The Suns made 19 mistakes and buried a good game, Allen retired from injury, Durant was 6 of 15, and Maidan hit 25+7!
Text: Lao Kan Kanqiu
Editor|Lao Kan Kanqiu
On April 24, Beijing time, the first round of the NBA playoffs continued, and the rematch between the Phoenix Suns and the Minnesota Timberwolves officially began. At present, the overall score of the two teams is 0-1, and the Suns are temporarily one game behind, and it is worth mentioning that in the regular season, the Suns swept the Timberwolves. However, in the last game of G1, the Timberwolves increased their physical confrontation, and the Suns lost their offensive rhythm and did not adapt to the intensity of the playoffs in time. Before the game, the American media ESPN gave a prediction for the winning rate of this game: the Suns have a winning rate of 35.5%, and the Timberwolves have a 64.5% winning rate.
In the last meeting between the two teams, the Suns suffered a heavy defeat by 25 points, only Durant played steadily among the Big Three, with 31 points and 7 rebounds, and Booker and Beal were sluggish, one with 18 points and the other with 15 points. As a comparison, Edwards on the Timberwolves' side blasted 33 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists, and once trash talk to his idol Durant, and the Warriors player is also Durant's former teammate - Dream Green, who is also not a big deal to watch the excitement, in his podcast, he supported Suns head coach Vogel, saying: " The Suns should adjust their defensive strategy and let Durant mark Edwards, and it is enough to have Booker and Beal on offense. ”
In terms of injuries, the Suns are still out of Damion Lee, Grayson Allen officially announced before the game that he will continue to play, the starting five are: Booker, Allen, Durant, Beal, Nurkic, and the Timberwolves' Lee Kyle is doubtful, and the starting lineup is: Conley, Edwards, Towns, Gobert, McDaniels.
At the beginning of the first quarter, Conley Sr. scored two points to give the Timberwolves the lead, Edwards also had three points, and after Gobert scored a basket, the Timberwolves started with an 8-0 offensive climax, and Allen hit a three-point horizontal corner to stop the bleeding in time. Gobert knocked down Nurkic with the ball and scored a throw, and was whistled for an offensive foul, and the Timberwolves made it 2+1 after the challenge was successful. Booker singled Gobert and missed a strong shot, the Big Three had already shot 0 of 9, Gobert received the ball in the restricted area and put it easily, and the difference had expanded to 9 points. Gordon flew to Edwards, rushed to the basket and dunked directly, Towns scrambled for a rebound in the front court and accidentally knocked down Booker, receiving his third personal foul, Booker hit both free throws, the Suns chased to 1 point, and Monte scored a two-pointer at the whistle, and the Timberwolves led by 3 points 24-21 in the first quarter.
In the first quarter, the Suns' Big Three felt cold, shooting only 3 of 15 in total, but fortunately, the role players played well, and the difference was only 3 points. Coming back in the second quarter, Beal hit the basket, Gobert Yellow Sparrow sent a pegboard hat directly behind, and then Beal made a three-point layup, the Suns completed the overtake, Durant hit Madan with his back, hit the limit of his back, and added free throws, Edwards made a three-point shot without touching the frame, and the Timberwolves' offense came to a standstill and was already 7 points behind. The Timberwolves didn't play well, Maidan was in a hurry, got into a verbal altercation with Booker, pushed each other, and got a technical foul, and Booker also gave an offensive foul. Durant rode a mid-range shot to give the Suns a temporary lead at 51-50 at halftime.
After the adjustment of the Big Three in the second quarter, they scored 21 points in a single quarter, Durant scored 11 points and 4 boards on 4-of-8 shooting in the half, Booker scored 13 points, 3 boards and 2 assists, and Beal contributed 7 points and 3 assists. On the Timberwolves' side, the old Conley is not old, shooting 6 of 8, with 14 points, 2 rebounds and 1 steal, Gobert scored 12 points, 5 boards and 2 steals on 5 of 5, Edwards had a bad hand, 5 points, 3 boards, 4 assists and 2 steals on 1 of 5, and Towns got into foul trouble, scoring 2 points, 3 rebounds and 3 fouls.
Yibian fought again, when Allen was chasing the old Conley, he accidentally stepped on the latter's instep and fell to the ground after flying to the ground, and then was helped back to the locker room by the staff, and it looked like he would not return to this game. Towns hit O'Neal and fouled, and then received the ball at the top of the arc for three points, Booker stopped and pulled out three points in a timely response, Edwards faced Durant is a three-point shot, playing idol is to bring energy, Booker made another low-level mistake under Mike's defense, the Suns fell into a scoring drought again, did not score a point for 4 consecutive minutes, Walker scored three points again, the Timberwolves led to 10 points, at the critical moment, Durant first attracted the bag, homeopathic Eubanks dunked the ball, and then made two fouls and made two free throws, and after the third quarter, the Suns were still 7 points behind。
The Suns' mistakes were so deadly, with 13 turnovers in the third quarter, and then it was officially confirmed that Allen Wei had a foot injury and would not return for this game. In the fourth quarter, Booker Beal made another miscommunication error and went out of bounds to exchange the ball, followed by Booker, who was caught by the referee and whistled an offensive foul during the layup. The old Conley still has three points, Maidan also breaks through, and the Timberwolves have led to 18 points, and there is no suspense in the game. In the end, the Timberwolves made another game and led the Suns 2-0.
It is worth mentioning that the Suns had as many as 19 turnovers in the whole game, burying a good start. In terms of statistics, on the Suns' side, Durant shot 6 of 15 and scored 18 points and 6 rebounds, Beal scored 14 points and 6 assists, Booker contributed 20 points and 5 assists, O'Neal had 0 points and 4 rebounds, and Nurkic had 10 points and 14 rebounds. On the Timberwolves' side, Edwards performed sluggishly, only scoring 15 points, 5 rebounds and 8 assists, Madan became the biggest wonder man, blasting 25 points and 8 rebounds, Towns 12 points and 8 rebounds, Gobert 18 points and 9 rebounds, and Conley Sr. 18 points and 4 assists.