The Suns led by 8 points in the third quarter, but were taken away by the Timberwolves in the third quarter and the final quarter, trailing the Timberwolves by as many as 18 points, and after losing to the Timberwolves 93-105, we have to admit the following 8 realities!
1. After falling behind the Timberwolves 0-2, according to historical data, in the best-of-7 series of the playoffs, once the Suns fell into the disadvantage of falling behind 0-2, their record was very dismal, with 14 wins and 0 wins. Now, they are facing such a dilemma again, and the first round of the Sun Tour has become an indisputable fact!
Two: As of now, the Lakers and Suns are 0-2 behind their opponents in the first round, but their performances and perceptions in the game are completely different. The Lakers showed strong discipline and execution on both offensive and defensive ends, and even in the face of the powerful Nuggets, they did not fall into a collapse-like chaos, and their losses were more due to the objective difference in strength.
The Suns, on the other hand, are disorganized in their handling of the ball, their turnovers, and their defensive discipline, lacking a clear tactical arrangement and consistent teamwork. Their opponents, the Timberwolves, are also lacking in discipline, but they are also relatively high in margin for error due to their youth, tallness, and stronger defensive ability.
Third, the reason for these two situations is that the Suns lack a ball-handling man, if they trade Paul for age and injury considerations, but they get Beal, it seems very unprofessional, Beal and Booker completely overlap in position and function. They could consider trading for Harden, or even a veteran like Lowry, and then use the remaining salary space to strengthen the team's defense! Obviously, they are too obsessed with the Big Three to compete for the championship!
Fourth, NBA Coach Skip's view is the same as the author's, he commented on the Suns' game, saying: "The Timberwolves' performance and lineup have made the Suns' Big Three look old and short, and now it seems that they are completely overrated. Such a situation may make Suns owner Ishbia suspicious, and he can't help but wonder why he is spending so much money for. Clearly, the Suns are in dire need of a real point guard to lead the offense at the moment, as they look lifeless on the offensive end of tonight's game. "In the G2 game, the Suns' Big Three made a total of 45 shots, hitting only 18 balls, and only scored a total of 52 points, which was not satisfactory.
Fifth, the Suns are out in the first round, and the team will most likely rebuild! Durant has expressed dissatisfaction with the team's offensive and defensive system more than once in the game, and Timberwolves fans even ridiculed that McDann beat Booker and Durant is about to join the Timberwolves. Although, whether Durant will join the Timberwolves is a doubt, but if the first round is out, Durant will definitely choose to leave, this team has changed its flavor and lost the championship-contending team! Beal is not a star who can help Durant compete for the championship, and neither is Booker, he is still too young, too immature, and emotionally impulsive!
Sixth, the Timberwolves are really strong, in the regular season, the Timberwolves showed strong defensive strength, their defensive efficiency is as high as 109, ranking first in the league, in terms of blocks and steals, they also perform well, averaging 6.1 blocks and 7.9 steals per game, ranking fourth in the league.
However, we can't ignore the Timberwolves' offense, which also has a respectable three-point shooting percentage of 38.7%, which ranks third in the league. At the same time, their overall shooting percentage also reached 48.5%, ranking 10th in the league, Gobert is very efficient in finishing on the inside, Edwards is extremely capable of breaking, Towns can make threes, Conley can play threes, and McDaniels is more top-of-the-line 3-and-D.
Seventh, the Timberwolves are the only team in the West that can compete with the Nuggets! Towns and Gobert can definitely match Jokic and Gordon, McDaniels can even have the upper hand in the face of Porter Jr., and Edwards is also half a pound against Murray! And the depth of the Timberwolves' rotation lineup is something that the Nuggets do not have! Walker, Reed, and Lee Kyle are all players with good strength. Interestingly, they will meet in the Western Conference semifinals, and once the Timberwolves break through the second round, they have a chance to break out of the West!
Eighth, the era of old superstars huddles is over! From the Warriors Ku Tang Chasing, to Zhan Mei, to the Suns Big Three, it is difficult to succeed this season, their huge salary contracts have destroyed the team's salary system, affecting the reinforcement of other positions, plus age, physical fitness, Curry, James, Durant These old superstars are difficult to maintain a high efficiency on the court, once they leave, the team will lack the point of attack. And the rise of young teams such as the Timberwolves and Thunder also means the end of an era!