After losing the first game in Game 2 of the series between the Timberwolves and the Nuggets, the Timberwolves still looked defenseless in the first half of today's game, with a deficit of more than 20 points just over halfway through the second quarter.
A big defeat seemed inevitable, and many Timberwolves fans turned off the live stream in despair.
In the third quarter, the game changed dramatically, and Edwards scored 13 points in a single quarter to lead the Timberwolves to start a rally.
Throughout the third quarter, the Timberwolves team shot 17 of 21 and 5 of 7 three-pointers, scoring 40 points in a single quarter. The deficit was quickly erased, and the Timberwolves rallied by two points into the final quarter.
In the final quarter, Edwards continued his scoring momentum, scoring 14 points in a single quarter to help the team continue its winning hopes.
Helplessly, another core of the Timberwolves, Carl Anthony Downs, pulled.
In the first half of the game, Towns was untouched, scoring just two points on 0-of-4 shooting and four turnovers.
In the third quarter, Downs managed to find a little touch, and as a result, he became invisible again in the fourth quarter.
Throughout the fourth quarter, Towns played 10 minutes and 36 seconds, shooting 0 of 4 without scoring a point, 0 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists, 0 steals and 0 blocks, and no statistics were recorded except for 1 turnover, 2 fouls.
Towns' single-quarter plus-minus in the fourth quarter was an outrageous -15, and his multiple key shots completely killed the Timberwolves' turnaround hopes.
Throughout the game, Towns shot 3-of-12 from the field, 1-of-7 from two-point range, had 10 points, 12 rebounds and 2 assists, in addition to five turnovers.
Downs' stats today are almost identical to the series opener.
In the first game of the series, Towns shot 5-of-15, 1-of-7 from three-pointers, 0-of-2 from the free throw line, and had 11 points, 10 rebounds and 2 assists.
After the first game, Towns said: "I had good shots and remained aggressive, but it backfired. We're going to keep going and focus on the next game. I'm good at projection, I know and believe that, I'm going to prove myself. So in the next game, all I have to do is keep shooting. ”
He did keep shooting, but the hit percentage was just as touching.
In the first two games of the playoffs, Towns averaged just 10.5 points per game, shooting 29.6 percent from the field and 25 percent from three-point range.
Downs' softness completely angered Timberwolves fans.
After today's game, a fan posted a photo of SpongeBob SquarePants, saying that it was Downs' ID photo.
But such a mockery was still not enough to quell the wolf's anger, and many fans angrily pointed out: "Don't be embarrassed, SpongeBob is much tougher than Downs!" ”
In fact, Downssoft has a long reputation.
In the 2018 playoffs, under the leadership of Jimmy Butler, Towns entered the playoffs for the first time in his career, against the Rockets, who mainly played on a small lineup.
In that series, Towns, who averaged 21.3 points per game in the regular season, averaged only 15.2 points per game, and he was known as the strongest shooter in history, shooting only 27.3% from three-point range.
Not only is the data pulling his crotch, Downs was blown up by Rockets center Capela at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends, and Kahuang's reputation was obtained from Downs.
In that series, Capela played the pinnacle of his career against Towns. He has played in 16 series games so far, averaging 8.5 points and 8.4 rebounds per game.
Against Downs, he averaged 15.8 points, 14.2 rebounds and 2 blocks per game, shooting 67.3% from the field, scoring rebounds as a career series high, and all statistics crushed Downs.
After that series, Butler got into a fight with the Timberwolves, left the Timberwolves with contempt for Downs, and kept muttering "soft eggs" in his mouth.
As the top pick in 2015, Towns cannot be said to be without strength, averaging 23 points, 11.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game in his career, which is also quite a top interior in history.
In addition, Towns is also a "benchmark" in the new era of interior line, he has won the All-Star Challenge, won the three-point contest, and is the only interior player in NBA history to win both awards.
He had 60 points and 17 rebounds per game, becoming the first center since O'Neal '00 to score at least 60 points per game. He had twice recorded at least 55 points, 15 rebounds and hit at least six three-pointers, making him the only player in NBA history to do so. He scored 32 points in a single quarter, making him the fifth-highest player in NBA history to score in a single quarter.
But in his eighth season, Towns failed to prove himself in the playoffs.
Like most of the new generation of stars, Towns seems to have a severe lack of desire for victory and championships.
After the play-off Timberwolves beat the Thunder to qualify for the playoffs, Conley said almost by name in his postgame press conference: "You have to pay attention to detail, you can't just go home and play video games, it's time to do some extra work." ”
After Conley's interview, Downs came to the interview, just in time to hit the muzzle, and he said to Conley: "Do you want to fight Call of Duty or something else?" ”
Conley, on the other hand, responded coldly: "Go and watch the game video first." ”
This is probably the epitome of today's NBA young generation, they are indeed very talented, they have a better life, better treatment, more scientific training, and a more complete medical logistics support team than many predecessors who have not even had enough to eat since childhood.
The team and fans see them as pearls, allowing them to take turns at every turn, only hoping that they can step up and lead the team to the highest honors at crucial moments.
But they are always invisible in key games and even become team holes.
They always seem to be indifferent to winning or losing, do not have any obsession with the championship, win if they can, lie down if they can't fight... It's good to lose, and it's just enough to go home on vacation to open two more games...
Sometimes I think that our hatred of them is not steel, which may be similar to the eyes of older generations looking at our generation.
When "lying flat" becomes the main theme of the younger generation around the world, everyone holds aloft the spirit of Q to paralyze themselves, and we may not be much different.
Imagine if you were in his position, would you do better than him?