On April 21, Beijing time, the NBA playoffs ushered in the second game of the first round, and the Timberwolves hosted the Suns. Although the Suns defeated the Timberwolves three times in the regular season and were known as the nemesis of the Timberwolves, the Timberwolves taught the Suns a hard lesson in this game. In the second and third quarters, the Timberwolves began to increase their defensive efforts, Gobert swept the defense on the outside, Towns defended on the inside, the Suns couldn't shoot on the outside, and the inside couldn't score, relying only on Durant's mid-range shot, completely suppressed by the Timberwolves, and finally the Suns lost to the Timberwolves 95-120 in the first game. After this game, we have to admit 8 realities.
1. Although in the regular season, the Suns have more advantages in rebounding statistics, averaging 44.1 rebounds per game, ranking 10th in the league. Wolves are averaging 43.6 rebounds per game, 15th in the league. However, in the key game of the playoffs, the Suns' rebounding statistics were completely blown out by the Timberwolves. In the whole game, the Suns grabbed only 34 rebounds, and there were even fewer rebounds in the frontcourt, only three. The Timberwolves, on the other hand, had a stellar rebounding performance with a twin-tower combination, grabbing a whopping 59 rebounds, including 13 in the frontcourt, with Gobert alone scoring 16. Nurkic's performance was overshadowed, grabbing just four rebounds in the game, which was not even as good as Ayton's.
Second, the Suns' inside score is completely out of control. The Wolves scored a whopping 52 points inside, while the Suns scored just 34. The huge gap in frontcourt rebounds also led to a large disparity between the two teams in the secondary offensive scoring, with the Timberwolves scoring 20 points through the secondary offense, while the Suns only scored 6 points. Due to the runaway rebounding, the Suns' inside scoring was limited and they were passive throughout the game.
Three, Edwards is just too strong! His outburst on the offensive end became another big reason for the Suns' loss. In the three games against the Suns in the regular season, Edwards was sluggish and was the key to the Timberwolves being swept by the Suns. However, in the playoffs, Edwards was in full shape in the first game, scoring 33 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists in the whole game, with extremely high efficiency, 3-point shooting, picturesque mid-range shots, and breakthrough dunks, which is quite Jordan's legacy. Especially in the third quarter, he scored 18 points in a single quarter, setting the tone for the Timberwolves' victory.
Fourth, Durant is still very stable, but unfortunately it is a swan song of one person. In this game, Durant scored 31 points and 7 rebounds, and his shooting percentage was also quite impressive. Still, he seemed to be on his own. Beal, while shooting well, had a limited scoring contribution, scoring just 15 points. Booker was even worse, scoring 18 points on 5-of-16 shooting from the field and shooting just 31.3 percent from the field. In Booker's playoff career, the Suns often struggled to win when he shot below that percentage. The collective dumb fire of the two guns has a lot to do with the wide defensive area of the Timberwolves, in addition to Daniels' ability to switch defenses, Gobert's long arms allow him to sweep the defense on the outside! Allen and Booker are miserable!
Fifth, the Suns' bench lineup was comprehensively suppressed by the Timberwolves in this game. Because the Suns invested a lot of money in the Big Three when they built the team, the bench lineup was relatively weak. In this game, the Suns bench scored only 18 points in total, of which O'Neal contributed 14 points, and the highly-anticipated Gordon scored 0 points on 0-of-5 shooting. The Timberwolves' bench lineup was even better, with Walker scoring 18 points and Reed netting 12. Such a bench gap is also a big reason for the Suns' loss.
Sixth, Durant, Booker and Beal, each of them is a scorer who is good at attacking with the ball. However, when these three attackers appeared on the court at the same time, the team's offensive rhythm often fell into chaos, staging the embarrassing drama of "three monks have no water to eat". The root of the problem is that the Suns lack a core point guard to effectively sort out the offense, although Booker and Beal are trying to tap their own organizational offensive ability, but this cannot fundamentally achieve the purpose of activating the whole team, Booker and Beal threaten to attack, forcibly organize the offense, can only kill the enemy 500 and lose 1,000, which is equivalent to self-defeating arms!
7. On the defensive end, the Suns also face a lot of challenges. Although head coach Vogel is known for his ability to adjust defense, the reality that the "Big Three" occupy most of the salary space has made it extremely difficult for teams to bring in enough forward defenders in the trade market. This means that the 35-year-old Durant will shoulder the heavy responsibility of the team's forward defense, which is undoubtedly a tough test for the player who has experienced serious injuries.
Eighth, compared with the Suns' Big Three, the Timberwolves' "Big Three" may not be "comparable" with the Suns in terms of star quality and past resumes, but the Timberwolves' core players are younger and the lineup is more reasonable. The Timberwolves rank among the best in defensive efficiency, defensive rebounds per game, blocks per game, and steals per game. Against such a solid defensive team, it will undoubtedly be an extremely difficult task for the Suns, who have poor offensive stability, to break down the Timberwolves' defense in the series.
What do you think about this?