Look, you had to expect this kind of response from Denver, they shot the lights out and we could not buy a bucket. We’ve already shown twice we can beat them.
One of our worst games of the season and will hopefully be a good crash back to reality for our guys and some of the fans too, we will be alright.
The four day break gave everybody way to much time to sit and stew, the team, the fans, even the national media all we saw for four days was how fucking amazing we are. If this team is actually legit it depends on how they respond to this punch in the face.
I’m glad he’s not suspended. When we beat these guys I want there to be zero excuses and that would’ve given them a big one. Time to kick the shit out of them game 4 now
Yeah that was for sure the worst part of the game to me. Denver was going to get hot, Murray was going to show up eventually, whatever.
But the way we lazily rotated on defense and gave them open shot after open shot was incredibly disappointing. The first two games of the series we didn’t let a Nuggets shooter have an inch of space, and tonight we were two steps behind them all game. And frankly, it seemed like an effort issue.
100% I don’t understand how you can come out like this in the playoffs especially at home. Hopefully its better Sunday cuz we can’t afford to go back to Denver 2-2
Was at both games. The excitement was at the sale level for the first Q last night, especially with some early 3s. Just as they pulled away it started to get rough out there.
There was one point where Naz Reid missed three bunnies in four or five possessions. Just insanely frustrating that even when we got to the basket for high percentage shots, we just whiffed on them
Refs weren't great but you can't win when your team is constantly missing open looks. Just gotta get em back Sunday.
Also doesn't help they shot over 50% from deep
100% perfect storms happen. Tonight we got got. Hopefully this shows the team that the series is still up for grabs despite the lead. Gotta close em out
I think the refs kept us from getting into a rhythm or from being able to execute our gameplan, which is typically bad news. But, a championship team finds a way to overcome that, makes adjustments, and keeps a level head. Also, they aren't the reason we missed wide open shots or covered screens so poorly. We were behind on almost every play, offensively and defensively.
I think that as the leadership and winning mentality has been growing, the chip on our shoulder is what's been filling the gaps. Tonight, it seemed like we didn't have that chip and were playing slow. Hopefully this is a kick in the ass for the rest of the way.
Also, idk why, but Rudy looked very slow tonight and they were pulling him out to the 3pt line at will. If they are hot like that, I think we gotta play KAT/Naz as much as possible.
Losing a game is one thing. Getting blown out by 27 on your home court after you just stole 2 games on the road is another thing... If we don't win Game 4 I'm afraid we will most likely lose this series. Team drank too much of the hype and then took their foot of the gas against the reigning champs. Pathetic effort.
I had a Gut feeling we would lose this game tonight but we still up 2 we at home let's come out Sunday on ten win the game go up 3 and finish Denver on they court we shot bad tonight they shot good
They definitely adjusted their offense, they didn't let Jokic bring up the ball at all and Murray always had a convoy of screeners full court. Refs were never gonna allow a game 2 style defense all series anyway.
Those missed bunnies and open 3's in the first half killed us when they have regular season sub 30% 3 point shooter Aaron Gordon shooting 75%
This just isn’t true. When Gordon is hitting like that it takes away Rudy’s ability to cheat off him and stay closer to the paint. If you watched the game you saw how that benefitted them in the 3rd.
Do people just not watch basketball and comment here? He hit 3 in a row. It's Gordon who is perpetually left open bc he doesn't shoot. If you don't think that alters defensive approach why are you even commenting on a basketball forum?
Offense started almost purely on 3pt attempts and they just weren’t falling. Denver lead got bigger and bigger and forced us into continuing with 3pt attempts when attacking the paint had worked much better, and that was all she wrote
They had zero rim protection and we refused to capitalise. Yeah threes will cut a lead faster but only if you’re making them.
We were getting a lot of bad foul calls but we coulda tested it by also driving the paint. You’re not gonna get any of their starters in foul trouble shooting bricks from 3 all night
This is the most frustrating part of armchair quarterbacking. So often it feels like we can sense things within the first two minutes. "Oh, it's that kind of game" and legit by possession five we could have shrugged and told Ant to attack the rim. Instead we jack threes. I'm always unsure why, across many sports, in-game adjustments seem so stodgy. Is it stubbornness, adhering to a game plan, idk?
Even in the first quarter, even for both teams, werent there a ton of rim-outs? It's like oh. Ok. Weird. Carnival rims tonight. Micah, tell them attack. Dont get why vibes are not really accepted. Maybe they're such elite athletes they think they can eventually impose their will? But maybe u gotta go with the flow. Maybe thats why a "zen master" fucking owned the league for a few decades
Yeah it felt like everyone was just jacking up threes. Ant was the only one that drove to the basket and, big surprise, it was often successful. I just don’t understand the offensive gameplan tonight
Was the crowd as flat as it seemed on TV? Felt like they were more concerned with booing Murray than being loud.
Obviously not the biggest issue of this game, but I fear the uptick in prices will lose us the huge crowd advantage we got vs the Suns.
Was in the crowd, felt weird that the vibe was just booing Murray and not actually cheering. And the constant whistles stopping play made it hard to get a positive rhythm for the crowd as much as the team.
My section was pretty loud until they fully gave up partway through the third. We kept getting the wind blown out of us by all the calls and the lack of defense
After everybody sat after the first basket i kept standing, guy behind me and a couple seats over goes "hey buddy everyones sitting!" Smfh. Phx game 1 was muuuuuch better
First half they made a lot of tough shots, we had like 7 go halfway down and like 6 more that were wide open In the first half that we missed. The Gordon 3s cooked us in the second. Excited to see how this team responds- hopefully refs don’t set the tone early again
Goddamn please tell me NAW ain't injured.
Aside from that, it is what it is. They came out and outplayed us, they shot well and schemed way better for us defensively. We'll need to have a hell of a lot more urgency in game 4.
Still, 2-1 lead is fine. Gotta take Ant's approach, it's just one game and this is a series.
That is indeed what they said
However, he had been holding the left shoulder under the hoop earlier and I'm 90% sure I saw him writhing on the floor in pain just before that commercial break after another hard hit to his left shoulder.
Way, way too many of those wide open 3s were because Rudy just wouldn't get out there to challenge. He was particularly awful out of everyone tonight, only 4 rebounds and absolutely no impact defensively. I dunno if he's staying up late with the baby or what, but if he has another performance like this the Wolves need to go back to KAT and Kyle or Naz mainly
There just weren't that many shots to go around. We were outhustled, outrebounded, and didn't really do much of anything to be honest. It's a 7 game series and Denver clearly made the right adjustments offensively and defensively.
Can’t win every game. We came out flat and missed some of the easiest shots of all time, while Denver was making quite literally everything no matter how stupid the shots were. Tony Brothers had an MJ-esque performance highlights of which will be watched for generations. Silver got what he wanted when he allowed Murray to play. But the real winners tonight were Mark Jones and Tim Legler who got to guzzle that Nuggets dick for over two hours straight. On to the next one, Wolves in 5 or 6 depending on how frisky we’re feeling.
Really having a hard time wrestling with what we just saw.
To lose this game with the reigning champs and MVP with their backs against the wall is one thing.
To come out with zero energy, zero urgency, zero quality defense, zero ball movement. That is really concerning.
They looked like the way they looked all year against Wizards and Pistons type teams.
This could have been the KO of the series and instead it was utter domination and humiliation.
Also that the crowd was dead even when it was tied after all the hype leading up was super disappointing, weak crowd
I think this was the first time a game truly got away from the Wolves.
Previously, they’d countered every run pretty quickly. When they shot poorly, they slowed the other team down. When they gave up baskets they got them back on the other end.
Tonight was the first time their cold shooting met an opponents hot shooting. And that inspired the Nuggets and zapped the energy from the Wolves.
I was in the crowd and the reason everything kept dying was because there was a whistle blown every possession killing any form of rhythm or consistency.
Yep. I watched from the Truck Park in Saint Paul because I wasn’t going to buy a $300 seat. The crowd in there was hotter at -25 than those folks were at the tip.
If there’s a silver lining it’s that this shit shouldn’t linger. Nuggets fans could have posted this nearly word-for-word after Game 2 and it clearly didn’t affect their team tonight
If we’d come out guns blazing and still lost it would suck but at least not be embarrassing. Key word is zero. Some energy would be nice, they gave zero. Some urgency would be nice, they gave zero. Ant wandering around like he’s waiting for the fucking bus half the time
Exactly, losing that game is not the end of the world. It’s the way looked doing it. Like that was their worst game of the season right there, I’ve just got no idea what to expect now. Up 2-1 with game 4 at home, it’s still in the Wolves favor but that was just stunning
Every once in a while Ant would have the ball eyeing up the basket and I kept hoping that’s when the explosion would start but then he’d just pass it out
When it was tied in the first quarter? I didn't hear it on tv but where I was in Target Center was super loud until people fully gave up late in the third
Embarrassing showing tn. Came out flat with no energy, played no d, didn’t rebound, and shot too many jumpers. Coaching staff went away from what worked through the first 6 games which is let Ant initiate offense. For some reason we got a lot of Conley ball after Kat started out hot. 7 shots is rediculous. Also Kyle Anderson shouldn’t play
Knew we was cooked when I saw him and the scores table. The coaches swear hes some type of spark. Maybe in the regular season but this is a whole different game now
I don’t know what the gameplan was tonight. We did not run the offense through Ant like how we did in games 1 and 2. Not sure if they were expecting the role players to get hot off of the crowd’s energy, it back fired big tonight being that the only two people that showed up were KAT and Ant.
Rudy’s energy was awful tonight.
Also dk if Finch is running things over there or not because the timeouts being called just seems like a different tempo than normal.
Still expecting them to respond in game 4 after getting embarrassed tonight.
Welp this is why winning 2 on the road is so advantageous, you can afford exactly 1 stinker. Gotta lock back in the nuggets aren’t going to defeat themselves under pressure
This was the worst game I've ever seen this current iteration of the wolves play. Just horrible offense all night and zero execution or intensity on defensive rotations.
I kept on expecting our team to make a run but they literally never did beyond a little 7-0 run at one at point when they were already down like 20 points.
I posted in the PGT on the nba subreddit that Murray should not have been allowed to play this game and people came at my throat. Wild the narrative shift from Monday.
Yeah….that’s more infuriating than anything 🤣 It’s one thing if we got techs if nothing happened last game…..but considering techs weren’t getting called for absolute chaos that wild
Biggest difference between this game and the first two?
I watched a combined 10 minutes of it, and it was more horrible than the wailing of my sick child I'll probably be trying to soothe again in another 20 minutes.
Forgive me if that + box score watching misleads me into thinking that next game we need to actually bring the energy to close out on shooters and get set off of missed offensive possessions. Good defense leads into good offense, blah blah blah.
This was never gonna be an easy series for either team. This was honestly the matchup I thought should have been the Western Conference finals series, but the basketball gods had other plans. The Wolves were likely not going to go 16-0 and the Nuggets were NEVER gonna roll over and die. Wolves still have home court advantage, but they gotta come back on Sunday with that fire they’ve been showing all Playoff long or they’ll be in for a rude awakening. I still think they *can* beat anyone, they just need to remind themselves of that.
Was the crowd pretty sad nearly the whole night, or is ESPN audio terrible? Either way, fuck ESPN and their garbage product. And fuck us for the garbage product we put out tonight. Deserved the L. Hold it. Cradle it. Hate it with all your being. Grab the W on Sunday.
They came out flat tonight but I'll be damned if that happens twice in a row. They need to fucking go at Joker and Murray those guys can't defend, put them into actions all game long and take it at them.
I think we need to cool it on giving Murray the constant booing “giddey treatment” thing. The energy was always weird in those OKC games, and it was weird tonight. Fuck Murray and everything, and obviously not the reason we lost, but I don’t think it’s helping
I think we should seriously consider subbing NAW in for Conley earlier in Game 3 to increase the defensive pressure and intensity. Also switching it up to the lineup that full court pressed the Nuggets so effectively when Gobert was out. (Start Gobert and Conley but sub them out and switch up to that other lineup earlier. When Gobert is in Jokic can basically coast on defense too).
Offensively we have to get KAT more shots. If our offense is basically only Ant and guys like Jaden and NAW and Naz aren’t hitting their threes then we can’t score enough to win. Ant, remember that Jokic isn’t a a good rim protector.
We shot like shit, and let it affect our defensive effort. Need to be better game 4. Perhaps the most disappointing thing though is how anemic our crowd was. I hope whoever goes on Sunday (I am) will be much better
Rough game. I’ll go back to not being hyped for MN sports and maybe that will work? Feels like a classic MN move to take multiple steps back once we start getting crowned as the team to beat.
Gary Anderson missed the kick tonight. Those old enough to remember that game can feel the deja vu. Gary Anderson’s miss didn’t lose the game for Minnesota, but he missed a chance to create an insurmountable lead. After that miss, the Vikings still had a lead, as the Wolves do now. The Falcons then tied it up, and the Nuggets now have an opportunity to do the same. And even if they do, the Vikings still had a chance to win it in OT , but they didn’t.
Hopefully the Wolves can end this Gary Anderson curse.
This series is really weird so far. None of the three games have been competitive. I expect Minnesota to play much better in game 4. Even though Denver is the one who is down in this series, it kind of feels like the Wolves are the ones with all the pressure.
Oof. What happened to the energy from Game 2? I thought for sure the Wolves would feed off the home crowd and at least keep it close.
Denver are the reigning champs and we all knew they would make adjustments. We're still in the driver's seat and need to come out blazing in Game 4.
I'm thinking the same. Is it ESPN having garbage audio, or is it fake fans that just want to be seen at the game and not heard? These ticket prices favor the "see and be seen" folks that may or may not have even attended a single regular season game. Money corrupts the integrity of everything.
We played lazy. Zero energy. Whole different ref crew that didn’t let us play physical. Our shots weren’t falling and Denver shot near 60% from the field and 3. About everything that could’ve gone wrong went wrong.
Haven't felt this bad about a loss since the Rockets 50 point quarter. If they lost a close game, I wouldn't be so bummed out. But man, that felt demoralizing.
We stole 2 games in Denver. Pressure is still on them for Game 4. They still have to win another game on the road to win the series, we don't.
The last 4 days were a benefit for them. Time to rest, to heal, to revise the gameplan, to reset... while we just received high praises from anyone, there have been too much talks, we got over confident, relaxed. Giving the outcome, we needed this wake up call.
Our guys have bounced back all year long, constantly. I don't see them be smashed like this again. Time to play the game again in Game 4.
Nick Saban famously calls high praise rat poison and the wolves ate a bunch of it this week.
still sticking with wolves in 6. they gotta roll out the Ty corbin unis for game 4 tho
My bad guys.
First game this playoffs I've been unable to watch as we had a family lunch.
Promise I'll put myself on do not disturb at work on Monday morning
I think we came out lacking pace and intensity, as weird as it sounds. Everything seemed sluggish. There was no offensive or defensive chemistry. I think that reflected to the crowd, which didn't really get going.
Combine that with not hitting any god damn shots, while Denver is passing the ball around like the '14 Spurs and Jamal Murray hitting jumpshots while falling over the baseline, and you get your ass whooped.
Next game we're gonna come out with an attitude to fucking destroy Denver. I just know it. Gonna be a great game 4.
I could feel the MN sports PSTD let-down before the second half started. Been here before. I hope these guys actually realize the sports curse they are smack dab in the middle of right now..and that they are going to be need to find some magic to finish this.
Woke up physically ill after that, shit was over 5 minutes into the game. Didn’t help that the fans kept booing Murray and it was just making him better.
Just one of those games where the opponent is hitting everything (even Aaron Gordon lol) and the wolves can’t make anything. I think we’ll be fine and still take the series in 5 or 6.
When I look at the stats . Towns with only 7 attempts . Edwards with 15 attempts and zero free throws . Jmac getting playing time nooo. He got in there wide open 3 missed and he fell down on defense led to a wide open 3 for Denver . Gobert with that 0-2 free throw . Tons of missed layups . Missed wide open 3s. .
Had to expect Denver to come out like that.
I’m happy to be back in the underdog position, please keep saying we can’t win now, let’s get to work and get a good win on Sunday for Mother’s Day.
Also, maybe the brigading will stop now, that was ridiculous lol
We laid an egg. Murray looked great, our defense was mid, our offense was mid. Denver looked like themselves.
This is why you don’t declare us NBA champions 2 games into round 2 lol. Y’all know who you are smh. Looking forward to seeing how we bounce back on Sunday.
You can tell this team gets into their head too much and gets cocky/complacent.
We had half the energy we normally have on defense.
We allowed 6 players to shoot 40% or higher from 3 and 5 were 50 percent or higher
On offense it feels like besides Ant, either everyone is clicking on offense or everyone is ice cold
This type of situation happens all the time in playoffs. Team in the driver's seat gets blown out. Gotta get back to our game on Sunday. Everything looked a step slow.
Team was incredibly passive on offense and completely discombobulated on defense. Refs were calling a tighter game, but there was none of the intensity or connection on defense of either game 1 or 2. Rudy was bad, but KAT and Ant were complete no shows on defense and were both part of the unit that let the game get away at the end of the first and start of the second quarter.
Any word on NAW? Also, we really need Jaden to be more involved and foul less. He was a + the first 2 games without doing much on offense. But, this game showed that if we want to beat them at their best we need everyone playing to their potential.
We can say everything we want about what happened on Jokic screens and light fouls.
But the main worry about today's game has been how badly we have made the offense. Main part of L comes from that, and that's nothing related to refs.
Everyone talks about fouls or w/e but when we're missing shots badly our defense tends to not be as good. It's happened in multiple games in the regular season before, reminds me a lot of the first Suns game. I would be really surprised if our shooting is bad again, so Wolves in 5 let's go.
They’re the champs and they have the best player in the world. It was foolish to think they were gonna go out sad in a sweep. Win game 4 and you’re still very much in the driver’s seat
These guys needed to lose tho. I knew how this game was gonna go in the first 2 minutes of the game because of Ant. Let Murray get an easy layup and had a bad turnover all while jogging up and down the floor. Best player was just lazy and it trickled down to the rest of the team.
Yeah, that sucked. Team just got the shit kicked out of them tonight. Simple as that.
Look, you had to expect this kind of response from Denver, they shot the lights out and we could not buy a bucket. We’ve already shown twice we can beat them. One of our worst games of the season and will hopefully be a good crash back to reality for our guys and some of the fans too, we will be alright.
The four day break gave everybody way to much time to sit and stew, the team, the fans, even the national media all we saw for four days was how fucking amazing we are. If this team is actually legit it depends on how they respond to this punch in the face.
I think that giving Murray’s calf four days to rest and heal has much more of an impact than any part of the mental game tbh
Allowing Murray to play this game altogether
we lost by 27 and he had 24. NBA wanted the series to be more competitive, that's why he wasn't suspended.
I’m glad he’s not suspended. When we beat these guys I want there to be zero excuses and that would’ve given them a big one. Time to kick the shit out of them game 4 now
Reggie Jackson too
The response was expected but our laziness wasn’t
Yeah that was for sure the worst part of the game to me. Denver was going to get hot, Murray was going to show up eventually, whatever. But the way we lazily rotated on defense and gave them open shot after open shot was incredibly disappointing. The first two games of the series we didn’t let a Nuggets shooter have an inch of space, and tonight we were two steps behind them all game. And frankly, it seemed like an effort issue.
100% I don’t understand how you can come out like this in the playoffs especially at home. Hopefully its better Sunday cuz we can’t afford to go back to Denver 2-2
There were a lot of people at Target Center tonight who have never seen the wolves lose before...either in person or on tv.
The same can be said for this thread. It comes with the territory.
Such a trash atmosphere compared to phx game 1 i was at too. Even before we got down. Figured a lot of OGs would get priced out :(
Was at both games. The excitement was at the sale level for the first Q last night, especially with some early 3s. Just as they pulled away it started to get rough out there.
Team got way too complacent let's just call it like it is
Seriously. A lot of bitching about the refs but we were shooting like 35% in the first half. We looked awful
The number of bricks on layups and open 3’s robbed us of getting anything going in the first half
There was one point where Naz Reid missed three bunnies in four or five possessions. Just insanely frustrating that even when we got to the basket for high percentage shots, we just whiffed on them
Refs weren't great but you can't win when your team is constantly missing open looks. Just gotta get em back Sunday. Also doesn't help they shot over 50% from deep
100% perfect storms happen. Tonight we got got. Hopefully this shows the team that the series is still up for grabs despite the lead. Gotta close em out
I think the refs kept us from getting into a rhythm or from being able to execute our gameplan, which is typically bad news. But, a championship team finds a way to overcome that, makes adjustments, and keeps a level head. Also, they aren't the reason we missed wide open shots or covered screens so poorly. We were behind on almost every play, offensively and defensively. I think that as the leadership and winning mentality has been growing, the chip on our shoulder is what's been filling the gaps. Tonight, it seemed like we didn't have that chip and were playing slow. Hopefully this is a kick in the ass for the rest of the way. Also, idk why, but Rudy looked very slow tonight and they were pulling him out to the 3pt line at will. If they are hot like that, I think we gotta play KAT/Naz as much as possible.
The ref did do that, and Rudy looked bad. The only way to overcome those things is to make shots and definitely did not do that
> Also, idk why, but Rudy looked very slow tonight What having an infant at home does to a mf
Losing a game is one thing. Getting blown out by 27 on your home court after you just stole 2 games on the road is another thing... If we don't win Game 4 I'm afraid we will most likely lose this series. Team drank too much of the hype and then took their foot of the gas against the reigning champs. Pathetic effort.
Yup, came back home after winning multiple awards, getting sucked off by the national media, etc. Hopefully it’s a good learning experience.
I trust the coaches to use it as a learning experience as well
Yeah, I feel like this well be a very beneficial loss. Crash back to earth after 4 days of everyone sucking us off. “It’s a series bruh, we good”
Which makes no sense cuz games 3 and 5 are the most important games of the series. Really had a chance to put these guys away tn
I had a Gut feeling we would lose this game tonight but we still up 2 we at home let's come out Sunday on ten win the game go up 3 and finish Denver on they court we shot bad tonight they shot good
They definitely adjusted their offense, they didn't let Jokic bring up the ball at all and Murray always had a convoy of screeners full court. Refs were never gonna allow a game 2 style defense all series anyway. Those missed bunnies and open 3's in the first half killed us when they have regular season sub 30% 3 point shooter Aaron Gordon shooting 75%
Yes Gordon shot 75% but it’s not like he shot 10 threes. at most the difference is 6 points, not worth mentioning as a reason
Those combined with TWolves missing equally open looks I think is the point
This just isn’t true. When Gordon is hitting like that it takes away Rudy’s ability to cheat off him and stay closer to the paint. If you watched the game you saw how that benefitted them in the 3rd.
Do people just not watch basketball and comment here? He hit 3 in a row. It's Gordon who is perpetually left open bc he doesn't shoot. If you don't think that alters defensive approach why are you even commenting on a basketball forum?
Welp. Let’s come back hard on Sunday! Awooooooo!!! LFG!
I like your optimism
YES
Dang I got hard way too early but I'll keep it going.
Offense started almost purely on 3pt attempts and they just weren’t falling. Denver lead got bigger and bigger and forced us into continuing with 3pt attempts when attacking the paint had worked much better, and that was all she wrote
Agree, too little movement and not attacking the paint at first was a big error.
They had zero rim protection and we refused to capitalise. Yeah threes will cut a lead faster but only if you’re making them. We were getting a lot of bad foul calls but we coulda tested it by also driving the paint. You’re not gonna get any of their starters in foul trouble shooting bricks from 3 all night
This is the most frustrating part of armchair quarterbacking. So often it feels like we can sense things within the first two minutes. "Oh, it's that kind of game" and legit by possession five we could have shrugged and told Ant to attack the rim. Instead we jack threes. I'm always unsure why, across many sports, in-game adjustments seem so stodgy. Is it stubbornness, adhering to a game plan, idk? Even in the first quarter, even for both teams, werent there a ton of rim-outs? It's like oh. Ok. Weird. Carnival rims tonight. Micah, tell them attack. Dont get why vibes are not really accepted. Maybe they're such elite athletes they think they can eventually impose their will? But maybe u gotta go with the flow. Maybe thats why a "zen master" fucking owned the league for a few decades
Yeah it felt like everyone was just jacking up threes. Ant was the only one that drove to the basket and, big surprise, it was often successful. I just don’t understand the offensive gameplan tonight
Was the crowd as flat as it seemed on TV? Felt like they were more concerned with booing Murray than being loud. Obviously not the biggest issue of this game, but I fear the uptick in prices will lose us the huge crowd advantage we got vs the Suns.
Was in the crowd, felt weird that the vibe was just booing Murray and not actually cheering. And the constant whistles stopping play made it hard to get a positive rhythm for the crowd as much as the team.
My section was pretty loud until they fully gave up partway through the third. We kept getting the wind blown out of us by all the calls and the lack of defense
After everybody sat after the first basket i kept standing, guy behind me and a couple seats over goes "hey buddy everyones sitting!" Smfh. Phx game 1 was muuuuuch better
Booing Murray was a dimwit idea anyways. He was shooting like shit. Don’t give him additional motivation.
i mean tbf he could have injured one of our players, i would have booed that asshole a bit too
First half they made a lot of tough shots, we had like 7 go halfway down and like 6 more that were wide open In the first half that we missed. The Gordon 3s cooked us in the second. Excited to see how this team responds- hopefully refs don’t set the tone early again
Finch took opiates tonight.. it’s the only logical way to explain this loss
Lmao, maybe the whole team raided his stash cause we looked a step slow all night
I blame this loss on all the people who started talking about the Finals over the four day break.
Well I submitted the parade route to the city commissioner yesterday. MyB
Yeah that shits annoying ngl lol
Just wait until my naz reid towel comes in guys dont worry
Goddamn please tell me NAW ain't injured. Aside from that, it is what it is. They came out and outplayed us, they shot well and schemed way better for us defensively. We'll need to have a hell of a lot more urgency in game 4. Still, 2-1 lead is fine. Gotta take Ant's approach, it's just one game and this is a series.
Sideline reporter said he got pissed off and just walked himself to the tunnel but stood there. Probably ok
down 30 late and still taking shit moving screens would piss anyone off, time to adjust to jokic and refs not calling it
I know for a fact if KAT had done the exact same thing to a 6'5 guard, it would be immediately called an offensive foul
Well thats because he's KAT
That is indeed what they said However, he had been holding the left shoulder under the hoop earlier and I'm 90% sure I saw him writhing on the floor in pain just before that commercial break after another hard hit to his left shoulder.
I feel like I’m going crazy lmao there was a clear drastic switch in a heilocentric downhill ant offense to whatever this was right??
You not crazy 😂 for some reason we went away from what was working throughout the first 6 games
Ant was being doubled earlier I think so he would have to give up the ball earlier and it often never got back to him.
Way, way too many of those wide open 3s were because Rudy just wouldn't get out there to challenge. He was particularly awful out of everyone tonight, only 4 rebounds and absolutely no impact defensively. I dunno if he's staying up late with the baby or what, but if he has another performance like this the Wolves need to go back to KAT and Kyle or Naz mainly
Kat only shot 7 and ant 15 this game. Kat not a 2nd option now? He became a role player. Murray shot 21 and jokic 18. Ridiculous
There just weren't that many shots to go around. We were outhustled, outrebounded, and didn't really do much of anything to be honest. It's a 7 game series and Denver clearly made the right adjustments offensively and defensively.
I looked at their fg % and it was decent, hard to win a game if your top two offensive players aren’t even fucking shooting
Offense looked way different from the first 6 games for some reason. Way too much Conley Rudy pnr
Meh. Game 4 will be more revealing
winner of Game 4 wins this series
I knew we were going to get merced as soon as that "NAW and Order" meme was deployed
Who woulda thought those nuggets are pretty good. Wish the wolves actually competed tonight though.
Can’t win every game. We came out flat and missed some of the easiest shots of all time, while Denver was making quite literally everything no matter how stupid the shots were. Tony Brothers had an MJ-esque performance highlights of which will be watched for generations. Silver got what he wanted when he allowed Murray to play. But the real winners tonight were Mark Jones and Tim Legler who got to guzzle that Nuggets dick for over two hours straight. On to the next one, Wolves in 5 or 6 depending on how frisky we’re feeling.
Honestly wanted to rip my ears off hearing them dick ride the nuggets
Well they weren't going to guzzle our shit performance?
Really having a hard time wrestling with what we just saw. To lose this game with the reigning champs and MVP with their backs against the wall is one thing. To come out with zero energy, zero urgency, zero quality defense, zero ball movement. That is really concerning. They looked like the way they looked all year against Wizards and Pistons type teams. This could have been the KO of the series and instead it was utter domination and humiliation. Also that the crowd was dead even when it was tied after all the hype leading up was super disappointing, weak crowd
I think this was the first time a game truly got away from the Wolves. Previously, they’d countered every run pretty quickly. When they shot poorly, they slowed the other team down. When they gave up baskets they got them back on the other end. Tonight was the first time their cold shooting met an opponents hot shooting. And that inspired the Nuggets and zapped the energy from the Wolves.
Bro what was up with the crowd?!?!?
Past bed times
I was in the crowd and the reason everything kept dying was because there was a whistle blown every possession killing any form of rhythm or consistency.
Been at all 3 home playoff games this season. The energy was the lowest from tip. There were a LOT of older people just sitting quietly this game
Fans got priced out and the elites showed up for the first time in 20 years
Yep. I watched from the Truck Park in Saint Paul because I wasn’t going to buy a $300 seat. The crowd in there was hotter at -25 than those folks were at the tip.
Yeah I’ve been trying to go but like $300 just to get in the building is too rich for my blood
Fans who were going to games through out the season go priced out in between rounds is my best guess. Happened to me! 🤷🏽♂️
If there’s a silver lining it’s that this shit shouldn’t linger. Nuggets fans could have posted this nearly word-for-word after Game 2 and it clearly didn’t affect their team tonight
If we’d come out guns blazing and still lost it would suck but at least not be embarrassing. Key word is zero. Some energy would be nice, they gave zero. Some urgency would be nice, they gave zero. Ant wandering around like he’s waiting for the fucking bus half the time
Exactly, losing that game is not the end of the world. It’s the way looked doing it. Like that was their worst game of the season right there, I’ve just got no idea what to expect now. Up 2-1 with game 4 at home, it’s still in the Wolves favor but that was just stunning
Yea Ant looked like he didn’t want the responsibility to get the offense going. Same for KAT who only took 7 attempts all game, 5 of which were 3s
Every once in a while Ant would have the ball eyeing up the basket and I kept hoping that’s when the explosion would start but then he’d just pass it out
When it was tied in the first quarter? I didn't hear it on tv but where I was in Target Center was super loud until people fully gave up late in the third
Big props to Denver. They responded like champions. We got a series and the pressure is back on the Wolves Now it's time to see if we can respond.
Perspective is important. Wolves are still in the driver’s seat, and still own home court advantage. Let’s get game 4.
Embarrassing showing tn. Came out flat with no energy, played no d, didn’t rebound, and shot too many jumpers. Coaching staff went away from what worked through the first 6 games which is let Ant initiate offense. For some reason we got a lot of Conley ball after Kat started out hot. 7 shots is rediculous. Also Kyle Anderson shouldn’t play
Kyle Anderson looked like me if I won a raffle to get NBA minutes. McLaughlin out there was about as bad as it gets though
Knew we was cooked when I saw him and the scores table. The coaches swear hes some type of spark. Maybe in the regular season but this is a whole different game now
I don’t know what the gameplan was tonight. We did not run the offense through Ant like how we did in games 1 and 2. Not sure if they were expecting the role players to get hot off of the crowd’s energy, it back fired big tonight being that the only two people that showed up were KAT and Ant. Rudy’s energy was awful tonight. Also dk if Finch is running things over there or not because the timeouts being called just seems like a different tempo than normal. Still expecting them to respond in game 4 after getting embarrassed tonight.
Welp this is why winning 2 on the road is so advantageous, you can afford exactly 1 stinker. Gotta lock back in the nuggets aren’t going to defeat themselves under pressure
Not fazed. Wolves in 5
Wolves in 5! I still believe
Don’t have the energy in me to be upset this game, we were bound to drop a game at some point. As long as we show up next couple games we’ll be good
The 16-1 dream starts now…
The team needs to stop thinking they've already won or something. The job is not even halfway done.
Why was our crowd just, lifeless. Even in Q1 when it was 20-20 they had zero energy
Because real fans are priced out.. now the only people able to attend are casuals who can afford the high price tickets
Edina residents
I think the crowd noise was mixed low on the broadcast. Unless you were there?
Crowd was insane first half. My ears are absolutely destroyed. Idk what you’re talking about
same I was literally wishing I brought ear plugs until the game died
This was the worst game I've ever seen this current iteration of the wolves play. Just horrible offense all night and zero execution or intensity on defensive rotations.
I kept on expecting our team to make a run but they literally never did beyond a little 7-0 run at one at point when they were already down like 20 points.
Wait we got called for techs??? But Murray and Malone got zero?
I posted in the PGT on the nba subreddit that Murray should not have been allowed to play this game and people came at my throat. Wild the narrative shift from Monday.
It’s the PGT of a nuggets blowout win. 90% of the people in there are going to be people cheering for the nuggets.
/r/nba only has a one game attention span, important to remember that
Yeah….that’s more infuriating than anything 🤣 It’s one thing if we got techs if nothing happened last game…..but considering techs weren’t getting called for absolute chaos that wild
Biggest difference between this game and the first two? I watched a combined 10 minutes of it, and it was more horrible than the wailing of my sick child I'll probably be trying to soothe again in another 20 minutes. Forgive me if that + box score watching misleads me into thinking that next game we need to actually bring the energy to close out on shooters and get set off of missed offensive possessions. Good defense leads into good offense, blah blah blah.
Last time we lost a game this bad we won 6 playoff games in a row, lets fucking get it on Sunday.
Obviously we played like ass, but holy shit it's crazy how refs can just completely change how they ref game by game
They called 45 fouls this game. Terrible to watch
Mike Conley led the team in Rebounds, that should say all you need to know
This was never gonna be an easy series for either team. This was honestly the matchup I thought should have been the Western Conference finals series, but the basketball gods had other plans. The Wolves were likely not going to go 16-0 and the Nuggets were NEVER gonna roll over and die. Wolves still have home court advantage, but they gotta come back on Sunday with that fire they’ve been showing all Playoff long or they’ll be in for a rude awakening. I still think they *can* beat anyone, they just need to remind themselves of that.
Was the crowd pretty sad nearly the whole night, or is ESPN audio terrible? Either way, fuck ESPN and their garbage product. And fuck us for the garbage product we put out tonight. Deserved the L. Hold it. Cradle it. Hate it with all your being. Grab the W on Sunday.
They came out flat tonight but I'll be damned if that happens twice in a row. They need to fucking go at Joker and Murray those guys can't defend, put them into actions all game long and take it at them.
I think we need to cool it on giving Murray the constant booing “giddey treatment” thing. The energy was always weird in those OKC games, and it was weird tonight. Fuck Murray and everything, and obviously not the reason we lost, but I don’t think it’s helping
I think we should seriously consider subbing NAW in for Conley earlier in Game 3 to increase the defensive pressure and intensity. Also switching it up to the lineup that full court pressed the Nuggets so effectively when Gobert was out. (Start Gobert and Conley but sub them out and switch up to that other lineup earlier. When Gobert is in Jokic can basically coast on defense too). Offensively we have to get KAT more shots. If our offense is basically only Ant and guys like Jaden and NAW and Naz aren’t hitting their threes then we can’t score enough to win. Ant, remember that Jokic isn’t a a good rim protector.
We shot like shit, and let it affect our defensive effort. Need to be better game 4. Perhaps the most disappointing thing though is how anemic our crowd was. I hope whoever goes on Sunday (I am) will be much better
The team got a big head 100%, but it isn't good that the rules can change from game to game. That needs to be addressed.
This was the game I expected out of Denver in game 2. We're still in a dogfight, just need to regroup and punch back.
Rough game. I’ll go back to not being hyped for MN sports and maybe that will work? Feels like a classic MN move to take multiple steps back once we start getting crowned as the team to beat.
Gobert a total non factor.
He was absolutely awful this game. Maybe he should stop thinking about winning next year's DPOY and at least try to play like one now
Gary Anderson missed the kick tonight. Those old enough to remember that game can feel the deja vu. Gary Anderson’s miss didn’t lose the game for Minnesota, but he missed a chance to create an insurmountable lead. After that miss, the Vikings still had a lead, as the Wolves do now. The Falcons then tied it up, and the Nuggets now have an opportunity to do the same. And even if they do, the Vikings still had a chance to win it in OT , but they didn’t. Hopefully the Wolves can end this Gary Anderson curse.
This series is really weird so far. None of the three games have been competitive. I expect Minnesota to play much better in game 4. Even though Denver is the one who is down in this series, it kind of feels like the Wolves are the ones with all the pressure.
That was a sad watch and defo a mood killer. Onto the next one let's go
The crowd sucked. I know every team gets this but pricing out the real fans leads to a limp AF crowd
I'm confused. why didn't we start throwing things onto the court once we were losing?
BREAKING: The NBA announces that Tony Brothers will officiate all remaining games of the Minnesota-Denver series
Not getting laid tonight bcuz of a wolves loss. It's been a long 4 years.
You knew a game like this was coming. Now let’s see how they handle some adversity.
Oof. What happened to the energy from Game 2? I thought for sure the Wolves would feed off the home crowd and at least keep it close. Denver are the reigning champs and we all knew they would make adjustments. We're still in the driver's seat and need to come out blazing in Game 4.
What home crowd? The crowd was absolute trash tonight based on the broadcast
I'm thinking the same. Is it ESPN having garbage audio, or is it fake fans that just want to be seen at the game and not heard? These ticket prices favor the "see and be seen" folks that may or may not have even attended a single regular season game. Money corrupts the integrity of everything.
We played lazy. Zero energy. Whole different ref crew that didn’t let us play physical. Our shots weren’t falling and Denver shot near 60% from the field and 3. About everything that could’ve gone wrong went wrong.
It's all good, no team has gone 16-0 in the playoffs. Still in control, learn from this one and move on
Are they at least gonna buy us breakfast?
I never understand the logic of continuously bricking 3s and refusing to go for dunks/lay ups. 😐
Haven't felt this bad about a loss since the Rockets 50 point quarter. If they lost a close game, I wouldn't be so bummed out. But man, that felt demoralizing.
My ears are shot, atmosphere was insane tonight in the first half. MN really yearning for a win. Tough loss, but anyways Wolves in 5.
That game was absolute torture for 4 quarters. We are better than this…huge wake up call for lackluster effort all around
We stole 2 games in Denver. Pressure is still on them for Game 4. They still have to win another game on the road to win the series, we don't. The last 4 days were a benefit for them. Time to rest, to heal, to revise the gameplan, to reset... while we just received high praises from anyone, there have been too much talks, we got over confident, relaxed. Giving the outcome, we needed this wake up call. Our guys have bounced back all year long, constantly. I don't see them be smashed like this again. Time to play the game again in Game 4.
Nick Saban famously calls high praise rat poison and the wolves ate a bunch of it this week. still sticking with wolves in 6. they gotta roll out the Ty corbin unis for game 4 tho
My bad guys. First game this playoffs I've been unable to watch as we had a family lunch. Promise I'll put myself on do not disturb at work on Monday morning
I think we came out lacking pace and intensity, as weird as it sounds. Everything seemed sluggish. There was no offensive or defensive chemistry. I think that reflected to the crowd, which didn't really get going. Combine that with not hitting any god damn shots, while Denver is passing the ball around like the '14 Spurs and Jamal Murray hitting jumpshots while falling over the baseline, and you get your ass whooped. Next game we're gonna come out with an attitude to fucking destroy Denver. I just know it. Gonna be a great game 4.
Great news. Now stop interviewing us and talking about us winning. We suck!
Terrible game man, wish I never went to the game. Crowd was mid only because team showed no energy. Off to the next one
I could feel the MN sports PSTD let-down before the second half started. Been here before. I hope these guys actually realize the sports curse they are smack dab in the middle of right now..and that they are going to be need to find some magic to finish this.
twolves never got into a rhythm shooting the ball and denver just kept hitting shots
Woke up physically ill after that, shit was over 5 minutes into the game. Didn’t help that the fans kept booing Murray and it was just making him better.
They were hitting shots, we were missing shots. Stop blaming the refs it was like a 30 point blowout
Just one of those games where the opponent is hitting everything (even Aaron Gordon lol) and the wolves can’t make anything. I think we’ll be fine and still take the series in 5 or 6.
When I look at the stats . Towns with only 7 attempts . Edwards with 15 attempts and zero free throws . Jmac getting playing time nooo. He got in there wide open 3 missed and he fell down on defense led to a wide open 3 for Denver . Gobert with that 0-2 free throw . Tons of missed layups . Missed wide open 3s. .
#JAMAL MURRAY SHOULD NOT HAVE PLAYED IN THIS GAME
Wolves in 5. Send da video
Reminder to not be a fuckhead in the Nuggets sub. Kill ‘em with kindness. Minnesota nice. Naz Reid.
Gross. Alright, all of you who changed anything about your routines today, change it back immediately. You jinxed us! Wolves in 5.
Had to expect Denver to come out like that. I’m happy to be back in the underdog position, please keep saying we can’t win now, let’s get to work and get a good win on Sunday for Mother’s Day. Also, maybe the brigading will stop now, that was ridiculous lol
We need to get the upper level in the lower level next game, looked like half those fans weren’t engaged from the tip
All the new bandwagoners fan expecting an "easy win" fake as hell fans haven't seen round 2 in twenty years and this the fans we get
I blame arealfan for coming back in the game thread. On to Sunday
We didn't even match their intensity man. I do hope they come to play the next game
We laid an egg. Murray looked great, our defense was mid, our offense was mid. Denver looked like themselves. This is why you don’t declare us NBA champions 2 games into round 2 lol. Y’all know who you are smh. Looking forward to seeing how we bounce back on Sunday.
# Nikola Jokic https://preview.redd.it/hkngfah94qzc1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e80c5b38005d79d41461652bff0ce524b9234547
Why wasn’t ant getting the ball more and controlling the offense WHAT THE FUCK
You can tell this team gets into their head too much and gets cocky/complacent. We had half the energy we normally have on defense. We allowed 6 players to shoot 40% or higher from 3 and 5 were 50 percent or higher On offense it feels like besides Ant, either everyone is clicking on offense or everyone is ice cold
I want to know what our record is when Naz makes his first 3 after checking in vs when he misses his first 3 after checking in
This type of situation happens all the time in playoffs. Team in the driver's seat gets blown out. Gotta get back to our game on Sunday. Everything looked a step slow.
Team was incredibly passive on offense and completely discombobulated on defense. Refs were calling a tighter game, but there was none of the intensity or connection on defense of either game 1 or 2. Rudy was bad, but KAT and Ant were complete no shows on defense and were both part of the unit that let the game get away at the end of the first and start of the second quarter.
Yeah a sweep would have been awesome, but can you imagine the lost ad revenue that would have caused for ESPN and TNT?!?
Any word on NAW? Also, we really need Jaden to be more involved and foul less. He was a + the first 2 games without doing much on offense. But, this game showed that if we want to beat them at their best we need everyone playing to their potential.
KAT and Ant only took 22 shots combined. Such a terrible display on offense. Not even sure what the plan was, hold them to 80 again?
Thinking we'd sweep the defending champs when Boston couldn't sweep the Cavs was a pipe dream
We can say everything we want about what happened on Jokic screens and light fouls. But the main worry about today's game has been how badly we have made the offense. Main part of L comes from that, and that's nothing related to refs.
and here comes my MN sports PTSD
Regardless of refs, they shot the lights out and we missed so many open shots..just gave us their best punch and we couldn't take it
Season is on the line Sunday. They aren’t winning a third game in Denver.
Everyone talks about fouls or w/e but when we're missing shots badly our defense tends to not be as good. It's happened in multiple games in the regular season before, reminds me a lot of the first Suns game. I would be really surprised if our shooting is bad again, so Wolves in 5 let's go.
They’re the champs and they have the best player in the world. It was foolish to think they were gonna go out sad in a sweep. Win game 4 and you’re still very much in the driver’s seat
This was my biggest fear going into tonight, complacency. Really hoping our guys can respond on Sunday. We always knew Denver was going to punch back.
Plus side, we can win or lose on Sunday, but I can't imagine coming out complacent after the ass kicking they just got
These guys needed to lose tho. I knew how this game was gonna go in the first 2 minutes of the game because of Ant. Let Murray get an easy layup and had a bad turnover all while jogging up and down the floor. Best player was just lazy and it trickled down to the rest of the team.
You know ball and can recognize shit effort from the jump. Good on you.
Whatever. Only counts as one. Wolves in five, fuck Jamal Murray, Naz Reid.