The Minnesota Timberwolves came into this game against the Denver Nuggets down 1-0 in the series. Tonight they needed a huge bounce back to regain some confidence and momentum heading back home for Game 3.
The Denver Nuggets came out hot and didn’t look back as they had the Minnesota Timberwolves on the heels on both ends. It was Jamal Murray, who took over the game for the Denver Nuggets, and looked exactly how you looked inside the NBA bubble. When Jamal Murray plays like this, with this type of confidence is tough to beat this team, especially with them having the two-time MVP Nikola Jokic right alongside him.
Jamal Murray was hitting some tough shots tonight even with a hand in his face as he finished the game with 40 points, 3 rebounds, and 5 assists. He was sensational tonight for the Nuggets and was the main reason they were able to pull this one out. Jokic was special tonight as well because he impacted the game with his rebounding and passing ability. Joker finished with 27 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists. Overall it was a complete team effort from the Nuggets as they were able to win this game with a well balanced attempt but Minnesota found the blueprint in the 3rd quarter for the next game.
The Minnesota Timberwolves went on a crazy run as they turned being down by 21 points into a 3 point lead. Anthony Edwards was SPECIAL tonight for the Timberwolves as he kept coming at them and coming all day night long. It didn’t matter who was guarding Edwards tonight as he was on a mission and even though that mission was cut short he showed exactly who he is and why he’s H1M. Edwards was the main player on the Timberwolves who had it going and he brought them back in this game. Even though the comeback was short lived Edwards was able to finish the game with 41 points, 2 rebounds, and 4 assists on the night.
The Timberwolves head home for Game 3 on Friday as they will need the crowd and players to be ready to go at a high level in this one.
Photo Credit: (Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images)
The Minnesota Timberwolves came into this game on a positive note after beating Oklahoma City on Friday. They were a lot of players questionable for this game from the Minnesota side but everybody would be playing. Denver came in today’s game, well rested and ready to go waiting on the Minnesota Timberwolves and it showed tonight.
The Denver Nuggets came into this game with a game plan, knowing that Karl-Anthony towns and Rudy Gobert. We’re going to need to step it up on the defensive and offensive end against Nikola Jokic. The Nuggets blitzed the Minnesota Timberwolves early as the game got away from Minnesota from the three-point line. The Timberwolves we’re shooting a lot of threes and when they’re going in it’s all great but when you’re not making them and you’re going to guess the number one seed in the Western Conference it’s tough. Karl-Anthony towns had one of his worst games of the year and one of the most important games of the season but we can’t expect that he’s gonna do that back to back. The Nuggets didn’t do anything special Karl-Anthony towns just wasn’t able to get his game going on both ends of the floor. Kat was making some mistakes that we barely see all year and missed a lot of wide-open shots that he normally would make.
Overall, the Timberwolves just didn’t have it offensively missing shots that they usually make all year long in a hostile environment in Denver. Karl-Anthony towns finished with 11 points,10 rebounds, and 2 assists on the night. Karl-Anthony towns is the head of the snake for the Minnesota Timberwolves so if he’s struggling, it’s gonna be tough for the team to really bounce back when their best player doesn’t have it going. Look for Karl-Anthony towns, to be more aggressive and more certain of in game two of this playoff series against the Denver Nuggets. Anthony Edwards has the steps game up as well to another level. If this Minnesota team is going to make it to the second round. Anthony had 18 points tonight because I had a lot more he just missed a lot of opportunities. There was a playing a game where Minnesota was struggling in transition, because Denver was playing at a faster pace. If the Timberwolves are going to make a splash in the series, they have to make the Denver Nuggets play at their pace not vice versa.
Nikola Jokic looks like the reigning MVP any definitely play like it in a short amount of time. Jokic was in foul trouble all night but Jamal Murray had his back having one of his best games of the season at the right time. Jamal Murray had 28 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists in this win. It seem like anything that the Denver Nuggets put up today was going in. They had the momentum and you could tell that the Timberwolves weren’t stopping the bleeding in this one. The Timberwolves had the lead early in the 1st quarter and never regained it again.
The Minnesota Timberwolves are coming off a very impressive win against the San Antonio Spurs yesterday. Today they had to face the New Orleans Pelicans in a game that would determine a lot of the seeding going into the Play-In Tournament. Both Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns were questionable heading into this game but both suited up. This was going to be a huge matchup as Brandon Ingram has been hot and so has Karl Anthony Towns since coming back from his calf strain.
From the tipoff, this was a game that was going back and forth in the Target Center. Brandon Ingram was unstoppable and looked like the prime version of Dirk Nowitzki with his fadeaway jumper. The Timberwolves were throwing multiple defenders on Ingram but it wasn’t working. Jaden McDaniels was the primary defender on Brandon Ingram but he was limited when he got 2 quick fouls that put him on the bench. Brandon Ingram was the Pelican’s offense as the man had himself a 21-point quarter. It seemed as though nothing was going right defensively on Ingram but Anthony Edwards was up to the task for the remainder of the game. Once Brandon Ingram got some rest at the beginning of the 2nd quarter that’s when the Timberwolves were able to gain some momentum. Anthony Edwards started to get into the paint and was able to hit some tough shots with people all over him.
When Anthony makes those tough shots it gets his game going and he gets very active on the defensive end as well. Brandon Ingram came back in the game and started to get it going again but this time around Edwards was all over him leaving Jonas Valančiūnas with Rudy Gobert. The Pelicans were having Valančiūnas outside the paint so that it can limit the impact that Rudy Gobert had inside the paint. Anytime that Valančiūnas got the ball on the perimeter he was taking Rudy away from the basket and it was hurting the Timberwolves during a certain stretch. You can’t really blame Rudy as he was already banged up coming into this game. It was tough to see as during a timeout tempers were shown on the sideline as Rudy got into it with teammate Kyle Anderson. This moment can either make or break a team and this was a moment where Anthony Edwards/Karl-Anthony Towns took over and showed maturity.
The Timberwolves were already down at halftime after the altercation on the bench. Shortly after that Jaden McDaniels took his frustration out on what he thought was a tarp flap and it happened to be concrete as seen below. Jaden McDaniels was reported to have fractured his hand and will be out for some significant time. This all happened within the flow of the game that still needed to be won by the Minnesota Timberwolves.
In that 2nd half, the Timberwolves came out with some heart as they quickly put together a 5-0 run to start the 3rd. Once they got that quick run going it got the crowd back into the game. Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns were the ones to put the team on their backs. Karl-Anthony Towns was unreal in that 2nd half as he was able to hit back to back 3 pointers during a sequence where he had defenders all in his face. This was the KAT that myself and all the Timberwolves fans missed while he was hurt. Towns made it known in that 2nd half that he was back and if the Pelicans wanted to go small ball he was going to punish them. The Pelicans faded away from Jonas Valančiūnas in the 2nd half as they wanted to play smaller. What Willie Green and the Pelicans didn’t know is that Towns was going to make them regret putting Herb Jones on him. Every position in the 3rd or 4th quarter was run through KAT and the Timberwolves had the mismatch. If they came to double KAT he found the open man and more than likely got it to Anthony Edwards.
Karl-Anthony Towns finished the game with 30 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 assists on the night with ease. Tonight he showed why he’s still one of the best big men in the NBA and that performance has led the Timberwolves to the 8th seed in the Play-In Tournament. Anthony Edwards had a sequence tonight where he was able to block CJ McCollum’s dunk attempt and came down the other end and scored a crazy basket. The job that Anthony Edwards did on Brandon Ingram in the 2nd half won’t get talked about much because of the adversity they sustained but it was special. Anthony Edwards finished with 26 points, 13 rebounds, and 4 assists. He’s locked in at the right time and he’s growing into that two-way player. With McDaniels about to be out they need Edwards to take it to another level now. Tauren Prince came off the bench and gave them 18 points in 35 mins. If he can come in and give them an offensive boost in the play-in that would be clutch.
Brandon Ingram finished the game with 42 points, 12 rebounds, and 7 assists today but it wasn’t enough to beat the Timberwolves. With that being said the Timberwolves will be heading to LA to play the Lakers on Tuesday night as they start the Play-In Journey.
Photo Credit: (Photo by Jordan Johnson/NBAE via Getty Images)
The Minnesota Timberwolves are coming into this game needing to win out if they want to have a chance to grab the 7th seed in the West. To do that, they had to handle the task at hand in Austin, TX. The Spurs were without Keldon Johnson and Zach Collins whereas the Timberwolves needed to play their starters to secure a spot in the play-in tournament. This is the front end of a back-to-back for the Timberwolves so they needed to make light work of the Spurs ASAP.
At the beginning of this game, you can tell that the Spurs were playing an extremely competitive game as Tre Jones was everywhere. It goes to show you that many of these Spurs players were still playing for jump security heading into next season. Tre Jones showed that his job would be more than secured as he can be one of the key pieces to the Spurs puzzle moving forward. It seemed as though Jones was all over the place getting rebounds and finding his teammates with ease. Tre Jones could go right at the Timberwolves’ defense with ease as he finished the game with a triple-double. Tre Jones had 21 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists on the day. The Spurs had 6 players in double figures against the Timberwolves and managed to score 131 but the Timberwolves just had it going offensively today. The Timberwolves scored 151 points and had 7 players in double figures as they were led by Anthony Edwards who finished with 33 points. Anthony Edwards as he came out the gates setting the tone in this game scoring with ease. The Spurs had no answer for Edwards as he was able to score over and around the Spurs’ defenders. When Edwards plays like this the Timberwolves are unstoppable and today it showed what the team can actually be when things are clicking.
Karl-Anthony Towns looked really good out there as well with 22 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists. It’s good to see KAT getting back in the swing of things on the offensive and defensive sides. When KAT plays on both ends like he did today anything is possible. I truly believe if KAT didn’t get hurt this team would be locked into a seeded instead of the play-in tournament but things happen and you have to overcome. Rudy Gobert has been a rebounding machine and he did just that against the Spurs today as they had no big man in the paint that could stop him. Rudy had 13 rebounds and when he commands the paint like he did today this team is tough to beat as the Spurs found out. Rudy was the defensive anchor in the paint with 4 blocks today as well to add to his boards. The mix of KAT and Rudy has been special every time they grace the floor together. Jaden McDaniels took over that 3rd quarter and was able to drop 12 points in the quarter alone. We already know he is an All-Defense caliber player but when he scores the ball like he has since the All-Star breaks it makes it tough on anyone and the Spurs found that out today. This Timberwolves team is clicking at the right time and will have a game with the Pelicans tomorrow to determine their fate in the NBA play-in tournament. Below are the seeding opportunities for the Timberwolves heading into tomorrow’s game.
The Minnesota Timberwolves would finish (7th seed if they beat the Pelicans, Lakers lose to the Jazz) (8th seed if they beat the Pelicans, but Lakers beat the Jazz) (9th seed if they lose to Pelicans)
Photo Credit: (Photos by Michael Gonzales/NBAE via Getty Images)
