The NBA playoffs continued, and the Timberwolves lost 108-109 to the Mavericks at home, and the series score in the Western Conference finals was rewritten to 0-2. In this game, the Timberwolves swept away the decline, they opened with full firepower, scored 32 points in the first quarter, and the Mavericks strengthened the protection of the interior in the second quarter, but they couldn't stand the Timberwolves 5 of 10 three-pointers in a single quarter, and the point difference soon came to double digits. But in the second half, the situation changed abruptly, the Timberwolves lost power on offense and defense, and the Mavericks were under the successive efforts of Doncic and Irving, and the score was close to at least 2 points in the third quarter, and even overtook in the final quarter. At the critical moment, the scores of the two sides were tight, but the Timberwolves made consecutive mistakes, Doncic faced Gobert and hit a three-point shot, and the Timberwolves regretted losing. So where exactly did the Timberwolves lose this time? Perhaps the data can give us some answers.
Edwards, who shot 5-of-17 from the field, 2-of-7 from three-point range and 9-of-10 from the free-throw line, finished with 21 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 block and 2 turnovers, and had a plus/minus of -6. To tell the truth, Huazi collapsed today, and when the Timberwolves had no way out and were in a desperate situation, as the core leader of the team, Edwards did not stand up to take over the team as expected by the outside world. On the offensive end, he was not adjusted well and was not very efficient. On the defensive end, he also lost the confidence to take the initiative to defend Irving, and at the critical moment, Irving was replaced by McDaniels after consecutive plays, which was a collapse in confidence, which was also the most disappointing.
Downs, who shot 4-of-16 from the field, 1-of-5 from three-point range and 6-of-7 from the free-throw line, finished with 15 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals. Towns' performance today was also embarrassing, although he played hotly and even had a good dunk, but it all happened in the first half of the Timberwolves lead. When the Mavericks were crazy about the counterattack, Towns was also dumbfounded, and even he was abandoned at a critical moment, and the team's first and second scorers were so inefficient, so you can imagine why the Timberwolves played so hard in the end.
Gobert, who shot 6-of-10 from the field and 4-of-6 from the free-throw line, had 16 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 1 block, with a plus/minus of +4 on the court. Gobert is the one who performs well today, the key is that every time the Timberwolves need someone to step up, Gobert can really play some effect with the ball alone whether it is a dunk or a kill, plus the influence of the defensive end is here, on the whole, Gobert's offensive and defensive performance today is worthy of recognition.
Conley, who shot 7-of-14 from the field, 2-of-5 from three-point range and 2-of-3 from the free-throw line, finished with 15 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, 1 block and 2 turnovers, and had a plus/minus of -1. Conley could see that he was indeed in a hurry today, and his shots set a new playoff high, which also reflected the lack of production of the Timberwolves' core scorers, and the elder Conley did not want to see the team being pushed to the brink.
McDaniels, who shot 1-of-6 from the field and 0-of-3 from three-point range, only had 2 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks and 1 turnover, with a plus/minus of -4. Maidan's performance today can even be described as a disaster, he can't limit Doncic and Irving on the defensive end, which is nothing, and he can't grasp all kinds of open three-pointers on the key offensive end, causing the Timberwolves to block the offensive space and unable to open up space for the core.
Reed, who shot 8-of-13 from the field and 7-of-9 from three-point range, finished with 23 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block and 1 turnover. I would like to call Reed the savior of the Timberwolves today, a few times they were caught up by the Mavericks, and even overtook them, the Timberwolves always stood up and hit three points, and there were also violent dunks, and the efficiency was already full, and he couldn't be blamed for not hitting the final kill.
In terms of the remaining role players off the bench, Walker shot 2-of-4, 0-of-2 from three-point range, and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line, and he contributed 6 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 1 block and 2 turnovers. Lee Kyle shot 2-of-5 from the field and 3-of-4 from the free-throw line, and he had 7 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Today, the Timberwolves were able to withstand the Mavericks' repeated counterattacks and stalemate until the final moments, and they need to thank the bench for playing.