Beijing time on April 13, the Timberwolves and clippers ushered in the first game of the playoff competition, because the two sides ranked in the top 7th and 8th, so who can take the lead in a victory, you can directly lock a playoff ticket as the seventh seed in the West, and just ranked seventh, sitting on the home advantage of the Timberwolves, naturally hope to take the Clippers in front of the home fans, facing the Clippers with the weakest inside line, which should be the timberwolves inner core Downs to prove themselves. Unfortunately, at the end of the first half, he suffered foul trouble (4 times), which seriously affected his competitive state, and in the last quarter, he only scored 1 point to eat the sixth foul of the game, and finally fixed his data on 3 of 11 shots, 11 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.
Towns is plagued by fouls! After six fouls left the game, the Timberwolves reached the playoffs by beating the Clippers with a double core in the backcourt
Fortunately, after Towns was sent off, the other Timberwolves players stepped forward, and another champion, Edwards, scored a team-high 30 points, and Russell scored 29 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists. And a key back-down three-pointer in the final quarter, the excellent performance of these two backcourt cores, but also to make up for the Timberwolves' lack of Towns loopholes, and finally helped the team to beat the Clippers 109-104, successfully returned to the playoffs as the seventh seed in the West, after four seasons, and they will be challenged by the second Memphis Grizzlies in the West in the first round of the playoffs.
The credit for the last playoff was butler! This return to the playoffs, Downs was helpless to be a spectator again
Since the Last Time the Timberwolves entered the playoffs, it goes back to the 17-18 season, when the team manager was still Thibodeau, although the team finally entered the playoffs again after a 14-year absence as the eighth seed in the West, but the credit at that time was basically snatched by Thibodeau's Jimmy Butler. Butler averaged a team-high 22.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 2 steals that season, and it was he who led the then double-element Wiggins and Towns to taste the first playoff experience after entering the NBA. Although they were able to enter the playoff stage, they encountered the Rockets in the first round and were eliminated by the other side 4-1, and then the next season Butler briefly played 10 games for the team, then applied for a trade, went to the 76ers, and the remaining Wiggins and Towns, the two young heads of the young yuanlang, the Timberwolves once again fell into a low tide.
Under the tutelage of Chris Finch this season, the Timberwolves have a bad decline in the previous seasons, and achieved a record of 46 wins and 36 losses in the regular season, but in this key play-off, Towns failed to prove himself, but let another Yuanlang Edwards steal the limelight, I believe that even if the team enters the playoffs, Downs is also full of mixed feelings.
As the only team in the playoffs 4 years ago, can Towns usher in redemption in this playoff
But in any case, being able to taste the playoffs again is also a kind of praise for the Timberwolves' hard work this season, and Towns, as the only one on the team who has experienced the playoffs 4 years ago this season, naturally hopes to lead the team to go further and break through the first round of spells, if Towns wants to win redemption for himself, the second playoff trip of his career, he must play a more ferocious offensive and defensive aggressiveness than the regular season, and the Timberwolves have the opportunity to "black seven" and enter the semifinal stage.