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MINNEAPOLIS – Over the course of 35 seasons, spanning 11 playoff spots and thirteen playoff spots overall, the first home games have been cloaked in a grim trend for the Minnesota Timberwolves.
They usually face the road. And they lose. The Wolves entered the 2024 playoffs with a 2-11 record in Game 1 and nine of those series in other boys’ buildings.
With their 120-95 victory over the Suns on Saturday at the raucous Target Center in Game 1 of their first-round series, Minnesota reversed that script on both axes. Here are some conclusions:
1. The wolves pressed a reset button
Contrary to popular belief and fundamental math, this best-of-seven series did not start 0-0 on Saturday. For the Timberwolves, it already felt like 0-3 because of the hard blows Phoenix had inflicted on them in the normal season. .
The Suns have outscored them with a 15. 6 ERA in the series. They did their damage early, leading for thirteen issues or more. Minnesota had the No. 1 defense in the NBA this season with 108. 4 consistent points on 100 possessions, but they were opposed. for Phoenix, they were a disaster at 123. 7. That would have ranked 31st in the 30-team league.
“The narrative of the game was not in our favor,” substitute Nickeil Alexander-Walker.
But this time, Minnesota got its intellectual back for the remaining number of games.
“We had to level our game,” Wolves coach Chris Finch said. “We played hard, we played desperate basketball with a grudge, that’s what we did at the beginning of the season when we were looking to identify ourselves. “
The defense was back. The Suns only managed to score 100 points five times this season, which is their second-lowest score. They were 2-13 with a score of less than 107.
The Timberwolves have limited their groups to 106 or fewer 43 times and have gone 39-4. This elite defense was built around middle Rudy Gobert, the favorite to win Kia’s Defensive Player of the Year award for the fourth time. – held the Suns without a basket for more than seven minutes to close out the third quarter. In the second half, Phoenix shot 40 percent from the field, had nine turnovers, seven assists and scored just 44 points.
2. “MVP!” “Overrated!”
Well, the chant that provided background noise for Anthony Edwards made sense, as the extremely cheerful Minnesota fans shouted “MVP!”while the youth point guard conducted a post-game interview on the pitch.
But the “Overrated! [applause, applause, applause-applause-applause] that accompanied Durant to the foul line late in the first half may have simply been a mistake. The finalist sniper scored 18 in stoppage time and would soon be stinging the house crowd again.
Durant tired 4 silky jumpers from different distances in less than 3 minutes of the third quarter, frustrating Minnesota’s defensive looks and even turning Edwards into a KD gourmet on the court.
“He made four, five baskets in a row like nothing happened,” Edwards said. “And at some point I became a fan, like I was there and I was like, ‘Damn, he’s kind. ‘It’s as if it doesn’t exist. Whatever we can do, we were betting on a wonderful defense and it’s like he doesn’t see you. I mean, he’s the most productive that’s ever done that.
Before Durant ended his hot streak, the Wolves defended theirs, scoring 16 of his team’s 20 goals to extend the lead to 89-70. He had a smiling verbal exchange with the Suns star and received Durant’s smile.
That 3 in Ant’s barrage of 18 points in the 3rd quarter HARD.
PHX-MIN on ESPN pic. twitter. com/W1SJGbplWQ
– NBA (@NBA) April 20, 2024
“It’s just basketball, not even playoffs, it’s just basketball,” Durant said. “You’re hot, you’re shooting, you’re making tough shots, you’re going to feel excited about yourself. So it’s up to me to keep coming back.
Edwards, who considers Durant his personal GOAT, said, “I think everyone here knows he’s my favorite player of all time. It’s probably one of the most productive emotions of my entire life, that’s for sure.
3. Booker’s Average Morning
Devin Booker, a four-time All-Star who has tied Durant (27. 1 points per game) as the Suns’ leading scorer this season, is usually a serious-looking guy. It took a dark turn as the first match unfolded. as if the game was about five hours in advance for his liking.
Minnesota has already taken aim at Booker. He already has enough on his plate as Phoenix’s surrogate point guard, yet his day grew longer when waves of defenders — from Jaden McDaniels to Alexander-Walker to Edwards — harassed him.
Booker shot 5 of 16 and scored just 18 points, adding seven in the fourth quarter as Phoenix didn’t tie at 15. It’s worth noting that Booker remained below average: 22. 7 points per game, 42 percent shooting, 30 percent three-pointers. – across Minnesota, even in the lopsided regular-season games.
“We’ve all had to adapt to the playoffs, to the physicality,” Booker said. “They’re super physical with me and I committed 3 early fouls and went to the bench. I’m just looking to find a rhythm from there.
4. For the Guardians, the Loot
Phoenix’s bench has been one of his weaknesses all season. That would mean less in the playoffs as coaches adjust their rotation, allowing enough minutes to seven or eight players.
However, it is vital in this one. In fact, most of the margin came thanks to the Wolves’ 41-18 merit through the reserves.
Alexander-Walker was 4-of-3 and scored 18 points, and Naz Reid, a candidate to be Kia’s sixth player of the year, scored 12 points on a pair of 3-pointers in about 19 minutes.
No Wolves starter has done better than Alexander-Walker’s plus-28 or Reid’s plus-22.
Phoenix’s intensity could drop even further when point guard Grayson Allen makes Game 2 available for Tuesday (7:30 a. m. ET, TNT/truTV). Allen sprained his right ankle in the third quarter and was sidelined. Here he comes back negative, so remedy and a break of more than 72 hours between matches will decide his fate.
5. Small Programming, Small Impact
Late in the first half, Suns coach Frank Vogel gave middle Jusuf Nurkic a rest, replacing the 7-foot-290 with guard Eric Gordon. That left Durant, a 6-foot-11 junk, as a Phoenix player. 6 ft 4.
Leading 51-43 when Nurkic sat down, the Wolves increased their lead to 14 in less than two minutes. Nurkic returned.
Vogel also attempted to finish the third quarter, replacing Drew Eubanks with Bradley Beal for an additional 15. 1 seconds of activity. Alexander-Walker hit a 3-pointer with 2. 7 seconds left to give Minnesota a 20-point lead.
That’s because in the past, warring parties managed to get men like Karl-Anthony Towns and Gobert out of the area through smaller, quicker adjustments. The Wolves didn’t blink in the first game.
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Steve Aschburner has been writing about the NBA since 1980. You can email him here, his files here, and follow him on X.
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