The Timberwolves beat the Suns 105-93 to give them a 2-0 overall lead. The Suns lost by 25 points in the first game and 12 points in this game, and you have to say that they improved. In the regular season, the Suns and the Timberwolves had the upper hand because the Timberwolves did not have a targeted deployment. But the playoffs are different, and the Timberwolves have studied the Suns thoroughly. Towns and Gobert pestered Durant, taking advantage of his age-old injury to slip in speed, Edwards locked up Beal, and then the others went against Booker.
As we said before, the Suns can rely on the Big Three to let go of the picks in the regular season, and one person can play for a period of time to achieve unlimited endurance. But as soon as the defense intensity in the playoffs increased, the Big Three exposed a big problem, that is, the team did not have a point guard tandem. When the opponent's tactics are not very targeted, you can win the game by messing around. But when the opponent is on defense, there is no way to crack the opponent's defensive strategy without a point guard, and then the offensive end is not divided into priorities. Who should I give the ball to? Durant sticks, Booker, or Beal?
Who will deal the cards of the three? This is something that cannot be resolved in the current chaos of the Suns. In fact, Vogel's joining is not as good as Monty, who directly became a horse doctor in Paul's absence last year. Without a point guard, I switched to unlimited singles, and Durant and Booker let go, but they won 2 games against the Nuggets. What to do this year? Given a Bill, Vogel didn't know how to deploy tactics. At the end of the day, Vogel is a defensive coach, and he really can't attack. But the Suns' current defensive configuration is destined to only fight for offense, and once the offense fails, it will be crippled.
To be honest, the Timberwolves played the Suns very easily, their defense could match the intensity of the Suns, and then the offense could grind the Suns to death. Every time in the half, the Suns can play against the Timberwolves, but once the Timberwolves are ready to close the game in the second half, the Suns can't do anything about it. Today, in the third quarter, the Timberwolves played a mercury offense to lead the Suns by 7 points, and a wave of 18-7 defense in the final quarter completely choked the Suns, and the difference was stretched to 18 points. Looking at the data, you can know that when Edwards was in a slump on the Timberwolves' side, he scored 15 points on 3-of-12 shooting, but contributed 5 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 steals, and Huazi's restrictions on the Suns on the defensive end were very good.
Then the Wonder McDaniels broke out and scored 25 points and 8 boards, Gobert 18 points and 9 boards or the defensive end of the sea needle, Towns 24 minutes 12 points and 8 boards, Conley 18 points and 4 assists told the Suns that there are benefits of point guards. On the Suns' side, Durant scored 18 points on 6-of-15 shooting, Beal scored 14 points on 6-of-17 shooting, Booker scored 20 points and 6 turnovers and had the penultimate plus/minus in the game, round-faced Gordon scored 15 points, and Nurkic had 10 points and 14 boards. The crossbow machine is currently the only size of the sun that can face the timberwolves, and the most troublesome thing for the Timberwolves is that they can't hit five small, and the offense and defense will be exploded when they hit five small. The current Suns will regret trading Paul for Beal last year instead of trading Harden.
Because Harden is an upgraded version of Paul Sr. In fact, Durant himself prefers Harden to Beal, and Durant Booker has already discussed the possibility of playing with Harden last offseason. As a result, the Suns disliked Harden being too old and chose Beal, who had an annual salary of 50 million. Now looking at the loss of grandma's family, if Harden is the point guard, it is like the Nets' Big Three. Harden is in control and can give the ball to Durant's dessert position, making Booker more comfortable. At the same time, Harden can also crack the Timberwolves' defensive target and make adjustments. Harden has a natural self-consciousness when it comes to catching holes in opponents' defenses.
So when Harden left the Nets, Durant and Irving were swept 4-0 by the Celtics. Without Harden this year, Philadelphia has been swept by the Knicks with a 2-0 lead, and now the Suns don't see any hope.
Celebrity Skip tweeted after the game: "The Timberwolves make the Suns' Big Three look old and short, what is the Suns owner spending so much money on to bring in Beal? The Suns need a real point guard, and they look lifeless on the offensive end tonight." ”