In the second round of G1, the Timberwolves defeated the Nuggets 106-99 away.
There is no doubt that this game belongs to Edwards, the young Wolves shined in the first semifinals, shooting 17-of-29 from the field, 3-of-7 from three-point range, and 6-of-6 from the free-throw line, scoring 43 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists, setting a new playoff high in personal and Timberwolves history.
In the first half, Edwards scored 25 of the team's 40 points, and in the fourth quarter, he hit hard, scoring 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting in a single quarter, including a turnaround jumper and a layup that killed the game at the end.
Of course, several other main players of the Timberwolves also contributed a lot:
Towns, 8-of-13 shooting, 2-of-4 three-pointers, scored 20 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists, with efficient offense and hard defense, can defend Gordon and Jokic;
Gobert, who shot 3-of-6, scored 6 points, 3 assists, 13 rebounds and 3 blocks, and even Jokic's free catch for Gordon was able to cap down, and the three-time DPOY was worthy of his name;
Nazreid, who shot 7-of-11 from the field and 2-of-4 from three-point range, finished with 16 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists, including 14 points in the fourth quarter;
McDaniels, who shot 0-of-7 from the field and didn't score a single point, grabbed eight rebounds, three of which were on the front board, and scored 0 points in the half.
And, today's protagonist, Mike Conley.
In the whole game, Conley played a total of 31 minutes, shooting 5-of-8 from the field and 3-of-4 from three-point range, scoring 14 points, 4 rebounds and 10 assists.
As we said, Edwards carried the team in the first half and took over the game in the fourth quarter, but in the third quarter, Edwards scored only 6 points on 7 shots;
It was Conley who propped up the Timberwolves' third quarter, shooting 4-of-4 from the field and 2-of-2 from three-point range in the quarter, and scoring 11 points and 4 assists on consecutive shots.
Anyone who has watched the Nuggets game knows that the Nuggets' stability is very terrible, there are few power outages in the whole game, and the ability to chase points in the second half is extremely strong, and they also tried to open up the gap at the beginning of the third quarter of this game;
In addition to helping Edwards share the pressure on the offensive end, Conley, who is breaking defensively, cannot be ignored, and he is the main defender of Pope in this game, who did not score a point during the matchup, and even Murray did not take advantage of Conley.
There is a statistic that can also prove the importance of Conley, the two teams in this game are still very close, the difference between the two quarters is only 7 points at most, and the final difference is also 7 points, but Conley's plus/minus on the court has reached +20, which is higher than Edwards (+10), Downs (+6), and Gobert (+12).
It should be said that in the first round, the Timberwolves swept the Suns 4-0, and Conley's performance was also quite good, when in four games, Conley averaged 11.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game, and the team won 11.4 points per 100 rounds when he was on the court, and the assist rate increased from 54.4% to 63.0%.
For Conley, this year is a great opportunity to compete for the title.
This is Conley's 17th season, and despite making the playoffs several times, Conley has only experienced one Western Conference final in his career, which was in 2013, when the Grizzlies defeated the Clippers and Thunder in succession, and then were swept by the Spurs in the Western Conference final.
In fact, Conley didn't have much second-round experience, with just four in total, and this is the fifth time in his career that he has been on the stage in the semi-finals, and perhaps the only time he may have been truly considered a "favourite".
Previously, whether it was in the Grizzlies or Jazz, Conley's team was only considered to be a little competitive and could make the opponent grind a layer of skin, but this year's Timberwolves are really different.
This Timberwolves, with Towns and Gobert inside, Edwards and McDaniels outside, have both inside and outside, balanced offense and defense, and Naz Reid and Alexander Walker on the bench, and they are not false against the Nuggets, and they really hope to win the championship.
It is worth mentioning that before the start of the playoffs, Conley said in an interview: "My sense of urgency is historic, I don't think anyone wants to win more than me, I selfishly told my teammates, help me, brothers, help me, while my level is still there, right now, I don't have much time." ”
Conley's words are true, he is 36 years old, and a player of this age is in a state every time he is older, and even has a birthday and suddenly can't play. So, there really isn't much time left for him to win the championship as the main force, but fortunately, look at the young Edwards, maybe it's this year.