behind and this is an example,” Reeve told Canis Hoopus after the game in reference to the demand for the Twitter stream. &lt;/p&gt;
  562. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  563. &lt;p id="7NEcnt"&gt;“Pretty simply, I’ll tell you what happens in the preseason. I think we’ve been ready for this. I think we’ve talked about it. I can’t tell you, I’m not in all the business meetings. But there [has been a] thirst for [broadcasting more games]. Not just this season, even before that, I felt like. But what you have to weigh, I think what they would tell you is they have to weigh the production costs. For preseason games, maybe it’s not beneficial for everyone to do,” she continued. &lt;/p&gt;
  564. &lt;p id="BrD3q5"&gt;“So, that’s what’s in the way, that decision of ‘Where are you going to spend your money?’ And certainly, Caitlin’s first game, they were gonna value. I’m all for that. I get it. People want to see that, but they also want to see, you know, it’s not just about Caitlin. This isn’t Caitlin’s fault in any way. It’s more, you know, the recognition that there’s general excitement about the WNBA in ways that we haven’t seen before. &lt;/p&gt;
  565. &lt;p id="gQIdWe"&gt;“And so we have to capitalize. To really ensure that this is a movement, we have to capitalize on those things. And so we’ll learn. I think we’ll learn. Again, it’s like we say sometimes even on the court like, ‘You can’t fix everything. What’s the low hanging fruit? Let’s try to get to it.’&lt;/p&gt;
  566. &lt;p id="w0x4Qi"&gt;“Angel Reese has a pretty strong following. I thought it’d be cool if she whipped out her phone and maybe, her and Pili, like I said when I posted, maybe they stream it and we put some kind of cam on them.”&lt;/p&gt;
  567. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  568. &lt;p id="YPKye7"&gt;But there was a second issue on Friday night, too. &lt;/p&gt;
  569. &lt;p id="qdkC1b"&gt;Cardoso suffered a shoulder injury with one minute to go in the first half. She remained in the locker room after halftime, and eventually emerged — still in uniform with her warmup jacket on — midway through the third quarter with Sky GM Jeff Pagliocca. But the Sky did not provide any sort of update on her injury during the game, even though there was clearly some determination made about her availability. &lt;/p&gt;
  570. &lt;p id="ABZr7m"&gt;Imagine if that happened in the NBA. The No. 3 pick in the draft makes their preseason debut, gets hurt in a non-televised game, and the team doesn’t issue any kind of injury designation for fans presumably freaking out at home, again, unable to watch the game. People would lose their minds!&lt;/p&gt;
  571. &lt;div id="epdQxj"&gt;
  572. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  573. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;I didn't catch the full game because, again, it wasn't available, but I saw Kamilla Cardoso take a spill and exit the game.   &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Weatherspoon said postgame she didn't want to be kept out, but they were focused on "protecting" her. She added that "she's going to be fine."&lt;/p&gt;— Annie Costabile (@AnnieCostabile) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/AnnieCostabile/status/1786583841290731686?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 4, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  574. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  575. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  576.  
  577. &lt;/div&gt;
  578. &lt;p id="JZDv4C"&gt;While it may seem like a small note, it goes to show how far the WNBA has to go. There needs to be better communication across the board so fans can follow their teams more closely and connect with their favorite teams and players on a deeper level. &lt;/p&gt;
  579. &lt;p id="5tnXEe"&gt;The W is a league that very clearly has been set to explode in popularity. The signs have been there for a while now, even before this past women’s college basketball season. But the league has zero clue how to leverage the attention they are getting from the newfound starpower. Instead of using the attention brought by Clark and Co. to introduce new fans to the other 11 teams in the league, the wealth of talent that comprises the other 132 players, and grow the league as a whole, they simply provide an avenue to consume content that almost exclusively features Clark in some way. It is a short-sighted strategy that is a classic example of the WNBA trying to build the plane in the air. &lt;/p&gt;
  580. &lt;p id="Oo4las"&gt;We’ll see where the league goes from here, but they couldn’t make it one day in the preseason without tripping over themselves, and that’s pretty disappointing. &lt;/p&gt;
  581. &lt;hr class="p-entry-hr" id="BfCyv0"&gt;
  582. &lt;h2 id="hU5mHL"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Up Next&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
  583. &lt;p id="fyHwkJ"&gt;The Lynx will continue practicing at Mayo Clinic Square before traveling to D.C. for their preseason finale against the Washington Mystics on Wednesday at 10:30 AM CT. &lt;/p&gt;
  584. &lt;p id="hRXluu"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  585. &lt;p id="B6sx2N"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  586. &lt;p id="Ae7GlB"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  587.  
  588. </content>
  589.    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.canishoopus.com/2024/5/4/24148510/lynx-vs-sky-final-score-recap-wnba-napheesa-collier-courtney-williams-kamilla-cardoso-injury"/>
  590.    <id>https://www.canishoopus.com/2024/5/4/24148510/lynx-vs-sky-final-score-recap-wnba-napheesa-collier-courtney-williams-kamilla-cardoso-injury</id>
  591.    <author>
  592.      <name>Jack Borman</name>
  593.    </author>
  594.  </entry>
  595.  <entry>
  596.    <published>2024-05-03T13:36:44-05:00</published>
  597.    <updated>2024-05-03T13:36:44-05:00</updated>
  598.    <title>Keys to Round 2: What Will it Take for the Timberwolves to Dethrone the Nuggets?</title>
  599.    <content type="html">  
  600.  
  601.    &lt;figure&gt;
  602.      &lt;img alt="Minnesota Timberwolves v Denver Nuggets" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/_gc5GOIJcxNrYqR4BA5BH6eFeus=/0x0:3885x2590/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73325623/2147726943.0.jpg" /&gt;
  603.        &lt;figcaption&gt;Anthony Edwards of the Minnesota Timberwolves celebrates during the game against the Denver Nuggets on April 10, 2024 at the Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado. | Photo by Bart Young/NBAE via Getty Images&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  604.    &lt;/figure&gt;
  605.  
  606.  &lt;p&gt;After advancing to the second round of the playoffs for the second time in franchise history, how might Anthony Edwards the Wolves look to attack two-time MVP Nikola Jokić and the defending champion Nuggets?&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p id="j4LI8I"&gt;For just the second time in franchise history the &lt;a href="https://www.canishoopus.com"&gt;Minnesota Timberwolves&lt;/a&gt; have advanced to the second round in the Western Conference playoffs. They did so via a commanding sweep of the &lt;a href="https://www.brightsideofthesun.com"&gt;Phoenix Suns&lt;/a&gt; in Round 1 and are looking for more as their prowl for a championship continues.&lt;/p&gt;
  607. &lt;p id="apcIDZ"&gt;These two teams definitely have some history between themselves. In 2018, the Wolves beat the Denver Nuggets in the final game of the regular season by a score of &lt;a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0Zl-pRVCiw"&gt;112-106&lt;/a&gt; in overtime to break the 14-year playoff drought and clinch the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference. Both teams have come a long way since then. The Nuggets won the &lt;a href="https://www.sbnation.com/nba-finals"&gt;NBA Finals&lt;/a&gt; in their franchise’s lone appearance last year, and Nikola Jokić is a soon-to-be three-time league MVP. Jamal Murray is an absolute gamer whose level of play rises in playoff contests, as evidenced by his two game-winners in Denver’s opening-round series victory over the &lt;a href="https://www.silverscreenandroll.com"&gt;Los Angeles Lakers&lt;/a&gt;. Those are the only two players remaining from that 2018 Nuggets roster.&lt;/p&gt;
  608. &lt;p id="s47oGy"&gt;The Wolves look a lot different, too. They’ve made three consecutive playoff appearances and are primed to be in contention for a long time with superstar Anthony Edwards as the franchise cornerstone. They have a young core of Ant, defensive stalwarts in Jaden McDaniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year in Naz Reid. This young core is complimented by savvy veterans, including soon-to-be four-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert, Mike Conley, and the greatest shooting big man of all-time in Karl-Anthony Towns, who is the lone player left from the 2018 Timberwolves roster. &lt;/p&gt;
  609. &lt;p id="H9GW6m"&gt;Per Alan Horton, the radio voice of the Timberwolves, Minnesota is 8-8 in their last 16 matchups with Denver, including both the regular season and the postseason. Game 1 in Round 2 is set to begin on Saturday in Denver.&lt;/p&gt;
  610. &lt;div id="MtGmeS"&gt;
  611. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  612. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;Wolves are 8-8 in their last 16 games (regular + postseason) vs. Nuggets.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Game 1 Saturday will be their 14th meeting in last 16 months.&lt;/p&gt;— Alan Horton (@WolvesRadio) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/WolvesRadio/status/1785686593807745082?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 1, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  613. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  614. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  615.  
  616. &lt;/div&gt;
  617. &lt;p id="0T2eiY"&gt;The Wolves got bounced in their first-round series by Denver last year in five games, but former Nugget and current Toronto Raptor Bruce Brown stated that&lt;a href="https://www.canishoopus.com/2023/7/18/23799441/bruce-brown-nba-toughest-series-minnesota-timberwolves-run-your-race-denver-nuggets-anthony-edwards"&gt; Minnesota was the toughest series&lt;/a&gt; opponent for the Nuggets last year as they blazed their way to an NBA championship. The Wolves were missing key players in that series. McDaniels was out due to a&lt;a href="https://www.canishoopus.com/2023/4/9/23676529/minnesota-timberwolves-forward-jaden-mcdaniels-suffers-broken-right-hand-injury-in-win-over-pelicans"&gt; self-inflicted broken hand&lt;/a&gt; and Reid couldn’t play due to a &lt;a href="https://www.canishoopus.com/2023/3/31/23660992/per-reports-naz-reid-out-with-wrist-fracture-karl-anthony-towns-rudy-gobert-kyle-anderson"&gt;fractured wrist.&lt;/a&gt; Missing one of, if not the best point-of-attack defender in the league along with Reid’s skill set off the bench was a huge blow for any hopes the Wolves had in last year’s playoffs, but they are healthy and back for this series. &lt;/p&gt;
  618. &lt;p id="lBXTsB"&gt;Even with those big pieces back in the lineup, Minnesota will certainly have their work cut out for them if they want to defeat the reigning champs. &lt;/p&gt;
  619. &lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p id="DMjyLf"&gt;“Discipline has to be huge against this team,” said Conley after practice on Wednesday. “That goes down to not fouling, to boxing out, like the little things in between this game, not getting backdoor cut. Those things are things we can control, but they’re really good at. They don’t beat themselves.”&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  620. &lt;p id="cOCozX"&gt;The Wolves will need to keep their foot on the gas for all 48 minutes each game against this Nuggets squad, and, as Conley stated, the discipline and execution will need to be at high levels. What are some of the things the Wolves can do to defeat the Nuggets to move onto the Western Conference Finals?&lt;/p&gt;
  621. &lt;h3 id="BPBDqo"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Being Selective With Double Teams&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
  622. &lt;p id="wP1cEh"&gt;Jokić is more than just your “typical” elite offensive player that puts the ball in the hoop in bunches and buries opposing defenses by scoring at all three levels. He is an engine that makes Denver’s entire offense go. Jokić raises both the floor and the ceiling of everyone around him when he is on the floor, and that is the most dangerous part of his game. &lt;/p&gt;
  623. &lt;p id="QuYWIR"&gt;In theory, keeping the ball out of the opposing player’s best hand is a good recipe to winning games. The person with the ball is always &lt;em&gt;considered&lt;/em&gt; to be the biggest threat on the hardwood. Growing up, coaches preached that the person with the ball is the biggest threat to the defense and somebody who doesn’t have the ball can’t score. While t&lt;em&gt;echnically &lt;/em&gt;true, the six-time NBA All-Star is such an elite passer that the challenge of stopping him and limiting his teammates scoring opportunities created through their off-ball movement and his passing ability will be a tough task. &lt;/p&gt;
  624. &lt;p id="LscyTs"&gt;In the Nuggets previous series, the Lakers doubled Jokić a decent amount when he got the ball in the post. The issue with doubling Jokić means someone else is open on the floor, and he is bound to find them at one point or another. &lt;/p&gt;
  625. &lt;p id="Qj3Dxh"&gt;The Timberwolves have the top-ranked defense in the NBA, while the Lakers were below average, ranking 17th. Minnesota has showcased a superb defense all year and they will have better success than L.A. did in doubling the Serbia native, but if they are to double at all, it needs to be extremely selective. &lt;/p&gt;
  626. &lt;p id="b4SUN1"&gt;Too many times the Lakers sent a second man at Jokić and left the wrong person open because of it. If Minnesota does have any intention of double teaming the two- time MVP, they have to be careful in who they decide to stray from in order to do so.&lt;/p&gt;
  627. &lt;h5 id="m5OKw5"&gt;(Editor’s Note: If you are reading this on Apple News, please &lt;a href="https://www.sbnation.com/e/23911696"&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; so you can view embedded videos important to the analysis, and enjoy the best overall reading experience.)&lt;/h5&gt;
  628. &lt;div id="mqTXzC"&gt;
  629. &lt;div&gt;&lt;div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"&gt;&lt;iframe src="https://cdn.iframe.ly/api/iframe?url=https%3A%2F%2Fvideos.nba.com%2Fnba%2Fpbp%2Fmedia%2F2024%2F04%2F22%2F0042300152%2F247%2F74a9981b-f412-c6b0-c7d1-6729109ab945_1280x720.mp4&amp;amp;key=9ef4a209439e42bc59783ba959d50197" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen="" allow="encrypted-media *;"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  630. &lt;script async="" src="https://cdn.iframe.ly/embed.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  631. &lt;/div&gt;
  632. &lt;p id="O7Kwjz"&gt;In this possession, Jokić puts Rui Hachimura on his back in the post on the right side of the floor. Justin Holiday runs the baseline to bring Taurean Prince with him and vacate the space which leaves Jokić and Hachimura to dance together in isolation. Anthony Davis comes to double to get the ball out of the former All-NBA big man’s hands, but leaves Michael Porter Jr. wide open. MPJ has never seen a shot he doesn’t like, and for good reason. He shot a blistering 48.8% from downtown on 8.2 attempts per game in Round 1. This forces Austin Reaves to close out hard on MPJ, and a simple side step from Porter leaves Reaves in the mud as he can’t get back to even get a hand up as Porter cans the long range attempt. &lt;/p&gt;
  633. &lt;div id="qoUhWT"&gt;
  634. &lt;div&gt;&lt;div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"&gt;&lt;iframe src="https://cdn.iframe.ly/api/iframe?url=https%3A%2F%2Fvideos.nba.com%2Fnba%2Fpbp%2Fmedia%2F2024%2F04%2F25%2F0042300153%2F121%2F115653b6-773f-3704-64d4-f1ea56549efc_1280x720.mp4&amp;amp;key=9ef4a209439e42bc59783ba959d50197" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen="" allow="encrypted-media *;"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  635. &lt;script async="" src="https://cdn.iframe.ly/embed.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  636. &lt;/div&gt;
  637. &lt;p id="AgQHBo"&gt;In this possession, the Lakers again opt to double and leave the wrong person open. It originally starts with Reaves coming as the second man to help Davis. Once Jokić gives the ball up, Reaves clears out and Prince is the next man up to do the same thing Reaves did. This time, one power dribble from the big man creates the extra space of separation needed as it sucks Prince in too deep to be able to recover and contest and LA fails at their rotations again, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope buries the triple. KCP had a rough Round 1, shooting only 28.6% on 5.6 attempts from long range, but he did shoot 40.6% on 4.1 attempts per game in the regular season. All it takes is for someone like him to get hot for four games and a series can be over in the blink of an eye. &lt;/p&gt;
  638. &lt;p id="MSit3C"&gt;Again, Minnesota is a much better defensive team than the Lakers and are better suited for this type of game plan if they elect to run it. They just have to make sure they are not leaving Denvers’ green light shooters open if they decide to do so. &lt;/p&gt;
  639. &lt;div id="12rGfl"&gt;
  640. &lt;div&gt;&lt;div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"&gt;&lt;iframe src="https://cdn.iframe.ly/api/iframe?url=https%3A%2F%2Fvideos.nba.com%2Fnba%2Fpbp%2Fmedia%2F2024%2F04%2F29%2F0042300155%2F401%2F9adff414-7dd6-f006-92fc-5cd8d0bc1fab_1280x720.mp4&amp;amp;key=9ef4a209439e42bc59783ba959d50197" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen="" allow="encrypted-media *;"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  641. &lt;script async="" src="https://cdn.iframe.ly/embed.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  642. &lt;/div&gt;
  643. &lt;p id="sEkKOY"&gt;This possession highlights another thing in conjunction with opting to double team Jokić, the person coming to double can not be lazy if they come. Davis is slow the entire possession. LeBron James is guarding the reigning Finals MVP on the block on the right side of the floor. Davis is guarding MPJ on the wing, and he never once puts his hands up to apply any pressure on the entry pass, is lethargic in getting into Jokić’s space and doesn’t dig hard, never applies any semblance of resistance on the outlet pass and an extremely bad contest leads to another wide open 3-pointer for one of the best shooters in the game today.&lt;/p&gt;
  644. &lt;h3 id="5aQqCO"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Limiting Cutters As Much As Possible&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
  645. &lt;p id="aIyKcN"&gt;This goes back to limiting how much of an engine Jokić can be for this Denver squad. We’ve already discussed how much of a threat he is passing the ball out of doubles to open shooters, but the same thing applies for his teammates who will cut off the ball. Preventing Nuggets players from cutting and scoring over the course of a game will help in a myriad of ways. It will primarily mean the Wolves aren’t getting beat while their backs are turned and allowing Denver uncontested rim pressure. Minnesota eliminating free baskets at the rim via open cuts will reduce the Nuggets’ overall scoring and it will stave off foul trouble. &lt;/p&gt;
  646. &lt;p id="bbHN5y"&gt;Limiting as many attempts at the rim as possible will always be a good thing, but it will be extremely beneficial to the Wolves even more so in this series. As mentioned, Jokić is a tough cover even if the defense throws the kitchen sink. Minnesota will need to make things extremely hard on him, and part of that battle is deploying versatile coverages that will impede his remarkable ability to set up teammates in great scoring positions. If the Joker doesn’t have teammates that are open to pass to within their offensive flow, and he has to work for every single inch, it will wear him down over the course of a seven-game series, which plays into the massive depth advantage the Timberwolves have over the Nuggets. If Minnesota can exhaust him and force Denver to rely more heavily upon their other scoring options, they can take a death grip on the series and advance to the Western Conference finals. &lt;/p&gt;
  647. &lt;p id="F69Sfb"&gt;The Nuggets present a unique challenge that requires consistently great attention to detail, but this iteration of the Wolves is built to answer the call. &lt;/p&gt;
  648. &lt;p id="58CGgj"&gt;Assuming KAT is going to be the primary defender for Jokić and Gobert will be assigned to Aaron Gordon in a spy role, Towns will have a huge task in front of him. It’s not about stopping arguably the best player in the world, it’s about making him work as hard as possible for every single inch on both ends of the floor. Nikola is going to get his because he’s just that good, but making him work for it, preventing offensive rebounds, and shutting down everyone else to the best of Minnesota’s collective ability will be the biggest factor in winning or losing games this series. &lt;/p&gt;
  649. &lt;h3 id="C8HhPM"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Preventing Crossmatches in Transition&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
  650. &lt;p id="VysfzL"&gt;Whoever on the floor for the Wolves at a given time is designated as the primary defender for Jokić is going to have to ensure they are matched up with him at all times. During the fourth quarter of Game 5 against the Lakers with under three minutes remaining and the score knotted at 99, the Joker hunted out a mismatch and he didn’t even need to work for it. Dribbling up the floor in transition he shifted towards the left side of the floor to force Hachimura to pick him up, a matchup the Nuggets prefer as opposed to Davis guarding him. He pins Rui on his hip and with three dribbles he overpowers the weaker defender and finds the bottom of the net on a six- foot floater with little resistance.&lt;/p&gt;
  651. &lt;div id="oXZ6r6"&gt;
  652. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  653. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;(Jokic had this lined up the whole way) &lt;a href="https://t.co/DWvOlvquHE"&gt;pic.twitter.com/DWvOlvquHE&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Steve Jones Jr. (@stevejones20) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/stevejones20/status/1785164269882945716?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;April 30, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  654. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  655. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  656.  
  657. &lt;/div&gt;
  658. &lt;p id="1kRpGG"&gt;Regardless of whether Jokić is handling the ball in transition or running the floor, the Wolves absolutely cannot get crossmatched in these situations. Minnesota cannot let him hunt out his preferred matchups and operate within those realms. The basketball IQ Nikola possesses is incredible, and he understands how to manipulate individual defenders and entire defenses. Letting him pick the matchups in transition like he did against the Lakers on that possession will lead to a quick exit for the Timberwolves if it happens at a consistent level. It will not be perfect for an entire game, and especially not for a series, but Minnesota needs to minimize this happening as much as it possibly can.&lt;/p&gt;
  659. &lt;h3 id="8dzjom"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;An Unorthodox Defensive Matchup&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
  660. &lt;p id="kVDcdq"&gt;On a surface level, many people are thinking that McDaniels should guard Murray at the point-of-attack on the defensive end. It makes sense, McDaniels is one hell of a defender with tons of length to disrupt Murrays’ rhythm and he’s a phenomenal screen navigator. &lt;/p&gt;
  661. &lt;p id="tquoyZ"&gt;However, my qualms with that matchup come from Ant-Man and his off-ball defense. If McDaniels does get the Murray assignment, do the Timberwolves trust Edwards to stay engaged on that end of the floor while he is an off-ball defender? I don’t. Too many times Ant will either overplay his matchup or he falls asleep which leads to back door cuts. I also don’t believe he can stay engaged enough away from the ball to not fall far behind in pin down actions designed to get Denvers’ movement shooters open. It happened frequently in the fourth quarter of the &lt;a href="https://www.canishoopus.com/timberwolves-scores-results/2024/3/19/24106353/wolves-vs-nuggets-final-score-recap-anthony-edwards-nikola-jokic-jaden-mcdaniels-mike-conley"&gt;Wolves’ 115-112 loss to the Nuggets in March&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  662. &lt;p id="LJanM0"&gt;I think the best matchup on the defensive end for the Wolves is to keep Edwards on the ball and to allow McDaniels and Alexander-Walker to fight through the off-ball actions to close the gaps on cutters and shooters running through designed sets to get them open. I think they have showcased the discipline to be more locked in away from the ball than Ant has and they should be handling those responsibilities to put Minnesota in the best possible position to win. &lt;/p&gt;
  663. &lt;p id="PiNpqj"&gt;This series is going to be two heavyweights going blow for blow with each other, and the winner is going to be the team that executes at a higher level than the other, and the margin for error is slim. &lt;/p&gt;
  664. &lt;p id="WmTAP5"&gt;KAT is going to have to work harder on the defensive end than he ever has in his career to slow down Jokić as much as possible, the collective unit needs to sell out on limiting cutters and rim pressure, and an unorthodox scheme will be the path to victory for this series. Lock in Wolves fans, this is going to be one hell of a ride. &lt;/p&gt;
  665. &lt;p id="Li8spz"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  666. &lt;p id="LXXu2c"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  667.  
  668. </content>
  669.    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.canishoopus.com/2024/5/3/24147655/minnesota-timberwolves-denver-nuggets-nba-playoffs-western-conference-nikola-jokic-anthony-edwards"/>
  670.    <id>https://www.canishoopus.com/2024/5/3/24147655/minnesota-timberwolves-denver-nuggets-nba-playoffs-western-conference-nikola-jokic-anthony-edwards</id>
  671.    <author>
  672.      <name>Will Tzavaras</name>
  673.    </author>
  674.  </entry>
  675.  <entry>
  676.    <published>2024-05-02T22:23:51-05:00</published>
  677.    <updated>2024-05-02T22:23:51-05:00</updated>
  678.    <title>Series Preview Guide: #3 Timberwolves vs. #2 Nuggets</title>
  679.    <content type="html">  
  680.  
  681.    &lt;figure&gt;
  682.      &lt;img alt="DENVER NUGGETS VS MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES, NBA" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/v8PNqq6WJEJs6JXpV2bb-UzK8hM=/0x0:4343x2895/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73324083/2147045061.0.jpg" /&gt;
  683.        &lt;figcaption&gt;Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  684.    &lt;/figure&gt;
  685.  
  686.  &lt;p&gt;After sweeping the Suns, Anthony Edwards, Rudy Gobert and the Wolves earned a rematch with two-time MVP Nikola Jokić, Jamal Murray and the defending champion Nuggets. &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p id="GtpSEF"&gt;The &lt;a href="https://www.canishoopus.com"&gt;Minnesota Timberwolves&lt;/a&gt; for the first time in 20 years — back when 2004 MVP Kevin Garnett led the pack — have earned a spot in the Western Conference Semifinals. There, they’ll face the defending champion Denver Nuggets in a rematch of last year’s first-round series, in which Minnesota fell in five games. &lt;/p&gt;
  687. &lt;p id="1t4fMZ"&gt;Anthony Edwards led the Wolves to their first sweep in franchise history, a dominant dismantling of the &lt;a href="https://www.brightsideofthesun.com"&gt;Phoenix Suns&lt;/a&gt;, who now face as bleak of a team-building future as any team in the league. Jaden McDaniels was tremendous in defending each of the Suns’ star guards, while Rudy Gobert held down the paint and played Jusuf Nurkić off the floor. Karl-Anthony Towns stepped up defensively to help slow down Kevin Durant before delivering 28  crucial points in a Game 4 closeout win. &lt;/p&gt;
  688. &lt;p id="hoRAkY"&gt;Nikola Jokić, who is set to earn his third straight MVP in four seasons in the coming weeks, was the heartbeat of the Nuggets’ 4-1 gentleman’s sweep of the &lt;a href="https://www.silverscreenandroll.com"&gt;Los Angeles Lakers&lt;/a&gt;. His running mate in the league’s best two-man game, Jamal Murray, drilled two game-winners at Ball Arena in soul-snatching fashion, demoralizing a Lakers team that led for nearly three quarters of game time in the five-contest affair. &lt;/p&gt;
  689. &lt;p id="R3bJw8"&gt;This Wolves/Nuggets series looked quite different one year ago than it will this time around. &lt;/p&gt;
  690. &lt;p id="bxrb5a"&gt;Minnesota didn’t have Naz Reid (broken wrist) or Jaden McDaniels (broken hand), and both Towns (calf) and Gobert (back, knee) were significantly less than 100%. Kyle Anderson (eye) also missed Game 5. All five are fully healthy entering this series. In a “look how far we’ve come” retrospective moment, Jaylen Nowell and Austin Rivers were the Wolves’ eighth and ninth men in the 2023 edition of this matchup. &lt;/p&gt;
  691. &lt;p id="KfrO50"&gt;Now, the biggest injury question for the Timberwolves isn’t one about any of their players, but rather Head Coach Chris Finch, who underwent surgery for a torn right patellar tendon on Wednesday, but was back at practice on Thursday.&lt;/p&gt;
  692. &lt;div id="fGxAWW"&gt;
  693. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  694. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;Micah Nori says Finch’s surgery went well. Team still looking at options for him for Game 1, including joining them on the bench by moving some seats around or having him watch from a suite and joint them pregame and at halftime&lt;/p&gt;— Jon Krawczynski (@JonKrawczynski) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/JonKrawczynski/status/1785713534636064895?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 1, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  695. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  696. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  697.  
  698. &lt;/div&gt;
  699. &lt;div id="XhgaaF"&gt;
  700. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  701. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;Micah Nori: "Even after the game, (Finch) was blaming me for the Cleveland loss, which probably cost him the voting in the Coach of the Year. To which I said, well anybody would do anything to get out of the last two minutes of a closeout game. So his spirits were good."&lt;/p&gt;— Jon Krawczynski (@JonKrawczynski) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/JonKrawczynski/status/1785735505700700359?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 1, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  702. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  703. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  704.  
  705. &lt;/div&gt;
  706. &lt;p id="3SBIdB"&gt;Denver, meanwhile, brought extremely reliable veterans off the bench in Bruce Brown and Jeff Green, who are now members of the Indiana Pacers and &lt;a href="https://www.thedreamshake.com"&gt;Houston Rockets&lt;/a&gt;, respectively. Nuggets Head Coach Michael Malone has replaced them with Christian Braun, Peyton Watson and DeAndre Jordan, with significantly mixed results that we’ll get into later. &lt;/p&gt;
  707. &lt;p id="93uR1X"&gt;But despite all of their injury misfortunes, the Wolves hung in there in the first round against the Nuggets, putting up a fight that drew praise from Bruce Brown, who called those five games “&lt;a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NnRgsmKR7I&amp;amp;list=PLLvItih6T5smlB5ELU4NjlLpL5o3JB891&amp;amp;index=175"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;our toughest series&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;” en route to winning an NBA title.&lt;/p&gt;
  708. &lt;div id="ycPRo6"&gt;
  709. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  710. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;Tim Connelly:&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;For Denver &lt;br&gt;— Drafted/traded away Gobert &lt;br&gt;— Drafted Jokic&lt;br&gt;— Hired Malone&lt;br&gt;— Drafted Murray &lt;br&gt;— Drafted MPJ&lt;br&gt;— Traded for Gordon &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;For Minnesota&lt;br&gt;— Traded for Gobert &lt;br&gt;— Traded for Conley&lt;br&gt;— Traded for NAW&lt;br&gt;— Traded for Monte&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The Tim Connelly Bowl. &lt;a href="https://t.co/hdKGwvhO15"&gt;pic.twitter.com/hdKGwvhO15&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— StatMuse (@statmuse) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/statmuse/status/1785371736264843711?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;April 30, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  711. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  712. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  713.  
  714. &lt;/div&gt;
  715. &lt;p id="DOLaKO"&gt;Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly knew that he built a special Nuggets team, but came to Minnesota already knowing what the standard in the Western Conference could be, because he helped set it. Given the history there, it should come as no surprise that Minnesota is arguably the Western Conference’s best equipped team to slow down this juggernaut Denver squad.&lt;/p&gt;
  716. &lt;p id="G130YT"&gt;Now at full strength with a full two seasons of experience under their belt, the Wolves are putting on display everything that they and their fans thought they might be capable of this season. And after a euphoric opening playoff round win, we’ll get to see how sustainable the success is.&lt;/p&gt;
  717. &lt;p id="3QWiPQ"&gt;There is no better test than going up against the standard, a defending champion team led by a soon-to-be three-time MVP and arguably the most clutch playoff performer in the NBA in recent memory, surrounded by proven veteran role players that fit like a glove.&lt;/p&gt;
  718. &lt;p id="tQ0o4E"&gt;Led by a galvanizing, fearless alpha in Edwards, this pack will bring a confidence in what they’ve built all season to this point, and a playoff proof of concept they’ve sought for nearly two calendar years. &lt;/p&gt;
  719. &lt;p id="nYrlDn"&gt;Let’s dive into it.&lt;/p&gt;
  720. &lt;hr class="p-entry-hr" id="6yaUwt"&gt;
  721. &lt;h1 id="cCpiqp"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Matchups to Watch&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h1&gt;
  722.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  723.        &lt;img alt="Minnesota Timberwolves v Denver Nuggets" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/FwLrNikxTN5fhnSKSLx_qUrvgZw=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25429634/2147043310.jpg"&gt;
  724.      &lt;cite&gt;Photo by Bart Young/NBAE via Getty Images&lt;/cite&gt;
  725.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  726. &lt;h3 id="dL7l3f"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How Will the Nuggets Defend Anthony Edwards?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
  727. &lt;p id="UsJLoG"&gt;The Suns, ironically, played with fire and got burnt. They sold out to stop Edwards by often bringing two players to the ball when a big set a screen for Ant. And when they didn’t, there was usually evident gap help ready to assist when Edwards beat the first line of defense. Phoenix didn’t have anyone on the roster who could consistently slow down Edwards by himself, so they had to get creative. &lt;/p&gt;
  728. &lt;p id="HuHSvl"&gt;Denver faces a similar conundrum, but is unquestionably in a better spot in terms of options than Phoenix was.&lt;/p&gt;
  729. &lt;p id="Jz2Rjo"&gt;Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is a pit bull defender who is as competitive as they come. He moves his feet extremely well at 6-foot-5, has tremendous hands on both ends of his 6-foot-8 wingspan, and often punches above his weight on the wing against taller, thinner stars. He will win some reps against Edwards, no question, is their best option over the course of the series, and will defend Ant most often. But while he has the quickness, KCP doesn’t have the strength to consistently contain Edwards — who is 20 pounds bigger — on the drive. Ant also looked to post KCP up in their regular season matchups — something he did to Bradley Beal in the last series.&lt;/p&gt;
  730. &lt;p id="4awdyl"&gt;Aaron Gordon is three inches taller and 30 pounds heavier than Caldwell-Pope, but doesn’t move as well laterally to stick with the explosive 22-year-old star. Edwards has also bullied him inside this year, which gives you an idea of how strong you have to be to hold Ant down for an entire game. But the former Georgia star knows Gordon’s feet aren’t quick enough to stay with him; he often dragged Gordon out onto the perimeter and either forced him to defend a straight line drive or fight over a screen, two things easier said than done when Edwards is involved.&lt;/p&gt;
  731. &lt;p id="PaETg5"&gt;Don’t be surprised if Braun, a 6-foot-6 wing off the bench, plays more than 13.1 minutes per game he did in the last series, as he’s shown some ability to force Ant east-to-west in these matchups. &lt;/p&gt;
  732. &lt;p id="6zbjbF"&gt;Here is a look at how Denver has defended Edwards over the last two seasons, including last year’s playoffs:&lt;/p&gt;
  733.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  734.        &lt;img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/q2azWx8wRuqH1nKo6LbsbOOsnck=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25431017/Anthony_Edwards_defense.png"&gt;
  735.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  736. &lt;p id="hfwQIL"&gt;The Nuggets frequently switch up top on screens that do not involve Jokić. So, expect to see Reid, Anderson and Towns set picks or engage Edwards in dribble hand-offs (DHOs) up top when Gobert is on the floor. This way, Ant could get more on-ball attacking opportunities against the likes of Porter Jr., Gordon, and Watson — more advantageous matchups than Caldwell-Pope or Braun. However, keep an eye out for Jokić playing up in coverage at or near the level of the screen, especially against slower defenders. Denver clearly wants to force Ant to go east-to-west rather than north-south, and pushing Ant further to the sideline with the high wall can accomplish that, just like the Wolves did against Ja Morant a couple years back.&lt;/p&gt;
  737. &lt;p id="8PZH2X"&gt;I’ll show you some examples. First up, pretty simple. Edwards gets a pindown screen from Slow-Mo in the slot (a reverse UCLA cut if you will), and then Reid forces a switch up top onto Watson.&lt;/p&gt;
  738. &lt;h5 id="CqRtxo"&gt;(Editor’s Note: If you are reading this on Apple News, please &lt;a href="https://www.sbnation.com/e/23910908"&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; so you can view embedded videos important to the analysis, and enjoy the best overall reading experience.)&lt;/h5&gt;
  739. &lt;div id="9g8gYk"&gt;&lt;div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"&gt;&lt;iframe src="https://streamable.com/o/6zweci?autoplay=0" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" allow="encrypted-media;"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  740. &lt;p id="SxCbkW"&gt;Next, the Timberwolves will set up in a horns set quite a bit, often with two bigs setting screens on either side of Ant. Reid sets the first screen, before Gobert sets a flare screen for Reid over the top of the arc to potentially open up a 3-point look (they run this with KAT and Rudy a ton). KCP switches the first screen, but gets above the flare screen, leaving Gordon to defend Edwards on a second PnR with Gobert. Ant does the rest. &lt;/p&gt;
  741. &lt;div id="c1d4JB"&gt;&lt;div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"&gt;&lt;iframe src="https://streamable.com/o/mfa2xf?autoplay=0" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" allow="encrypted-media;"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  742. &lt;p id="rm9ayi"&gt;Minnesota will also run a similar action with a smaller shooter like Conley setting the initial screen so he can receive a flare screen. &lt;/p&gt;
  743. &lt;div id="srE1nN"&gt;&lt;div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"&gt;&lt;iframe src="https://streamable.com/o/lhxwvx?autoplay=0" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" allow="encrypted-media;"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  744. &lt;p id="8KzVDy"&gt;Don’t be surprised if the Wolves run double drag screens up top above the arc to 1) make the Nuggets guards to get over multiple screens, and 2) force Jokić to decide whether he wants to play A) at the level to try and take away Ant’s driving (which would unlock lobs to Gobert) or B) in a drop to take away the roll, but give Ant a runway to take off to the rim.&lt;/p&gt;
  745. &lt;p id="lUlB9n"&gt;Another way to accomplish this is with Edwards starting off-ball. Ant sets up in the corner, before Minnesota runs some Chicago action (pin-down into a DHO), where Edwards comes off a Gobert screen and then gets the ball from Reid, who then gets a step-up screen from Gobert. Watch Watson (Reid’s defender initially).&lt;/p&gt;
  746. &lt;div id="uPjeMA"&gt;&lt;div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"&gt;&lt;iframe src="https://streamable.com/o/ge5mrp?autoplay=0" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" allow="encrypted-media;"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  747. &lt;p id="Tbd0Yt"&gt;Watson is understandably confused at what to do, because KCP initially wants to stay connected to Edwards before Gobert then sets a screen for Reid. Ant doesn’t do a good enough job of taking advantage, but the action clearly created a window; Edwards took a massive leap in capitalizing on breakdowns in the Suns series and will need to do it again going up against the champs. &lt;/p&gt;
  748. &lt;p id="YLyCbJ"&gt;This will be especially important in the fourth quarter, where Edwards shined in Round 1, especially on the road. He only got better as the series went on, when things got closer in the final frame.  &lt;/p&gt;
  749. &lt;ul&gt;
  750. &lt;li id="tu4oCT"&gt;Game 3 → 18 PTS on 5/7 FG, 8/8 FT, 1 AST, 1 TO, &lt;/li&gt;
  751. &lt;li id="nt4wXV"&gt;Game 4 → 16 PTS on 6/7 FG, 2/2 FT, 1 AST, 0 TOV, 2 BLK&lt;/li&gt;
  752. &lt;/ul&gt;
  753. &lt;p id="WB25OG"&gt;It is scary to think about what Edwards might do against Denver this time around considering he had little time to prepare for them in last season’s playoffs coming off a pair of Play-In Tournament games. Ant last year in Round 1 averaged 31.6 points on 48.2/34.9/84.6 shooting splits, 5.2 assists to 1.6 turnovers, 5.0 rebounds, 2.0 blocks and 1.8 steals. Now that he’s had a week to prepare (given how much he said that helped him last series) — and showcased his tremendous growth when it comes to making the right reads against and punishing almost every possible defensive coverage thrown versus Phoenix — those numbers may be his floor. &lt;/p&gt;
  754. &lt;div id="zEPqsm"&gt;
  755. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  756. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;Anthony Edwards on the past week: It wasn't no days off. I feel like I got in the best shape of my life this week. Finchy's ass was running me through all types of actions, double teams, triple teams, quadruple teams. I thank my coaches...I appreciate them man, put me in the… &lt;a href="https://t.co/tLJNlepQ7M"&gt;pic.twitter.com/tLJNlepQ7M&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Nadine Babu (@NadineBabu) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/NadineBabu/status/1781828800541606123?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;April 20, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  757. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  758. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  759.  
  760. &lt;/div&gt;
  761.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  762.        &lt;img alt="2023 NBA Playoffs - Minnesota Timberwolves v Denver Nuggets" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/qtfQU552_0cc04WUUEVA3q0y-7k=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25429639/1252298795.jpg"&gt;
  763.      &lt;cite&gt;Photo by Bart Young/NBAE via Getty Images&lt;/cite&gt;
  764.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  765. &lt;h3 id="aQB8Y2"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Offensive Rebounding and Second Chance Scoring&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
  766. &lt;p id="RTuJke"&gt;The Timberwolves dominated the Suns on the offensive glass in Round 1. Minnesota collected 39.2% of their missed shots (&lt;a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/advanced?SeasonType=Playoffs&amp;amp;dir=A&amp;amp;sort=OREB_PCT"&gt;the best in the NBA in the first round&lt;/a&gt;) and scored a staggering 17.3 second chance points per game (&lt;a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/misc?SeasonType=Playoffs&amp;amp;dir=A&amp;amp;sort=PTS_2ND_CHANCE"&gt;second to the New York Knicks&lt;/a&gt;) to Phoenix’s 10.0. &lt;/p&gt;
  767. &lt;h5 id="w1gmDW"&gt;(For reference, the New York Knicks lead the NBA in offensive rebound percentage at 32.2% and the Utah Jazz lead in second chance points at 16.5 per game).&lt;/h5&gt;
  768. &lt;p id="EYClD6"&gt;The Wolves bet that they could score on second chances more effectively than the Suns (who held the league’s most efficient transition offense) could get out and run on the break. Gobert, Towns and Co. can cash in those chips; they scored more second chance points than Phoenix scored in transition in each of the four games. It also worked to mitigate the 16.8 points off turnovers Minnesota allowed (&lt;a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/misc?SeasonType=Playoffs&amp;amp;dir=D&amp;amp;sort=OPP_PTS_OFF_TOV"&gt;which was fourth-worst in Round 1&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;
  769. &lt;p id="MHrnXZ"&gt;Denver, meanwhile, did an excellent job of preventing Los Angeles from impacting the game on the glass, holding the Lakers to a 21.2% offensive rebound rate (third-lowest) and just 10.0 second chance points (fifth-fewest). However, the Lakers were 29th in OREB% and dead last in second chance points during the regular season, so the Wolves present a very different challenge. The Nuggets &lt;a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/advanced?dir=A&amp;amp;sort=DREB_PCT"&gt;ranked 15th in opponent OREB%&lt;/a&gt; during their 2023-24 campaign (28.2%), but allowed the &lt;a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/misc?dir=A&amp;amp;sort=OPP_PTS_2ND_CHANCE"&gt;eighth-fewest second chance points&lt;/a&gt; (13.2). &lt;/p&gt;
  770. &lt;p id="4PJ2Ii"&gt;Whether or not Minnesota can replicate their scoring on second chances will go a long way in determining if they win this series or not. Denver ranked 23rd in transition frequency (16.0% of their total possessions, per Synergy Sports), one place ahead of Phoenix. But the Nuggets are significantly less efficient (1.113 points per possession, 22nd) than the Suns are (1.224 PPP, first) on the break. &lt;/p&gt;
  771. &lt;p id="xoytwt"&gt;The Timberwolves posted an OREB% of 22.5 against the Nuggets in four regular season matchups (&lt;a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/advanced?OpponentTeamID=1610612743&amp;amp;TeamID=0&amp;amp;dir=A&amp;amp;sort=OREB_PCT"&gt;fifth-lowest of any team&lt;/a&gt;), but did not have Towns for two of those matchups. KAT averaged 2.0 offensive boards per game in Round 1, third behind Gobert (3.8) and McDaniels (3.0). McDaniels corner crashing at the same rate he did in the opening round will be imperative to the Wolves continuing to not only create second chance scoring opportunities, but also to draw more fouls and make it as physical of a series as they can against a Denver team that will have a tight rotation. &lt;/p&gt;
  772. &lt;p id="9CWmG1"&gt;Minnesota posted the highest offensive rating (123.2) and the best true shooting percentage (60.3%) of Round 1 in part because of how many second chance and free throws they generated. Continuing that effort in Round 2 against a stout Nuggets half-court defense will be key.&lt;/p&gt;
  773.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  774.        &lt;img alt="Phoenix Suns v Minnesota Timberwolves" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ulXp_3mApDnh7OuTMXf2eKLtbYc=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25429641/2147813569.jpg"&gt;
  775.      &lt;cite&gt;Photo by Jordan Johnson/NBAE via Getty Images&lt;/cite&gt;
  776.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  777. &lt;h3 id="q7PgjW"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Free Throwing&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
  778. &lt;p id="KCApT2"&gt;The Nuggets ranked 29th in the NBA in free throw attempts this season (19.9) and shot just 15.8 in Round 1 (&lt;a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/traditional?SeasonType=Playoffs&amp;amp;dir=A&amp;amp;sort=FTA"&gt;second-last&lt;/a&gt;). The Wolves, meanwhile, ranked eighth (22.9) during the season, but shot up to first (28.5) in the playoffs because of different players drawing fouls.&lt;/p&gt;
  779. &lt;p id="L1BsLk"&gt;All five members of the Wolves’ starting five had at least one game shooting five free throws and Minnesota had three different players shoot at least seven freebies in a game. Denver had just three instances of a player shooting seven-plus free throws (Jokić had all three). Edwards did this three times, as did Gobert, who averaged 6.3 free throws — the second-most he’s ever had in a playoff series. Not only that, but the three-time All-Star made 22 of his 25 attempts (88.8%), easily his highest single-series free throw percentage of his career (previous record was 78.3% in 2019 Round 1 vs. the Houston Rockets). The Timberwolves &lt;a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/traditional?PerMode=PerGame&amp;amp;SeasonType=Playoffs&amp;amp;dir=A&amp;amp;sort=FTA"&gt;had five players rank in the top-40 of free throw attempts&lt;/a&gt; in Round 1, while the Nuggets had just one (Jokić). &lt;/p&gt;
  780. &lt;p id="kLKSKk"&gt;But the Wolves, despite shooting the most free throws in the opening round, also gave up the second-most (28.0 per game). Minnesota won the free throw battle 27-10 and 37-27 in their two wins over Denver; in the Wolves’ two losses, they narrowly won the free throw battle (23-22) on March 19, and narrowly lost (23-21). The Timberwolves’ 0.330 free throw rate against the Nuggets this season &lt;a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/four-factors?OpponentTeamID=1610612743&amp;amp;dir=A&amp;amp;sort=FTA_RATE"&gt;ranked tied for second in the NBA&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;
  781. &lt;p id="k2qAFc"&gt;Minnesota is able to stay out of foul trouble and outscore Denver from the charity stripe, good things will happen. &lt;/p&gt;
  782.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  783.        &lt;img alt="Minnesota Timberwolves v Phoenix Suns - Game Three" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/dv4ATTty_a53VGx1tDNr0bZk018=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25429645/2150382494.jpg"&gt;
  784.      &lt;cite&gt;Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images&lt;/cite&gt;
  785.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  786. &lt;h3 id="nEGGak"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bench Scoring&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
  787. &lt;p id="pBMVno"&gt;The Timberwolves have a real opportunity to separate themselves from the Nuggets over the course of a seven-game series because of their depth. &lt;/p&gt;
  788. &lt;p id="d9aWAP"&gt;Malone was noticeably hesitant to play his bench players in the opening-round series. Denver bench players played just 222 minutes in the first-round series, 18.5% of the available 1,200 minutes across five games. That 18.5% share is the lowest of any team in the first round. Nuggets &lt;a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/traditional?SeasonType=Playoffs&amp;amp;StarterBench=Bench&amp;amp;dir=A&amp;amp;sort=PTS"&gt;players off the bench struggled profusely&lt;/a&gt;, scoring 11.8 points per game (second-worst) on 31.0% shooting and 19.5% from deep, which were both the worst marks in the NBA in Round 1. &lt;/p&gt;
  789. &lt;p id="1Ghz3N"&gt;Finch, however, was comfortable using his bench. The Timberwolves’ reserves played 29.0% of available minutes, eighth-most. NAW and Co. scored the second-most points (27.0), made the second-most 3-pointers (3.8) despite shooting the sixth-worst percentage (28.8%), generated the most assists (7.0) and registered the third-highest collective plus-minus (+15). &lt;/p&gt;
  790. &lt;p id="SPUOdY"&gt;Denver ranked 25th in &lt;a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/traditional?StarterBench=Bench&amp;amp;dir=A&amp;amp;sort=PTS"&gt;bench scoring all season&lt;/a&gt;, while Minnesota ranked 21st, so these two teams are trending in opposite directions in the postseason. &lt;/p&gt;
  791. &lt;aside id="539rt4"&gt;&lt;div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"How the Non-Jokić Minutes Could Swing the Series for the Timberwolves","url":"https://www.canishoopus.com/2024/5/2/24146328/nikola-jokic-denver-nuggets-bench-minnesota-timberwolves-nba-playoffs-western-conference-semifinals"}]}'&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/aside&gt;&lt;p id="r150UB"&gt;Here is a different look at how much the Nuggets starters played in Round 1:&lt;/p&gt;
  792. &lt;h4 id="pl8rcq"&gt;(Denver lost Game 4)&lt;/h4&gt;
  793. &lt;ul&gt;
  794. &lt;li id="8wKAnH"&gt;Murray: 39 | 40 | 41 | 39 | 41&lt;/li&gt;
  795. &lt;li id="oqhwMf"&gt;KCP: 37 | 35 | 35 | 40 | 33&lt;/li&gt;
  796. &lt;li id="Ax7uNy"&gt;MPJ: 38 | 38 | 35 | 40 | 46&lt;/li&gt;
  797. &lt;li id="bIWytw"&gt;Gordon: 32 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 46&lt;/li&gt;
  798. &lt;li id="qpwDEt"&gt;Jokić: 39 | 41 | 39 | 41 | 41 | 41&lt;/li&gt;
  799. &lt;/ul&gt;
  800. &lt;p id="hmbhgJ"&gt;Given how hard Murray, Gordon and Jokić play, it is extremely difficult to consistently play 39-41 minutes over the course of a series and maintain your level of excellence. &lt;/p&gt;
  801. &lt;p id="JU0w1U"&gt;Gordon picked up two fouls in the first 5:19 of Game 1, but was their leader in minutes in Games 2 through 5. Getting him in foul trouble should be one of Towns’ and Edwards’ top priorities offensively. &lt;/p&gt;
  802. &lt;p id="RKlG9X"&gt;It is true that while Watson has had explosive moments (including a phenomenal effort in the final regular season matchup against the Wolves, in which he blocked and dunked everything), it is pretty clear that Malone does not trust him in a playoff setting as much as he did Green or Brown last season. The latter two players played 26.6 and 17.2, respectively. Braun got 13.0 minutes off the bench as a rookie during Denver’s championship run last season, third-most on the team. This season, he’s leading the bench in minutes at 13.1. Pretty jarring. &lt;/p&gt;
  803. &lt;p id="sWXVBR"&gt;Especially with Murray seemingly less than 100% with a left calf strain and KCP turning his ankle a couple times in the last series, I find it hard to believe that Malone can expect to keep playing his bench as little as he is without there being some more serious repercussions, whether that be less impactful basketball or injuries, or both. &lt;/p&gt;
  804.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  805.        &lt;img alt="Minnesota Timberwolves v Denver Nuggets" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/tGdslGv8Kd34IhgyLwxEepiqPI0=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25429789/2148222963.jpg"&gt;
  806.      &lt;cite&gt;Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images&lt;/cite&gt;
  807.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  808. &lt;h3 id="ld4KcS"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A Clash of the Third Quarter Titans&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
  809. &lt;p id="BDiiVU"&gt;Both of these teams destroyed their opponents in the third quarters of Round 1. &lt;/p&gt;
  810. &lt;p id="4geexp"&gt;Minnesota after ranking first all season long with a +13.1 net rating (116.5 ORTG / 103.4 DRTG) carried that into the playoffs with a net rating of +38.0 (140.2 ORTG / 102.2 DRTG), the best mark in the league, while the Nuggets were trailing close behind at +35.0 (131.6 ORTG / 96.7 DRTG), good for third. &lt;/p&gt;
  811. &lt;p id="F2dYwp"&gt;But they did it in different ways. Minnesota shot the leather off the ball, connecting on a league-leading 55.9% of their 3-pointers (19/34), while Denver turned stops into points, ranking first in both fast break points (7.4) and points in the paint (15.2). The Nuggets took care of the ball well, posting Round 1’s top third quarter assist-to-turnover ratio (4.89) and lowest turnover percentage (7.7%). &lt;/p&gt;
  812. &lt;p id="SsZRtc"&gt;The Wolves rode a combined 18.5 third quarter points per contest from Edwards and Towns,  who shot a combined 27/47 (57.4%) from the floor and 10/18 from 3 (55.5%). While Finch and Co. probably can’t expect that shooting to sustain, they can rely upon Alexander-Walker’s energy and efficient playmaking. NAW shot 6/8 from deep, but also recorded seven assists, zero turnovers and one steal in his 27.1 third quarter minutes in Round 1, and paced Minnesota with a +38 mark. &lt;/p&gt;
  813. &lt;p id="4WUDCe"&gt;Porter Jr. was the primary scoring weapon of choice for the Nuggets. He scored 8.4 points per third quarter, connecting on seven of his nine 2-point attempts (77.7%) and 7/13 from deep (53.8%). Jokić hilariously dished out 20 assists with just three turnovers, and matched Porter Jr.’s scoring mark. &lt;/p&gt;
  814. &lt;p id="iRUwUi"&gt;Given how well both of these teams are executing in the fourth quarter — Minnesota’s +12.3 playoff net rating is fifth and Denver’s +10.3 mark is seventh — building momentum entering the fourth will be key. The Suns really struggled to climb back into games against the Timberwolves’ half-court defense in the the final frame. And while Denver has one of the best clutch-time offenses the league has seen in quite some time, it is hard to continually find the bottom of the net against Gobert, McDaniels, Alexander-Walker and Edwards when they’re all locked in.&lt;/p&gt;
  815. &lt;hr class="p-entry-hr" id="74COzb"&gt;
  816. &lt;h2 id="LMkULJ"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;X-Factors&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
  817.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  818.        &lt;img alt="Denver Nuggets v Minnesota Timberwolves" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/iZeW-ilQPcokCfOuYxZVn7263JU=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25429788/1771250066.jpg"&gt;
  819.      &lt;cite&gt;Photo by David Berding/Getty Images&lt;/cite&gt;
  820.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  821. &lt;h3 id="qDkmOs"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Minnesota: Karl-Anthony Towns&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
  822. &lt;p id="yppyqH"&gt;It feels odd to call Towns an X-factor considering he was an All-Star this year, but he may have the largest impact on who wins this war. &lt;/p&gt;
  823. &lt;p id="c26rPd"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Defense&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  824. &lt;p id="tqAx9u"&gt;KAT will defend Jokić, often in 1-on-1 situations. While Towns has had his struggles on the defensive side throughout his career, he has been at his best over the last two seasons in a pretty specific, yet very relevant situation — playing against Jokić with Gobert protecting the rim as a roamer off of Gordon. &lt;/p&gt;
  825.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  826.        &lt;img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/jJikwpjB6chkjMWjxRjt_-r0rhc=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25431203/Nikola_Jokic_defense.png"&gt;
  827.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  828. &lt;p id="tiE3Ty"&gt;Since the start of the 2022-23 season (including last year’s playoffs) Towns has held Jokić to 48 points on 46 shots and just 37.0% shooting from the floor according to NBA.com’s matchup data. That is by far the lowest field goal percentage allowed by anyone who has defended Jokić for as many possessions as Towns has (143.4). &lt;/p&gt;
  829. &lt;p id="mCJ4AA"&gt;The next lowest mark is the 49.6% field goal percentage allowed by the Rockets’ Alperen Şengün. Three and four are Sacramento Kings center Domantas Sabonis (51.5%) and Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkić (51.7%). Notice a clear theme here? Jokić’s efficiency generally dips when playing against very physical bigs. You start to see the more elite, yet slighter of frame defensive bigs — Bam Adebayo, Anthony Davis and Rudy Gobert — in the fourth, fifth and six spots. &lt;/p&gt;
  830. &lt;p id="7gkSrt"&gt;Towns does an excellent job of getting physical with Joker without immediately fouling him. Very few have figured out how to toe that line, but KAT seemingly has solved the puzzle as well as any of the NBA’s big men have. &lt;/p&gt;
  831. &lt;p id="Tvs5UP"&gt;Another key piece of that puzzle is limiting Jokić as a playmaker by taking his space and showing your hands to help take away passing angles. Jokić has recorded at least seven assists just twice in his last six matchups with the Wolves and Minnesota has forced him to commit more turnovers than assists in two of his last four meetings with the Timberwolves. A big part of that is a credit to Anderson, Reid and Garza, who stepped up in Towns’ absence for the final three Nuggets games, but Towns helped give them a template to follow, which is important, too. &lt;/p&gt;
  832. &lt;p id="lRjs9t"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Offense&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  833. &lt;p id="vUoOHd"&gt;If KAT plays the way he did against the Suns, he is going to find plenty of success against the Nuggets offensively. Towns was decisive, attacked under control for the most part, and generally played in the low post and above the break for the majority of the series. &lt;/p&gt;
  834. &lt;p id="XBOOD8"&gt;He scored a very efficient 19.3 points per game on 53.1/52.9/88.9 shooting splits, grabbed 9.5 rebounds, and maintained a assist-to-turnover ratio (1.43) above 1.00 in a series for the first time in his playoff career. It should come as no coincidence that Towns in this series also shot 3-pointers at the highest frequency (34.7% of his total field goal attempts) of his career. &lt;/p&gt;
  835. &lt;p id="6IV6IS"&gt;If he can continue to do all of those things against another smaller defender in Gordon, there is no reason he can’t find success. Towns against the Nuggets last season found his groove after a slow start from deep (3/12) in the first two games. He scored 23.3 points per game on 55.8% shooting, but still struggled from deep (25.0%). Towns played inside more with his 3-point shot not falling and drew 24 free throws over the final three games of the series, but crumbled when Denver brought double teams in the post, and turned it over a ton (0.67 A/TO ratio over the final three games). &lt;/p&gt;
  836. &lt;p id="h1iMQG"&gt;Towns following the blueprint that is there for his success on both ends of the floor is what it will take for Minnesota to continue their historic season. It feels fitting that a whether or not the Wolves take down the champs and finally vault themselves into contending territory may rest on KAT’s shoulders. &lt;/p&gt;
  837.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  838.        &lt;img alt="Minnesota Timberwolves v Denver Nuggets" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/n9FLtZmpvOqlkuQxFG-MwYWkznw=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25431239/2147726957.jpg"&gt;
  839.      &lt;cite&gt;Photo by Bart Young/NBAE via Getty Images&lt;/cite&gt;
  840.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  841. &lt;h3 id="vUR3oB"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Denver: Aaron Gordon&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
  842. &lt;p id="rwbp7C"&gt;Conversely for Denver, they will need a monster effort from Gordon. &lt;/p&gt;
  843. &lt;p id="f3cWRU"&gt;He is the only player that will spend time as the primary matchup for Edwards and Towns, needs to rebound extremely well to limit Minnesota’s second chance scoring, and will be the next man up as a scorer if Murray or Porter Jr. are struggling to fill it up against McDaniels and Edwards, respectively. &lt;/p&gt;
  844. &lt;p id="iEch3O"&gt;Gordon averaged 13.9 points on 55.6/29.0/65.8 shooting splits, a clear dip in both scoring output and efficiency from the Nuggets’ championship run a season ago. But when he does put the ball in the hole, Denver reaps the profits; the Nuggets are 18-4 (67-win pace) this season when Gordon scores at least 17 points and 8-1 when he scores at least 20. &lt;/p&gt;
  845. &lt;p id="sW0f6d"&gt;The former Arizona star was terrific in the first three games of the first-round series, scoring 55 points (18.3 PPG), grabbing 33 rebounds (11 RPG) and holding an assist-to-turnover ratio of 13-3 (4.3), headlined by a 29-point, 15-rebound effort in Game 3 that helped cover up slow starts from Murray, MPJ and KCP. &lt;/p&gt;
  846. &lt;p id="koK5Z2"&gt;But then Gordon’s scoring effectiveness dipped in Games 3 and 4 as his minutes increased. He scored just 14 points on 6/13 shooting (1/4 from 3) and had five turnovers. The great thing about Gordon, though, is he finds a way to make an impact regardless. After recording just three rebounds and four assists in a Game 4 loss, he finished strong with 13 boards and six assists in the close-out game, playing a team-high 46 minutes. &lt;/p&gt;
  847. &lt;p id="VuS5WC"&gt;While he is not immediately thought of as a threat when you think of the Nuggets, Gordon is crucial to everything they do on both ends of the floor. His timely offensive rebounds, lob finishes, cuts to the basket, blocks at the rim, and transition buckets often turn high tides into tsunami waves that completely overwhelm opponents and energize his teammates. But that goes away if the Timberwolves are able to force him into foul trouble — something Minnesota did in Games 2, 4 and 5 in their first-round series in 2023. But unlike last season, the Nuggets can’t turn to Brown or Green. &lt;/p&gt;
  848. &lt;hr class="p-entry-hr" id="cXPlwm"&gt;
  849. &lt;h2 id="4MfU0H"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Key Question That Will Decide The Series&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
  850.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  851.        &lt;img alt="Denver Nuggets v Minnesota Timberwolves" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/bgr6xXS0-2YaZt4OzlVlXNPS9Jw=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25429651/1771247840.jpg"&gt;
  852.      &lt;cite&gt;Photo by David Berding/Getty Images&lt;/cite&gt;
  853.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  854. &lt;h3 id="PuQ8WR"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Can The Wolves Consistently Limit Jamal Murray Like They Did Devin Booker?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
  855. &lt;p id="vI2fk2"&gt;Jaden McDaniels was &lt;a href="https://www.canishoopus.com/2024/4/18/24133633/nba-playoffs-series-preview-guide-timberwolves-suns-anthony-edwards-devin-booker-kevin-durant"&gt;my X-factor in the last series preview&lt;/a&gt;, and boy did he deliver. He made Devin Booker’s life a living hell for four games, holding the four-time All-Star to 18 points on 4/12 shooting and committed just one shooting foul across 106 possessions defending Booker in Round 1, according to &lt;a href="http://NBA.com"&gt;NBA.com&lt;/a&gt; matchup stats. Now, he’ll draw Murray, one of the league’s preeminent playoff risers and superstars. &lt;/p&gt;
  856. &lt;p id="0nMVBD"&gt;Murray is entering his 11th career playoff series with an 8-2 record and a 24.9 points per game scoring average that easily surpasses his overall 17.5 PPG career mark or his regular season high of 21.2 PPG in both 2021 and 2024. Simply put, the dude finds a way in the playoffs to turn it up to 15 on a 1-10 scale. &lt;/p&gt;
  857. &lt;p id="wMDJAt"&gt;The Kitchener, Ontario native has many of the same skills Booker does. Murray is an elite shot-maker in pick-and-roll, can hit a flurry of difficult step-back jumpers in the mid-range, has a crazy impressive scoring package in the paint, and uses his strong frame at 6-foot-4, 215 pounds to play through contact at all three levels. But unlike Booker, Murray has the best possible pick-and-roll partner in Jokić (with whom Jamal has telepathic chemistry), is a more willing playmaker, and doesn’t flop his way through games. Booker drew a free throw on 26.7% of his reps as a PnR ball-handler, whereas Murray did so on just 5.9% of his reps on double the volume, per Synergy. Murray is a gamer in every sense of the word. But &lt;/p&gt;
  858. &lt;p id="LexTtO"&gt;But... Murray was pretty inefficient for his standards in Round 1. He shot better than 40% from the floor just once (Game 5, 46.4%), and made just 10 of his 34 3-point attempts (29.4%). The former Kentucky star made up for it with a 3.00 assist-to-turnover ratio, but will face significantly better defense in Round 2 going up against McDaniels, Alexader-Walker and Edwards. &lt;/p&gt;
  859. &lt;p id="l6kA9Y"&gt;McDaniels has only played Murray five times throughout their careers, which is wild considering that Jaden has seen Jokić 11 times. But in those five games, Murray has torched McDanels, scoring 48 points on 19/28 shooting (67.9%) shooting and dropping 12 assists to just four turnovers. &lt;/p&gt;
  860.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  861.        &lt;img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/vLMwAJ9bxKPj8cF8-NvduU43h0A=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25431274/Jaden_McDaniels_defense.png"&gt;
  862.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  863. &lt;p id="xMtBit"&gt;Alexander-Walker, though, has held his own against Murray. Across 227 possessions in eight matchups, NAW has held his countryman to 40 points on 17/48 shooting (35.4%) and 4/14 from deep (28.6%). NAW’s relentless ball pressure and screen navigation proved to be a difficult matchup for Murray, who is used to creating space in which to work by coming around screens and snaking into the paint. Alexander-Walker’s intensity as an on-ball defender is extremely rare and translates very well onto some of the league’s top scoring guards, especially in a playoff setting.&lt;/p&gt;
  864. &lt;p id="PJTf5Z"&gt;It begs the question... if Alexander-Walker is the better option on Murray, should he close again in this series?&lt;/p&gt;
  865. &lt;p id="dAn1Am"&gt;McDaniels, for as tremendous as he’s been thus far in a playoffs with less generous whistles, may be better suited to defend Porter Jr., who has been tremendous in his own right since the All-Star break. MPJ averaged 18.3 PPG on 50.9/40.4/90.7 shooting splits to go with 7.1 rebounds and a positive A/TO ratio (1.33) in the 27 post-ASB games — all incredible numbers for him. He improved upon that in Round 1, averaging 23 PPG on 55.3/48.8/76.9 splits and 8.4 boards, headlined by a combined 53 points on 9/18 shooting from deep in the final two games. But part of what makes Porter Jr. great is his ability to kill defenses when one of Jokić or Murray gets into a rhythm. If NAW is able to consistently slow down a potentially less than 100% version of Murray and McDaniels is able to bother MPJ, who normally doesn’t catch matchups against defenders as good as Jaden, Minnesota may be cooking with gas. &lt;/p&gt;
  866. &lt;p id="RiSpO5"&gt;Towns trusted the process of NAW closing over him when the Wolves were looking to hang on to big fourth quarter leads against the Suns. Would he do it again? Or would Finch/Nori trust Edwards to handle the lead guard duties without Conley and empower Towns to be impactful down the stretch? &lt;/p&gt;
  867. &lt;p id="S8B3ry"&gt;Those are all fascinating questions, but they are all downstream from the main question — can the Wolves effectively limit Murray? If McDaniels can do it, then you take your chances with Edwards on MPJ, because Jaden probably has a higher ceiling on both ends of the floor than NAW does. Time will tell. But if Murray is able to be consistently great (especially late in games) against the strongest part of the Wolves’ team (perimeter defense), then winning this series will be an uphill climb for Minnesota. &lt;/p&gt;
  868. &lt;hr class="p-entry-hr" id="Up6S9P"&gt;
  869.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  870.        &lt;img alt="Minnesota Timberwolves v Denver Nuggets" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/8lsD7qtOThv4WEA1Wvy2ZS3I1D8=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25429652/2147726943.jpg"&gt;
  871.      &lt;cite&gt;Photo by Bart Young/NBAE via Getty Images&lt;/cite&gt;
  872.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  873. &lt;h3 id="IyjXVj"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Prediction&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
  874. &lt;p id="mmm5jH"&gt;Ever since the Timberwolves brought the brooms out this past Sunday night and I could finally begin to think about a Wolves/Nuggets rematch series, I’ve thought about a quote from three-time &lt;a href="https://www.sbnation.com/super-bowl"&gt;Super Bowl&lt;/a&gt; champion Bill Walsh. &lt;/p&gt;
  875. &lt;p id="hANygC"&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;“The culture precedes positive results. It doesn’t get tacked on as an afterthought on your way to the victory stand. Champions behave like champions before they’re champions. They have a winning standard of performance before they are winners.”&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  876. &lt;p id="rat4AB"&gt;The Nuggets certainly fit that bill last season. &lt;/p&gt;
  877. &lt;p id="JsmmGO"&gt;They were not the most talented team. But they had a lead dog everyone got behind, played extremely hard and held each other to an incredibly high standard every night, and were led for a coach who had the ultimate respect of his players. Despite falling down 3-0 in the first round of the playoffs the prior season, the Nuggets dug deep despite being shorthanded to win Game 4 at home before losing in five games to the eventual champion &lt;a href="https://www.goldenstateofmind.com"&gt;Golden State Warriors&lt;/a&gt;. And when they could’ve made major changes despite not seeing things through at full strength, they kept their core together. Then, they came back and paced the Western Conference with dominant play, but still hadn’t earned the respect of the league at large entering the postseason. &lt;/p&gt;
  878. &lt;p id="rsL07v"&gt;Sound familiar? &lt;/p&gt;
  879. &lt;p id="VTINwD"&gt;The Timberwolves have followed almost exactly the same script as the 2022-23 Nuggets, and now find themselves with an opportunity to take firm control of their destiny in the Western Conference. Just like the Denver team last season, they have an ultimate belief in themselves regardless of who they’ll face on the other side. &lt;/p&gt;
  880. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  881. &lt;p id="gRwWCL"&gt;“I think it’s been the culture change. The belief started the end of last season, going into training camp. Our first team meeting, we talked about what our goals are. It’s not to come in and win a playoff game, playoff series, it’s to win a championship and what are willing to do to sacrifice to do that,” Conley said after the Game 4 win in Phoenix about what clicked from last season to this season. &lt;/p&gt;
  882. &lt;p id="iGrgZI"&gt;“It started in Abu Dhabi and since then we’ve been building those habits, building that culture and all the guys have bought in and you’re seeing collectively right now and just really, really cool to see them all come together.”&lt;/p&gt;
  883. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  884. &lt;p id="jN0CrY"&gt;Minnesota has adopted the personality of Edwards, who is drawing non-hyperbolic comparisons to the greatest competitor the game has ever seen, and flanked by two stars in Towns and Gobert willing to sacrifice however they can to back him up on offense and defense, respectively. The Timberwolves 1) have a historically elite defense that is built for stopping &lt;em&gt;this &lt;/em&gt;opponent, 2) are a team now fully embracing its big identity on both ends of the floor, 3) are the deepest team in the conference, 4) have a complementary blend of experienced veterans in Conley and Anderson, and fearless young guns in Edwards, McDaniels, Reid and Alexander-Walker with a killer mindset. But most importantly, they are more connected than any Timberwolves team we’ve ever seen. &lt;/p&gt;
  885. &lt;p id="EiQL1p"&gt;While Denver’s starting five is equal parts talented, experienced and connected, I have a hard time believing that Malone can continue to play his starters at the rate he did in the first round without them either wearing down or losing effectiveness against a tenacious Minnesota rotation. The Wolves are better defensively, bigger, and perhaps just as talented; but, like it was against the Suns, it is their combination of depth and versatility, and a fourth quarter killer in Edwards that will get them over the hump against a Nuggets team that the Timberwolves have had a couple of extra days to prepare for mentally and physically.&lt;/p&gt;
  886. &lt;p id="1MSbVb"&gt;Bet against &lt;em&gt;this&lt;/em&gt; version of Anthony Edwards at your own risk.&lt;/p&gt;
  887. &lt;p id="5kcfHO"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Wolves in 6.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  888.  
  889. </content>
  890.    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.canishoopus.com/2024/5/2/24146867/timberwolves-vs-nuggets-preview-odds-nba-playoffs-western-conference-anthony-edwards-nikola-jokic"/>
  891.    <id>https://www.canishoopus.com/2024/5/2/24146867/timberwolves-vs-nuggets-preview-odds-nba-playoffs-western-conference-anthony-edwards-nikola-jokic</id>
  892.    <author>
  893.      <name>Jack Borman</name>
  894.    </author>
  895.  </entry>
  896.  <entry>
  897.    <published>2024-05-02T16:00:00-05:00</published>
  898.    <updated>2024-05-02T16:00:00-05:00</updated>
  899.    <title>Looking Back at a Weekend in Phoenix to Remember for the Timberwolves</title>
  900.    <content type="html">  
  901.  
  902.    &lt;figure&gt;
  903.      &lt;img alt="2024 NBA Playoffs - Minnesota Timberwolves v Phoenix Suns" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/NoPLMvClfwe4_Ir8f02krSQCZhk=/0x0:8256x5504/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73323655/2150130086.0.jpg" /&gt;
  904.        &lt;figcaption&gt;Photo by Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  905.    &lt;/figure&gt;
  906.  
  907.  &lt;p&gt;Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves won their first playoff series in 20 years, sweeping Kevin Durant and the starstudded Phoenix Suns, capped off by a pair of dominant wins in the desert.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p id="CpwzKM"&gt;For the first time in 20 years, the &lt;a href="https://www.canishoopus.com"&gt;Minnesota Timberwolves&lt;/a&gt; won a playoff series, sweeping Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and the &lt;a href="https://www.brightsideofthesun.com"&gt;Phoenix Suns&lt;/a&gt;. It was a special weekend for many Wolves fans who have been waiting a really long time for a team like this.&lt;/p&gt;
  908. &lt;p id="ZKTRSa"&gt;Timberwolves fans have been through a lot in the previous two decades, including dysfunction, mismanagement, and mostly just a whole lot of losing. The euphoria involved with sweeping a team led by one of the greatest players of all-time, and flanked by two All-Star scorers, is not a feeling Wolves fans are used to.&lt;/p&gt;
  909. &lt;p id="C4PQ7b"&gt;I was lucky enough to travel to Phoenix to cover and recap both Games 3 and 4 last weekend.&lt;/p&gt;
  910. &lt;div id="Kdxq6u"&gt;
  911. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  912. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;I'm here in Phoenix to cover games 3 and 4 for &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/canishoopus?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;@canishoopus&lt;/a&gt;. Follow me here for updates before, during, and after the game. &lt;a href="https://t.co/qcpsdP84OT"&gt;pic.twitter.com/qcpsdP84OT&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Ryan Eichten (@REichten) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/REichten/status/1784034450864849117?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;April 27, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  913. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  914. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  915.  
  916. &lt;/div&gt;
  917. &lt;p id="0NGQX2"&gt;It was only two games, but so much happened in that short amount of time that I think it’s important to reflect on the weekend that was before moving on to the Wolves second-round matchup with the Denver Nuggets.&lt;/p&gt;
  918. &lt;hr class="p-entry-hr" id="SgVL5d"&gt;
  919.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  920.        &lt;img alt="NBA: Playoffs-Minnesota Timberwolves at Phoenix Suns" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/4X5qvOqg-RlRaXYCWZupF4JPy8A=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25429629/usa_today_23125364.jpg"&gt;
  921.      &lt;cite&gt;Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports&lt;/cite&gt;
  922.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  923. &lt;h2 id="jfnOOT"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Game 3&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
  924. &lt;p id="PEJMdr"&gt;It’s easy to look back now after the sweep and assume the series was already over heading into Game 3. While the Wolves did have a solid 2-0 series lead, the Suns were 4.5 point favorites according to &lt;a href="https://www.draftkings.com/sportsbook"&gt;DraftKings Sportsbook&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  925. &lt;p id="VgZ6uC"&gt;At least according to Vegas, the Suns were seen as a team that could come back in this series, but those ideas were quickly taken out as the Wolves would take the lead early and not give it back, never trailing once during the game.&lt;/p&gt;
  926. &lt;p id="bMDHso"&gt;Minnesota would do what they’ve done so often this season and strangle the other team in the third quarter, outscoring Phoenix 36-20 leading to a 22-point lead.&lt;/p&gt;
  927. &lt;p id="XDr49A"&gt;The Suns would cut that lead to 12 midway through the fourth quarter, leading to the most impressive aspect of the game. With the Suns on a 12-3 run, Anthony Edwards seemed to decide he was not going to let his team blow this lead.&lt;/p&gt;
  928. &lt;p id="xwPqH5"&gt;Over the final seven minutes of the game, Edwards scored 14 points including eight free throws to close out the blow-out win. The Suns had no answer for Edwards who was able to get to his spots on the court seemingly at will.&lt;/p&gt;
  929. &lt;div id="lpLffg"&gt;
  930. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  931. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;Anthony Edwards baseline pull-up midrange jumper &lt;a href="https://t.co/SKJHwuaVn7"&gt;pic.twitter.com/SKJHwuaVn7&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Timberwolves Clips (@WolvesClips) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/WolvesClips/status/1784091432501821662?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;April 27, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  932. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  933. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  934.  
  935. &lt;/div&gt;
  936. &lt;p id="0vSpr1"&gt;In a young career full of spectacular moments, this was a special moment as Ant became the playoff killer on the road many Wolves fans thought he could be. Seeing it in person, it stood out how much he seemed to revel in making the opposing fans go silent.&lt;/p&gt;
  937. &lt;div id="XU1hsk"&gt;
  938. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  939. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;“I just want to kill everything in front of me, man. That’s the main thing.” - Anthony Edwards &lt;a href="https://t.co/J8QHtQbHQo"&gt;pic.twitter.com/J8QHtQbHQo&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Timberwolves Clips (@WolvesClips) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/WolvesClips/status/1784093926221082955?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;April 27, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  940. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  941. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  942.  
  943. &lt;/div&gt;
  944. &lt;p id="EzjN5j"&gt;Once the final buzzer sounded, it was time to head downstairs and speak to players and coaches about every aspect of the game. First at the podium was Wolves Head Coach Chris Finch.&lt;/p&gt;
  945. &lt;p id="xLoqIa"&gt;With the Wolves up 3-0, and each of the first three games being blowouts, the media members could sense that the series was likely heading toward the Timberwolves advancing. Questions in the press conference became increasingly more about what a series win would mean for the organization and Finch gave an all-time response to one of the questions.&lt;/p&gt;
  946. &lt;div id="8abOIS"&gt;
  947. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  948. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;Chris Finch is the best, man. &lt;a href="https://t.co/9DpskZh0oK"&gt;pic.twitter.com/9DpskZh0oK&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Kyle Theige (@KyleTheige) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/KyleTheige/status/1784109308172775646?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;April 27, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  949. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  950. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  951.  
  952. &lt;/div&gt;
  953. &lt;p id="N1MKzJ"&gt;Even for the people who have been here for all or most of the Timberwolves’ 35-year history, fans shouldn’t let what has happened in the past affect their view of this team. This Wolves team is completely unique from the losing teams of the past and should be viewed based on their own successes and failures.&lt;/p&gt;
  954. &lt;p id="Imv6Xu"&gt;Finch’s response reminded me of a quote Pablo López gave when the &lt;a href="https://www.twinkietown.com/"&gt;Minnesota Twins&lt;/a&gt; ended a &lt;a href="https://www.canishoopus.com/2023/10/6/23905532/what-can-the-timberwolves-learn-from-the-minnesota-twins-nba"&gt;two-decade-long playoff losing streak of their own&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  955. &lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p id="Y31C2Z"&gt;“It was an unfortunate streak, and I’m sorry so many people had to suffer through it. Fans have been so great to us. They support us. They root for us no matter the situation. It just felt right giving this to them.”&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  956. &lt;p id="6h3VAM"&gt;Next on the podium were Ant and Rudy Gobert. They were asked about their observations during the game, most notably Ant’s crotch chop late in the game.&lt;/p&gt;
  957. &lt;div id="4x86V3"&gt;
  958. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  959. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;ANT: "I GOT TWO WORDS FOR YA" &lt;a href="https://t.co/83jC9HnCZj"&gt;pic.twitter.com/83jC9HnCZj&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/cjzero/status/1784090618605519259?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;April 27, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  960. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  961. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  962.  
  963. &lt;/div&gt;
  964. &lt;p id="TsrwgU"&gt;Ant didn’t seem to know the origin of his gesture but realized what he was being asked about.&lt;/p&gt;
  965. &lt;div id="SzAhwN"&gt;
  966. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center" data-conversation="none"&gt;
  967. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;ANT on the crotch chop: "I was trying to get Rudy to do it with me" &lt;br&gt;Rudy: "I might be concussed"&lt;br&gt;  &lt;a href="https://t.co/jOHJvEbxHi"&gt;pic.twitter.com/jOHJvEbxHi&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/cjzero/status/1784105667097153558?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;April 27, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  968. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  969. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  970.  
  971. &lt;/div&gt;
  972. &lt;p id="S6BoeO"&gt;That clip showcases just how well Ant and Rudy work together despite their completely different personalities. Ant is joking around trying to get his teammate to join in on his hilarious antics, while Rudy is all business focusing on the free throw he had upcoming.&lt;/p&gt;
  973. &lt;p id="x60aes"&gt;In the locker room, I spoke to Nickeil Alexander-Walker about becoming a father and our experiences with raising our sons. We talked about those first couple of hectic days at the hospital and how his life has adjusted to the addition to his family during one of the most important stretches of his NBA career.&lt;/p&gt;
  974. &lt;p id="OoSED0"&gt;We both agreed that every cliché of fatherhood is true and while it can be a lot of hard work, it’s all worth it. I can’t relate to playing professional basketball, but I know those exact feelings of those first few days and weeks of becoming a father.&lt;/p&gt;
  975. &lt;hr class="p-entry-hr" id="DuTEgu"&gt;
  976.  &lt;figure class="e-image"&gt;
  977.        &lt;img alt="2024 NBA Playoffs - Minnesota Timberwolves v Phoenix Suns" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/z5O49tm2eJpqGAPnRVMuhtO2gUM=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25429626/2150130337.jpg"&gt;
  978.      &lt;cite&gt;Photo by Kate Frese/NBAE via Getty Images&lt;/cite&gt;
  979.  &lt;/figure&gt;
  980. &lt;h2 id="RMfcFG"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Game 4&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
  981. &lt;p id="dJuOsJ"&gt;With the series now 3-0 in favor of the Wolves, the team elected to completely take off the day between games and did not hold a morning shoot-around before Game 4. With Minnesota playing so well in this series, the extra rest seemed to be much more valuable than the extra practice time.&lt;/p&gt;
  982. &lt;p id="tA0tT8"&gt;Even given the large series lead, Minnesota was curiously the underdog once again, this time by just a point-and-a-half. The feeling seemed to be that despite the first three blowouts, the Suns’ starpower still had a chance to take Game 4. That would prove to be somewhat true as Game 4 was the only game that ended up being close.&lt;/p&gt;
  983. &lt;p id="Xkozdx"&gt;Phoenix would take a small lead in the first half with Karl-Anthony Towns being the one to keep the Wolves in it early on. Despite his teammates missing 14 of their 15 3-pointers in the first half, KAT would make all three of his shots from distance.&lt;/p&gt;
  984. &lt;div id="FZEKwN"&gt;
  985. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  986. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;Karl-Anthony Towns deep off-screen 3 &lt;a href="https://t.co/JRNfw7D3bE"&gt;pic.twitter.com/JRNfw7D3bE&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Timberwolves Clips (@WolvesClips) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/WolvesClips/status/1784777412053524699?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;April 29, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  987. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  988. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  989.  
  990. &lt;/div&gt;
  991. &lt;p id="ccusrH"&gt;Karl would continue his solid play into the second half as he was the Timberwolves’ most consistent offense in the first three quarters of the game. The play that stood out most came midway through the fourth quarter when he made an and-one shot over former teammate Josh Okogie.&lt;/p&gt;
  992. &lt;div id="MHxHUu"&gt;
  993. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  994. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;Karl-Anthony Towns driving layup through contact, created by the Mike Conley offensive rebound &lt;a href="https://t.co/9YBwmKOOks"&gt;pic.twitter.com/9YBwmKOOks&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Timberwolves Clips (@WolvesClips) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/WolvesClips/status/1784793597021184071?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;April 29, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  995. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  996. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  997.  
  998. &lt;/div&gt;
  999. &lt;p id="cA34RT"&gt;So many times throughout Towns’ career, Wolves fans have seen him pass up on a semi-open triple, only to drive the lane out of control for an offensive foul. The exact opposite happened here where KAT side-stepped the Okogie charge attempt, banking in the one-legged floater.&lt;/p&gt;
  1000. &lt;p id="l7xvya"&gt;That was a theme for Towns all night who played calm and in control all night. Despite receiving contact on most of his drives to the rim, he rarely if ever complained to the officials. He played within himself and became the matchup nightmare for a Phoenix defense searching for answers.&lt;/p&gt;
  1001. &lt;p id="t0cn1A"&gt;KAT kept the Wolves in the game through the first three quarters, which allowed Ant to again take over late in the game. The play that seemed to sum up this season’s Timberwolves came with just over two minutes left.&lt;/p&gt;
  1002. &lt;div id="FuhRWd"&gt;
  1003. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  1004. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;The 2023-24 Minnesota Timberwolves Experience&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Relentless, connected team defense to force the steal, leading to the Anthony Edwards jaw-dropping highlight dunk &lt;a href="https://t.co/k7tkQ7Im0D"&gt;pic.twitter.com/k7tkQ7Im0D&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Timberwolves Clips (@WolvesClips) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/WolvesClips/status/1784807152479035455?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;April 29, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  1005. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1006. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  1007.  
  1008. &lt;/div&gt;
  1009. &lt;p id="Wr8561"&gt;That sequence is a perfect encapsulation of why this Wolves team is so great. Perfect rotations by the entire team followed by a hammer laid down by the team’s young superstar.&lt;/p&gt;
  1010. &lt;p id="7AgfD0"&gt;A beyond-odd aspect of the game was when Finch and Mike Conley collided on the sideline after a foul by Booker. It was immediately clear that Finch was hurt pretty badly and the Timberwolves would need Micah Nori to take over active coaching duties.&lt;/p&gt;
  1011. &lt;div id="8jcWlb"&gt;
  1012. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  1013. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;Hopefully Chris Finch is ok &lt;a href="https://t.co/G1Z8xuTEpA"&gt;pic.twitter.com/G1Z8xuTEpA&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/cjzero/status/1784798371913297986?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;April 29, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  1014. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1015. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  1016.  
  1017. &lt;/div&gt;
  1018. &lt;p id="teqwMO"&gt;It would later be confirmed in the locker room by Timberwolves PR that Finch suffered a torn patellar tendon in his knee. He underwent successful surgery on Wednesday morning, and will travel to Denver for Games 1 and 2.&lt;/p&gt;
  1019. &lt;p id="2uM0wm"&gt;After trading some free throws, the game was sealed up. The Timberwolves had done it. For the first time in 20 years, and only the second time in franchise history, they would be heading to the second round.&lt;/p&gt;
  1020. &lt;p id="gARYLs"&gt;With the game over, it was again time to run downstairs, this time onto the court to find KAT and Ant celebrating with each other.&lt;/p&gt;
  1021. &lt;div id="2sHjSu"&gt;
  1022. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  1023. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;“It was KAT, man” &lt;a href="https://t.co/Bs4eRgZYcn"&gt;pic.twitter.com/Bs4eRgZYcn&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Timberwolves Clips (@WolvesClips) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/WolvesClips/status/1784804140658352328?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;April 29, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  1024. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1025. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  1026.  
  1027. &lt;/div&gt;
  1028. &lt;p id="StYTZB"&gt;The bond between these two teammates jumps out right away. They clearly enjoy being around each other, something Towns has not had much of during his nine-year tenure with the Timberwolves organization.&lt;/p&gt;
  1029. &lt;p id="y9503q"&gt;As KAT exited the court, he was met by Wolves minority owners Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez.&lt;/p&gt;
  1030. &lt;div id="PExy3U"&gt;
  1031. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  1032. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;Karl-Anthony Towns comes off the floor after the playoff series win, dapping up Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore. &lt;a href="https://t.co/Jkjpl6W9lI"&gt;pic.twitter.com/Jkjpl6W9lI&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Ryan Eichten (@REichten) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/REichten/status/1784804346380861897?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;April 29, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  1033. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1034. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  1035.  
  1036. &lt;/div&gt;
  1037. &lt;p id="2fQHCQ"&gt;After completing his interview with TNT, Ant would find his way off the court. First, would be a huge hug for Karl Towns Sr. before moving on to Lore and A-Rod.&lt;/p&gt;
  1038. &lt;div id="fmbMmm"&gt;
  1039. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  1040. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;Anthony Edwards comes off the floor after a fantastic series &lt;a href="https://t.co/IaUQ6qtcfP"&gt;pic.twitter.com/IaUQ6qtcfP&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Ryan Eichten (@REichten) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/REichten/status/1784806618292760852?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;April 29, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  1041. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1042. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  1043.  
  1044. &lt;/div&gt;
  1045. &lt;p id="Oj0cl1"&gt;At the podium, the bond between Towns and Edwards shined even more. The two were laughing and discussing the game in between questions from the media.&lt;/p&gt;
  1046. &lt;div id="45Bi2C"&gt;
  1047. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  1048. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;Ant: "Eubanks didn't play tonight?&lt;br&gt;KAT: "Nah"&lt;br&gt;Ant: "He played good for them"&lt;br&gt;KAT: "Hey, that ain't our job to worry about that" &lt;a href="https://t.co/7vwyjC02Nh"&gt;pic.twitter.com/7vwyjC02Nh&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;—  ℴ    (@Huncho_Jman) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/Huncho_Jman/status/1784826725412532352?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;April 29, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  1049. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1050. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  1051.  
  1052. &lt;/div&gt;
  1053. &lt;p id="HwuxmM"&gt;It is obvious to see the admiration the two have for each other. Neither one sees themselves as bigger than the other and they both enjoy sitting around discussing the game with each other.&lt;/p&gt;
  1054. &lt;p id="98K5Md"&gt;Even when Ant had a criticism for Towns’ play in the series, he did it in such a disarming way that made KAT and everyone else in the room laugh, but also held a sincere weight.&lt;/p&gt;
  1055. &lt;div id="bvmxVY"&gt;
  1056. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  1057. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;Ant with the highest level of praise for KAT but also &lt;br&gt;"The first three games the motherf***er just kept fouling ... just stop f***ing fouling"   &lt;a href="https://t.co/1C8zxuncaa"&gt;pic.twitter.com/1C8zxuncaa&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/cjzero/status/1784816984594522262?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;April 29, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  1058. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1059. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  1060.  
  1061. &lt;/div&gt;
  1062. &lt;p id="QHTGoW"&gt;Ant delivers fair criticism of Towns, who was in foul trouble most of the series, while also giving KAT his flowers for the things he does well.&lt;/p&gt;
  1063. &lt;p id="cLXJS0"&gt;Before leaving the arena for the final time, I decided to take one last look down the hallway leading to the Wolves’ locker room where I saw Finch getting onto a cart to be taken out of the arena.&lt;/p&gt;
  1064. &lt;p id="6xEQrB"&gt;As the cart drove by myself and a couple of other media members who had gathered around to see him off, Finch gave each of us a fist bump asking, “How’s it going fellas?”&lt;/p&gt;
  1065. &lt;div id="30Xr5v"&gt;
  1066. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true" align="center"&gt;
  1067. &lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;A night to remember in Phoenix &lt;a href="https://t.co/CVmpocb5dl"&gt;pic.twitter.com/CVmpocb5dl&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Ryan Eichten (@REichten) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/REichten/status/1785747819501879308?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 1, 2024&lt;/a&gt;
  1068. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1069. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  1070.  
  1071. &lt;/div&gt;
  1072. &lt;hr class="p-entry-hr" id="UJwz9I"&gt;
  1073. &lt;h2 id="LIKHqr"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Coming Home&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
  1074. &lt;p id="9OU751"&gt;By the time I finished my &lt;a href="https://www.canishoopus.com/timberwolves-scores-results/2024/4/29/24143739/wolves-vs-suns-final-score-nba-playoffs-game-4-anthony-edwards-karl-anthony-towns-sweep-chris-finch"&gt;recap of Game 4&lt;/a&gt;, it was about 11:00 PM Pacific time. Most media members would head back to their hotel rooms to get some rest before flying back in the morning. But not me, as I needed to get home.&lt;/p&gt;
  1075. &lt;p id="MpSEvt"&gt;The day after Game 4 was my son’s first birthday. I wasn’t gonna miss it for the world. I rushed to the airport to catch my red-eye flight home and after a layover in Chicago, I was able to make it home only a couple hours after my son woke up.&lt;/p&gt;
  1076. &lt;p id="U8lHMV"&gt;The first thing I did was give him a huge hug. It was by far the longest I had been away from him so to say that I missed him would be an understatement. We would go out to lunch with my Mom before heading to Build-a-Bear Workshop where little guy could pick out his own teddy bear.&lt;/p&gt;
  1077. &lt;p id="jXRNLC"&gt;He had a great first birthday and as kiddo went to bed, and sleep deprivation started to kick in for me, the predominant feeling that I had was gratitude. Not just for my son, but for the entire experience in Phoenix over the weekend.&lt;/p&gt;
  1078. &lt;p id="O2lNQo"&gt;Timberwolves fans have waited a long time for something like this. I’ve waited a long time for something like this. The last time the Timberwolves won a playoff series I was eight, just learning how to be a sports fan. Now, I’m 28 with a one-year-old son.&lt;/p&gt;
  1079. &lt;p id="muhp3I"&gt;Thousands of people likely have similar stories; 20 years is a long time and lives change drastically over that amount of time. It was special getting to see this franchise perform so well in the playoffs down in Phoenix. Now, let’s see if they can do it again, this time against the defending champions.&lt;/p&gt;
  1080.  
  1081. </content>
  1082.    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.canishoopus.com/2024/5/2/24146597/minnesota-timberwolves-phoenix-suns-nba-playoffs-anthony-edwards-karl-anthony-towns-chris-finch"/>
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  1084.    <author>
  1085.      <name>Ryan Eichten</name>
  1086.    </author>
  1087.  </entry>
  1088. </feed>
  1089.  

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