On April 24, Beijing time, the first round of the NBA playoffs G2 continued, and the Timberwolves sat at home to face the Suns. In the previous playoff games, the top four in the East and West remained undefeated, and two games have been played, the Nuggets lead the Lakers 2-0, the Knicks lead the 76ers 2-0, and the Cavaliers lead the Magic 2-0. In the first matchup between the Suns and the Timberwolves, the Timberwolves won by 25 points, and Edwards kept naming Durant and blew up the Suns' defense! You must know that the two teams met three times in the regular season, and the Suns won all of them, and they beat the Timberwolves by 47 points in three games. Durant also offered his opinion that Booker should play more aggressively.
According to the data modeling calculation of the American media "BR", the Timberwolves have an 81.8% probability of eliminating the Suns, and Booker, the absolute core of the Suns, does not seem to be worried, and even said that when they played the Clippers last year, the team also lost G1, but in the end they eliminated the Clippers. But let's be honest, last year's win over the Clippers by the Suns really took the dividends of Leonard's injury, otherwise the Suns would have been more unlucky. Before the game, the Suns received bad news, coach Vogel revealed that in the last game against the Timberwolves, the team's sharpshooter Allen had an ankle injury, although it was a little swollen, but he wanted to keep playing. From a personal point of view, the Suns' biggest problem is that there is no one to play against Edwards, and neither Booker nor Beal can defend against it. Going to Okogie will increase the cost of confrontation, which will reduce the pressure on Durant.
Suns starters: Booker + Beal + Allen + Durant + Nurkic, Timberwolves starters: Conley + Edwards + McDaniels + Towns + Gobert. At the beginning of the game, Conley accelerated the layup + Edwards blocked and dismantled three points + Gobert ate cakes and dunked, stopping the Suns 8-0! Allen and Nurkic scored 5 points in a row to stop the bleeding, Gobert and Madan frequently hit the basket, and Durant's defensive end was under too much pressure to make up for the position! In the second half, Durant's jump shot opened his hand, Booker continued to play singles, and Gordon's breakthrough dunk, the Suns caught up with the score all the way, and the Suns trailed the Timberwolves 21-24 in the first quarter. Back in the second quarter, Gordon's ultra-long three-point shot, Beal made consecutive layups + blocked three-pointers, including Durant and Booker's singles, and the Suns finally overtook the Timberwolves!
At the critical moment, Conley and McDaniels hit three three-pointers in a row, but Booker and Beal led Eubanks to eat cakes, and Durant rode a horse and shot a high-arc jumper, which also made the Timberwolves powerless. At the end of the quarter, Gobert and Madan scored four straight points to stop the bleeding, and the Suns led the Timberwolves 51-50 at halftime. At the beginning of the second half, Maidan broke through the dunk, Downs made consecutive kills, and then Downs and Beal hit three-pointers, and the two teams fell into a tug-of-war. In the second half, the Timberwolves suddenly got up: Reed trained Nurkic, Edwards named Beal to score a 3-pointer, and then pulled away to eat Durant, and after the step-back jumper scored, Edwards licked his tongue to celebrate, and Durant bowed his head in frustration! This also became a turning point, after which Reed and Walker blossomed inside and out, and the Timberwolves quickly opened a 10-point difference.
At the end of the quarter, Durant and Eubanks scored four straight points to stop the bleeding, and at the end of the third quarter, the Timberwolves led the Suns 78-71. The house leak happened to rain overnight, and Allen suffered a serious ankle sprain and retired from the game. In the fourth quarter of the decisive battle, Gobert chiseled Durant, Conley named Durant, Towns rebounded + Conley scored three points, Madan could easily pass Durant for a layup, and the Timberwolves' lead instantly reached 17 points! In the last 2 minutes of garbage time, the Timberwolves defeated the Suns 105-93, leading the series 2-0!
Timberwolves statistics, Edwards 15 points, 5 rebounds and 8 assists, Gobert 18 points, 9 rebounds and 3 steals, Towns 12 points and 8 rebounds, Conley 18 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists, Walker 10 points and 5 assists, McDaniels 25 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists. Suns statistics, Durant had 18 points and 6 rebounds on 6-of-15 shooting, Booker had 20 points, 5 assists and 6 turnovers, Beal had 14 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists on 6-of-17 shooting, Nurkic had 10 points and 14 rebounds, and Gordon had 15 points.
Throughout the game, to put it mildly, the Suns and Timberwolves are not on the same level. The singles of the Suns' Big Three are not very efficient, especially Durant, who is constantly consumed on the defensive end and loses his touch on the offensive end. Booker killed 1,000 enemies and lost 800 of himself, and was constantly named for military training. In addition, the Suns did not have a defensive tactic, and the blocking and dismantling were replaced, which was too passive. Although Edwards felt average today, McDaniels and Gobert stepped up, and the veteran Conley broke through the Suns defense, just like crossing the road in the early morning, this is a matter of defensive attitude! This series really lost suspense, I didn't expect the Suns Big Three to be so vulnerable, and Vogel is estimated to be about to leave class.