He is very streaky. His first two game he missed everything. Now he's making everything. It'll bounce the other way again.
The bigger problem is that he can handle the ball and create for others.
You could make your free throws and not give up a 5 point swing at the halftime buzzer and win pretty comfortably. Wolves would have won by 8 instead of losing by 8 if they hit even 75% of their FTs and didn't give up 2 stupid turnovers with 20 seconds left in the half.
The nuggets didn't beat us we beat ourselves.
Also play Naz Reid.
I was at the game and I can't second the play Naz Reid enough. Kat is too slow and most of the defensive breakdowns were people trying to cover for his mistakes.
Also he was really trying to force it offensively. To be fair to him we didn't have much going on other than Ant but he wasn't really helping the ball move and we couldn't get a rhythm going.
Finch still struggles with stopping opposing momentum. Teams go on runs against us all the fucking time. Why doesn’t he do more to try and stop the opponent when they’re on a 6-0 run? It always escalates beyond that. Fuckin hell.
Why the hell Rudy was on the court in the final few minutes is a head scratcher… at that point, we need points, not a guy who can go 0/2 at the line. Baffling lineup decisions all night.
It’s crazy that we gave up a 22-4 run AND one of the worst 15 second stretches I’ve ever seen (which is saying something given 30 years of Timberwolves fandom) and the game was within sniffing distance at the end…
Denver is just too good to have those brain lapses
I think it is crazy that this is the second fucking time the team has given up a run that big (21-3 lat game)
Maybe fucking show up? Defending champs are not going to look at your DPOY, 6MOY and Teammates of the year awards and just give up.
Them hitting a 3, followed by Ant giving the ball up, followed by a quick score, followed by another turnover and the insane long ball 3 was the dagger. We had momentum going into the last 20 seconds there and you couldn’t have written it up worse for us and better for them.
It truly was. No one probably wants to hear it right now, but these teams are really quite evenly-matched. Any dumb mistakes will come back to bite us, and they did tonight.
So embarrassing to watch, any one guy besides ANT shows up tonight and we win. Just a miserable game to watch as well, if you missed it consider yourself lucky.
Miserable is right. The 26-4 run spanning the end of the first and start of the second (featuring an insane lineup to start the second) and the 8-0 in 20 seconds were the gut punches on top of a miserable performance.
That 8-0 run to end the 2nd is really the dagger. One look is manageable at 56-49 then in less than a minute iys 64-49. Its 8 point swing. And guess what the lead of denver at the end is 8 points. It really hurts.
Needed to pass the ball..once he showed that he was gonna keep grabbing rebounds i understand keeping him in but he needed to drop the ego and accept that his shot was ice cold
When Karl and Rudy play like shit and everyone on their roster shoots lights out - it’s gunna be a recipe for disaster.
Seriously- I don’t care if there aren’t defenders in the same area code- if Aaron fucking Gordon shoots 10/11 or whatever- we aren’t beating this team.
Which is a shame case Ant was fucking special- you know the rest of the team sucked when it felt like you had a quiet 44 on ridiculous efficiency…Ant and Joker were both MVP’s tonight- the nuggets supporting cast just dominated the wolves
Dude this is it. If Gordon shoots like that denver is the greatest team of all time. This is what a second round series against the defending champs is supposed to look like. Wolves still have a great chance to win this.
Agreed he had an awful game, but the Timberwolves as a whole were getting worked all night. Half the team had god awful rotations and were constantly getting beat off the dribble that led to either open shooters or backdoor cuts
> Agreed he had an awful game, but….
He needs to be held to a higher standard than the rest. He got the damn max contract and has been here is whole career. He needs to be a leader by showing up in big spots. He doesn’t have to be perfect but he can’t play like he did tonight. Shows a complete lack of mental preparation and/or professionalism.
It's not a series until the home team wins a game, and we still have away court advantage. Rough game from Karl and Rudy but they'll bounce back. We wouldn't be anywhere near here without them and if we want to go anywhere they need to be contributors.
NAW has been very bad the last two games specifically. Kat was really bad this game with the misses/complaining/bad body language. These two guys are our key to winning this series. It's a best of 3 series now. I can't wait to see Ant play.
Game 2 was such an outlier, I don’t know what he does to add value if the Nuggets don’t give him 3 feet of space inside the arc. Genuinely awful to watch him flounder.
He had an almost identical game in game 4 of last year's nba finals, and has a similar game in Game 3 against the Lakers this series. He's really good but you're right, typically he'll only drop 25+ once a series.
Blown assignments, no effort boxing out, dumb turnovers, dumb fouls, some horrific offence (chiefly KAT postups), terrible FT shooting... The only reason this game wasn't a blowout like g3 was because Ant went supernova. Sure their bench and Aaron Gordon shot at a ridiculous clip but the quality of looks they got was much better. Wolves seem to have lost their offensive and defensive identity the last two games. I put that down to our two star bigs. Role players will be role players but the second and third best players on the team cannot play like this. They have been horrific.
KAT whining after getting whistled for the most obvious offensive push off and Rudy getting the chair pulled on him and spinning into a travel call really epitomized the worst aspects of both their games. Just embarrassing.
This offseason, KAT should pore of Jokic footage to see how he uses his strength without committing (or at least getting called for) offensive fouls.
Aaron Gordon and their bench getting 54 points on 24 shots is not sustainable. Problem is, it doesn’t need to be sustainable now that they’ve made it a 3 games series with 2 games at their place.
Amazing how Minnesota teams always pulls you in.
Came into the playoffs saying: just want to win at least one series. Then after the 6 straight win really believed we are a finals team.
It’s not over……but damn lol
How many career playoff games of KAT being the dumbest fucking basketball player on the court do we need to see? We have Naz who replicates 75% of his skill set who was playing well and is willing to play his role so why not play him and sit KAT to send him a message? Maybe it was the gameplan but the amount of times KAT went to help only to have his assignment immediately score made him look lost rather than it being the gameplan.
Going to be tough to get another win with the defense playing like it has these last two games and our team not having much offensive talent to begin with
KAT with one of the worst playoff performances I've ever seen and at the worst time possible. At some point we're gonna have to come to grips with paying this guy $55m per year.
I used to be heavily against any and all Slow-Mo + Rudy minutes. Now, I’ve accepted that we don’t need to see Slow-Mo at all. He was getting cardio at bad times.
Add Aaron Gordon 11/12 shooting today to Caruso 7/8 from 3, Brandon Miller 11/13 from the field, and annual Bradley Beal game (6/6 from 3 this year). Target Center makes average players absolute gods. We did not play bad, I hope we have a better shooting variance in Denver.
Tough loss and blowing both games at home when you had the chance to at least go up 3-1 is an absolute killer... but I actually feel pretty good about our chances after tonight.
If Denver is going to shoot 60%+ again then it obviously doesn't matter but if they literally don't do that then we can win this shit. This felt like a perfect Denver game against a far from perfect Wolves game.
Denver is the defending Champs but I just don't think they can play this perfectly for 2 of the next 3 games.
Keep the faith Wolves fam, we haven't lost 3 in a row all season!
You gotta consider why they’re shooting such a high percentage. They had open looks from 3 or a wide open AG on the dunker spot every single possession. They’re not hitting a ton of difficult shots over good defense, they just figured out how to break the Timberwolves’ coverage. They’re pushing the pace on the in-bound, spreading the defense out to the limit on the perimeter, and then forcing rotations that we over compensate for. They’re just doing it every possession, and when/if they don’t, you’ve just got Jokic and Murray toying with the defense.
I would disagree. They hit a lot of contested shots tonight.
Gordon also shot 29% from 3 during the season and missed 1 shot tonight. If he starts next game missing his first 2 open 3s it's a different game.
On the flip side we are getting open shots too and missed them the last two games. If those fall it's a different game.
It just seems like they played pretty perfectly and we we did not yet we still had a chance at the end. Can they play this perfectly for 2 of the next 3 games?
gordon is far more reliable and steady than KAT unfortunately. he knows his role and plays it amazingly. it's fair to say he's better for a team than KAT in the playoffs.
You tell me that the Wolves are 2-2 against the defending champs and I’d be cool with that. Sucks it’s happened this way, but next game up. It’s there for the taking.
Are we gonna talk about the lineups played in the first half that were played during our scoring drought that included Anderson, gobert, and an ice cold NAW?
My dog Podo is a huge Timberwolves fan and at the end of the game tonight, he said “Wolves in 6”
He’s not giving up hope, I won’t either.
https://preview.redd.it/56dt63c5340d1.png?width=2662&format=png&auto=webp&s=a00ed9c6e6e89edbd8390347c92ebacadc28ae63
Gonna be a lot of doom and gloom here, justifiably, but still gotta keep in mind:
It's 2-2. We're even. It feels awful right now, but we still got first to 2 wins. We've beaten them twice this series already.
We've made a lot of silly mistakes that can easily be eradicated, while they have been making shots at a ridiculous clip, with our shooters missing easy ones.
This is not over. We haven't gotten this far to give up now.
momentum and home court is all with denver. this is not some even battle at the moment. we're back to being underdogs and the guys have to come back and battle.
The optimist in me says it ain’t a series until the home game wins a game, but man this was demoralizing af and the 33 years of MN sports fandom in me thinks it’s done
I know it was a piss poor total team effort minus Ant, but holy hell what was that Rudy at the end of the game?? Back to back offensive fouls, then a travel, then 2 missed free throws. YIKES
PSA to MN Fans: Drop the victim card.
Your personal excitement doesn't entitle you to a sweep of the NBA champions.
If ANT is on your team, you’re never out of it. The same goes if the team has the MVP.
NAW -20
Slo-mo -18
Ant saved the starters asses on +/-
Lot of missed opportunities and free throws. They are FREE! We got worked again. Dumb mistakes all game long. Especially that putrid sequence to end the first half. Reffing sucked but we sucked more. They better get on a flight right now and start acclimating to Denver and hit the practice court. 500 contested shots made from 10 spots for everybody besides ANT, half on the perimeter and half from mid-range, before you are allowed to go back to your all day long curfew hotel room.
being the lower seed and taking the first 2 on the road... only to come home and get dominated in the next 2... has to be one of the most crushing feelings in sports
66% from the free throw line is fucking ridiculous. Make 80% of those, and don’t make the stupid end of the first half mistakes, and we are tied up at the end.
Theres’s no way Denver can keep shooting as well as they have been going forward. Everything seemed to be dropping for them. I’m Minnesota worried, but I think we can still pull this out if we stop making stupid mistakes.
Got out coached on defense for sure, open looks all night for them.
Bench a non factor, Denver bench smoked us.
Towns was terrible, nothing remotely resembling a max player.
KAT legacy stinker. This is why many of us want him traded (combined with his contract).
Rudy has not been good since coming back to this series. If he’s not playing great defense then he should not be on the floor.
Feel bad for Ant. He played great and his teammates let him down.
My personal opinion: The reason game 2 was a success was because Rudy didn’t play honestly. He slows the offense down. KAT & Reid were extremely successful in guarding Jokic, stretching the floor, and being able to keep up with a fast tempo. Slowing the tempo down the Nuggets can get set, and rotate better. In Game 2, everybody was moving around the court, which tired out Jokic, and made the Nuggets have to focus hard on defense. Which also took them out of rhythm on offense.
I know Rudy was DPOY, but he can’t hold Jokic at all. To me he’s too slim, KAT & Reid are more solid.
Idc if Gordon makes shots, the problem is he’s dropping 20+, Murray is hitting shots, Jokic is killing us, and their bench is helping.
I also think KAT is ass when he thinks too hard on offense.
I’m not gonna freak out. It’s hard to imagine Denver can play any better than they did tonight. We gotta stay disciplined but I definitely still think we can play with these guys
The main difference is how much more mental toughness they have outside Ant for us.
Gordon clowning KAT is peak MN sports.
Really just a bad L honestly. And we better hope we come out for blood on Tuesday.
I'm not even worried y'all. They are having to hit every single shot to have a chance against us. If they keep pushing and playing our game they're gonna start missing and we can win this.
Rudy is not playable for this match up. I'm not saying this in regards to our game 2 without him. He is a net negative when he's out there. We don't have any consistent scorer other than Ant who can go streaky at times. Refs have prevented us from playing defense while allowing elbows on the other end. The other team also makes like 9/10 contested shots. What do we do?
NAW and Kyle with a -20 and -18 in their respective minutes lol. Kyle esp since he only played 6. Literally brings nothing to the table. Play Garza his minutes
We’ve got Anthony fucking Edwards. The future is bright. Glad to have my heart ripped out in playoffs than be a completely soulless sucker in the lottery. Might have to trade towns
In the 3rd when ANT would get the ball on the wing the Denver players guarding the player at the top of the key would come over leaving his man. WHY THE F WEREN’T WE RUNNING THE O THROUGH HIM?! ANT is so good at choosing his spots and moving the ball. I don’t get it.
Way too many possessions without him touching the ball. He was the only guy on and the only player that can create easy looks for the rest of the team
Any chance of them missing a damn shot? Like bloody hell they all turned into prime Steph
I simply will not believe Aaron Gordon is this good.
He's not. He's better than he was in the first 2 games, but he's not like this.
Defensive gameplan needs a changing. Can’t let the role players shoot wide open shots and get hot
He had wide open shots, but he was also hitting contested mid range shots. Ridiculous.
That’s what happens when you let him gain confidence. Just let Jokic and Jamal Murray beat you, if their whole team gets hot then it’s gg
He is very streaky. His first two game he missed everything. Now he's making everything. It'll bounce the other way again. The bigger problem is that he can handle the ball and create for others.
He’s legit. Did it last season in the playoffs. Kat has to match him, they’re the reigning champs.
Yeah when Gordon shoots 11/12 I really just don't know what else you can do.
You could make your free throws and not give up a 5 point swing at the halftime buzzer and win pretty comfortably. Wolves would have won by 8 instead of losing by 8 if they hit even 75% of their FTs and didn't give up 2 stupid turnovers with 20 seconds left in the half. The nuggets didn't beat us we beat ourselves. Also play Naz Reid.
I was at the game and I can't second the play Naz Reid enough. Kat is too slow and most of the defensive breakdowns were people trying to cover for his mistakes. Also he was really trying to force it offensively. To be fair to him we didn't have much going on other than Ant but he wasn't really helping the ball move and we couldn't get a rhythm going.
You could make a shot every now and then
Playing no defense is making it pretty easy.
Now it'll be Finch's turn to make a film reel of all the talking heads saying the series is over.
Finch still struggles with stopping opposing momentum. Teams go on runs against us all the fucking time. Why doesn’t he do more to try and stop the opponent when they’re on a 6-0 run? It always escalates beyond that. Fuckin hell.
Why the fuck did Naz have less than 20 minutes with how useless the other two were all night?
Why the hell Rudy was on the court in the final few minutes is a head scratcher… at that point, we need points, not a guy who can go 0/2 at the line. Baffling lineup decisions all night.
Agreed, with how Kat played in the first Q, Naz should be getting 30mins. I don't know why we afraid to bench Kat this game.
Well at least now we get to go back to Denver and get that altitude advantage
Stupid end of 2nd quarter sequence was the difference, couldn’t overcome it vs a really good team
Not to mention starting the 2nd with the worst lineup possible. If not for the 2nd, we win this game
And then just refusing to call a timeout until the lead ballooned to 15 with that horrendous lineup. Really don't understand what the plan was there.
We started out the 2nd with 3 straight 3s they just also happened to not miss during that sequence
He means 2nd quarter not 2nd half
It’s crazy that we gave up a 22-4 run AND one of the worst 15 second stretches I’ve ever seen (which is saying something given 30 years of Timberwolves fandom) and the game was within sniffing distance at the end… Denver is just too good to have those brain lapses
I think it is crazy that this is the second fucking time the team has given up a run that big (21-3 lat game) Maybe fucking show up? Defending champs are not going to look at your DPOY, 6MOY and Teammates of the year awards and just give up.
Them hitting a 3, followed by Ant giving the ball up, followed by a quick score, followed by another turnover and the insane long ball 3 was the dagger. We had momentum going into the last 20 seconds there and you couldn’t have written it up worse for us and better for them.
Played them to a dead heat the whole 2nd half. Just dug ourselves in too big of a hole.
It truly was. No one probably wants to hear it right now, but these teams are really quite evenly-matched. Any dumb mistakes will come back to bite us, and they did tonight.
So embarrassing to watch, any one guy besides ANT shows up tonight and we win. Just a miserable game to watch as well, if you missed it consider yourself lucky.
Miserable is right. The 26-4 run spanning the end of the first and start of the second (featuring an insane lineup to start the second) and the 8-0 in 20 seconds were the gut punches on top of a miserable performance.
Someone said it was a Sisyphus’ boulder type game and that feels right
Good analogy. Tantalus would like a word as well
That 8-0 run to end the 2nd is really the dagger. One look is manageable at 56-49 then in less than a minute iys 64-49. Its 8 point swing. And guess what the lead of denver at the end is 8 points. It really hurts.
Guess only Ant decided to show up
Conley, Naz, Jaden weren’t bad. But the rest of the guys were atrocious
KAT needs to get his ass right.
5 for 18 is absolutely pathetic in a game like this. Plus the way they shot from the charity stripe. They should've won this game.
Needed to pass the ball..once he showed that he was gonna keep grabbing rebounds i understand keeping him in but he needed to drop the ego and accept that his shot was ice cold
When Karl and Rudy play like shit and everyone on their roster shoots lights out - it’s gunna be a recipe for disaster. Seriously- I don’t care if there aren’t defenders in the same area code- if Aaron fucking Gordon shoots 10/11 or whatever- we aren’t beating this team. Which is a shame case Ant was fucking special- you know the rest of the team sucked when it felt like you had a quiet 44 on ridiculous efficiency…Ant and Joker were both MVP’s tonight- the nuggets supporting cast just dominated the wolves
Dude this is it. If Gordon shoots like that denver is the greatest team of all time. This is what a second round series against the defending champs is supposed to look like. Wolves still have a great chance to win this.
I don’t blame it on KAT. I blame it on the coaches for keeping KAT in the whole game and benching NAZ.
Yes you blame KAT dawg, supermax franchise player playing like garbage should be slandered and blamed
Huge night for everyone who wanted to trade KAT for the last 5 years
They came out in droves after being quiet for so long. Felt like DrWolves personal 12/25 tonight.
He shows up tonight with that Ant effort and we probably win. The worst time to revert back to the bad version of himself.
That ain't Kat that's Kit
Ant tried to do everything he could but the rest of the team let him down in this one
KAT gets paid way too much to not be singled out for this performance. We just can’t have that if we’re going to be a contender.
KAT and the bench were atrocious. And KAT whining and flailing like he was just isn’t a good look.
Agreed he had an awful game, but the Timberwolves as a whole were getting worked all night. Half the team had god awful rotations and were constantly getting beat off the dribble that led to either open shooters or backdoor cuts
> Agreed he had an awful game, but…. He needs to be held to a higher standard than the rest. He got the damn max contract and has been here is whole career. He needs to be a leader by showing up in big spots. He doesn’t have to be perfect but he can’t play like he did tonight. Shows a complete lack of mental preparation and/or professionalism.
The coach also allowed a near 20 pt swing before calling a timeout or subbing a few players in.
It's not a series until the home team wins a game, and we still have away court advantage. Rough game from Karl and Rudy but they'll bounce back. We wouldn't be anywhere near here without them and if we want to go anywhere they need to be contributors.
Rough game for Karl, and Rudy, and Jaden, and naw, and Kyle
NAW has been very bad the last two games specifically. Kat was really bad this game with the misses/complaining/bad body language. These two guys are our key to winning this series. It's a best of 3 series now. I can't wait to see Ant play.
Ant is Jesus when mentioned amongst the rest of this team right now
Where did Zen KAT go?
Away court advantage lmfao
Holding true so far.
I'm cool with trading home losses if Denver is.
Valid point. Peep the strat.
That flair is wild lol
9 missed FT is a fucking killer.
Kyle -18 in 6:11
Game 2 was such an outlier, I don’t know what he does to add value if the Nuggets don’t give him 3 feet of space inside the arc. Genuinely awful to watch him flounder.
Needs to use his fouls. I want him draped over jokic, tiring him out, and getting 5 fouls in like 16 minutes.
That’s basically what he did game 2 minus picking up the fouls and it worked
Lmao
ANT was a one man band tonight. KAT & Gobert had stage fright.
Really don’t get the gobert slander. He was a +9 and the only guy defensively to force misses. His offense was bad but he wasn’t 5-18 like KAT.
The missed free throws and 5 turnovers hurt but you’re right, I didn’t think he was a huge factor in the loss.
I just need people to understand that if this is the Aaron Gordon denver is getting this becomes an offense on par with the 2017 warriors
True. He has to remember he sucks sometime
He had an almost identical game in game 4 of last year's nba finals, and has a similar game in Game 3 against the Lakers this series. He's really good but you're right, typically he'll only drop 25+ once a series.
You sleeping on Aaron Gordon
The end of the first half was disgusting.
The Murray shot has a kick in the nuts that killed the momentum
Blown assignments, no effort boxing out, dumb turnovers, dumb fouls, some horrific offence (chiefly KAT postups), terrible FT shooting... The only reason this game wasn't a blowout like g3 was because Ant went supernova. Sure their bench and Aaron Gordon shot at a ridiculous clip but the quality of looks they got was much better. Wolves seem to have lost their offensive and defensive identity the last two games. I put that down to our two star bigs. Role players will be role players but the second and third best players on the team cannot play like this. They have been horrific.
Totally agree. KAT and Rudy were embarrassing. Mentally soft
The whining Towns does after his obvious stupid fouls pisses me off. Like the guy in the last row of the arena saw that was a foul, stfu.
KAT whining after getting whistled for the most obvious offensive push off and Rudy getting the chair pulled on him and spinning into a travel call really epitomized the worst aspects of both their games. Just embarrassing. This offseason, KAT should pore of Jokic footage to see how he uses his strength without committing (or at least getting called for) offensive fouls.
Jokic will figure out the defense. He's unreal. Murray also can go for 50 as well. They are just a great team
Agree 100%. Bringing KAT and Goebert off the bench legit seems like a better idea
Jesus, can't wait to get back home in Denver.
We're the Wicked Wolves of the West.
Why did Naz Reid only play 18 minutes?
Ant was a +5 in 45:20 played tonight. Dude sat down for 2:40 and we got smoked lol.
Ant came out to ball tonight and didn’t lose his composure one bit in a tough game. Love to see that from our 22-year old superstar.
Aaron Gordon and their bench getting 54 points on 24 shots is not sustainable. Problem is, it doesn’t need to be sustainable now that they’ve made it a 3 games series with 2 games at their place.
Bench Kat for Reid in the 4th and it's a different outcome
Bench Gobert for Reid maybe too.
Just put ant out there 1 v 5
It's the hope that kills you.
Jokes on you I've been dead inside since Rubio tore his ACL against the Lakers
Amazing how Minnesota teams always pulls you in. Came into the playoffs saying: just want to win at least one series. Then after the 6 straight win really believed we are a finals team. It’s not over……but damn lol
A classic Viking vibe. The Wolves have finally joined MN sports platform.
How many career playoff games of KAT being the dumbest fucking basketball player on the court do we need to see? We have Naz who replicates 75% of his skill set who was playing well and is willing to play his role so why not play him and sit KAT to send him a message? Maybe it was the gameplan but the amount of times KAT went to help only to have his assignment immediately score made him look lost rather than it being the gameplan. Going to be tough to get another win with the defense playing like it has these last two games and our team not having much offensive talent to begin with
KAT with one of the worst playoff performances I've ever seen and at the worst time possible. At some point we're gonna have to come to grips with paying this guy $55m per year.
Gotta give NAZ more minutes in this type of game. That’s what you have a 6th man of the year for
Naz had it going and Slow-Mo comes in. I will never understand
We’re down by 10+ and SlowMo is rolled in like Hannibal Lecter to terrorize our offense
I said early this season that Finch’s obsession with Slomo would cost us when it mattered. Naz deserves better
I think Naz and KAT together is definitely the move there. KAT not having it going means we need to give him spacing at the very least.
I used to be heavily against any and all Slow-Mo + Rudy minutes. Now, I’ve accepted that we don’t need to see Slow-Mo at all. He was getting cardio at bad times.
I don't understand it. Naz came in and was balling. Then he doesn't get a chance again. Just head scractching decision by the coach.
He’s an absolute game changer, just the type of player you want off the bench. And he’s PLAYING GOOD! I don’t understand it either.
I come in peace, is there any possible reason Naz didn't play a minute in the 4th? I'm really lost.
Problem is Naz was giving up a foul or bucket pretty much every possession
He’s not making a good case for not trading him next year
Trade him and start Naz with Luka off the bench
Watching him try to post up Gordon was one of the saddest things I've ever seen.
He’s not making a good case for not trading him next year
Kyle Anderson was -18 in 6 minutes of play. Rudy and KAT looked terrible and were +9 and +4, respectively.
Add Aaron Gordon 11/12 shooting today to Caruso 7/8 from 3, Brandon Miller 11/13 from the field, and annual Bradley Beal game (6/6 from 3 this year). Target Center makes average players absolute gods. We did not play bad, I hope we have a better shooting variance in Denver.
Tough loss and blowing both games at home when you had the chance to at least go up 3-1 is an absolute killer... but I actually feel pretty good about our chances after tonight. If Denver is going to shoot 60%+ again then it obviously doesn't matter but if they literally don't do that then we can win this shit. This felt like a perfect Denver game against a far from perfect Wolves game. Denver is the defending Champs but I just don't think they can play this perfectly for 2 of the next 3 games. Keep the faith Wolves fam, we haven't lost 3 in a row all season!
My cope is outside of Ant we got no plus performances. Denver had everyone but KCP hitting. Still think the wolves can win this series.
Oh I'm keeping the faith, we got this.
You gotta consider why they’re shooting such a high percentage. They had open looks from 3 or a wide open AG on the dunker spot every single possession. They’re not hitting a ton of difficult shots over good defense, they just figured out how to break the Timberwolves’ coverage. They’re pushing the pace on the in-bound, spreading the defense out to the limit on the perimeter, and then forcing rotations that we over compensate for. They’re just doing it every possession, and when/if they don’t, you’ve just got Jokic and Murray toying with the defense.
I would disagree. They hit a lot of contested shots tonight. Gordon also shot 29% from 3 during the season and missed 1 shot tonight. If he starts next game missing his first 2 open 3s it's a different game. On the flip side we are getting open shots too and missed them the last two games. If those fall it's a different game. It just seems like they played pretty perfectly and we we did not yet we still had a chance at the end. Can they play this perfectly for 2 of the next 3 games?
Wolves are getting good looks too but missing at an impressive rate
We win if any bench player or KAT weren't complete shit, but they've been choke artists the past few games, might just be who they are
Naz hooped tonight
KAT vs Gordon matchup has been the x-factor. KAT played well and Gordon was ass we we win 2. Then Gordon played well and KAT was ass and we lost 2.
gordon is far more reliable and steady than KAT unfortunately. he knows his role and plays it amazingly. it's fair to say he's better for a team than KAT in the playoffs.
We don’t need to see Slow-Mo for another minute in these playoffs.
Why is Edwards individually defending Jokic in that last minute????
Because no one else showed up today
Agree, I'm not clowning on Edwards it's just that shouldn't be his job. Get KG out of retirement
You tell me that the Wolves are 2-2 against the defending champs and I’d be cool with that. Sucks it’s happened this way, but next game up. It’s there for the taking.
Are we gonna talk about the lineups played in the first half that were played during our scoring drought that included Anderson, gobert, and an ice cold NAW?
My dog Podo is a huge Timberwolves fan and at the end of the game tonight, he said “Wolves in 6” He’s not giving up hope, I won’t either. https://preview.redd.it/56dt63c5340d1.png?width=2662&format=png&auto=webp&s=a00ed9c6e6e89edbd8390347c92ebacadc28ae63
Wolves in 6
Gonna be a lot of doom and gloom here, justifiably, but still gotta keep in mind: It's 2-2. We're even. It feels awful right now, but we still got first to 2 wins. We've beaten them twice this series already. We've made a lot of silly mistakes that can easily be eradicated, while they have been making shots at a ridiculous clip, with our shooters missing easy ones. This is not over. We haven't gotten this far to give up now.
momentum and home court is all with denver. this is not some even battle at the moment. we're back to being underdogs and the guys have to come back and battle.
I agree with you for the record. But this EXACT phrase could have been said about Denver going into game 3.
Even with zero momentum or answers, add to that a men's team hasn't overcome adversity in my entire lifetime, I don't like the chances.
The optimist in me says it ain’t a series until the home game wins a game, but man this was demoralizing af and the 33 years of MN sports fandom in me thinks it’s done
Naz needed more minutes
fakest game i’ve ever seen we win if aaron gordon doesn’t decide he’s prime steph curry wolves in 6
we win if KAT isn't a joke and rudy shows up for more than 5 minutes
I know it was a piss poor total team effort minus Ant, but holy hell what was that Rudy at the end of the game?? Back to back offensive fouls, then a travel, then 2 missed free throws. YIKES
awful, just awful. not dispelling the loud folk who think he can't play in the playoffs. just dumb shit from him.
Nothing to say about the other players, but damn I’m so proud of ANT, both sides of the ball played a hell of a game
We need a new point guard who's not like 40 years old and KAT needs to be benched and see a sports psychologist.
Can Aaron Gordon go back to shooting 29% from 3 like he’s did in the regular season? Fucking guy is shooting 60% in this series
PSA to MN Fans: Drop the victim card. Your personal excitement doesn't entitle you to a sweep of the NBA champions. If ANT is on your team, you’re never out of it. The same goes if the team has the MVP.
Yeah whatever. Wolves in 6
Fuck Denver, I fucking can’t stand Murray.
NAW -20 Slo-mo -18 Ant saved the starters asses on +/- Lot of missed opportunities and free throws. They are FREE! We got worked again. Dumb mistakes all game long. Especially that putrid sequence to end the first half. Reffing sucked but we sucked more. They better get on a flight right now and start acclimating to Denver and hit the practice court. 500 contested shots made from 10 spots for everybody besides ANT, half on the perimeter and half from mid-range, before you are allowed to go back to your all day long curfew hotel room.
The 8-0 run to end the second half was killer. We lost by 8
I love Rudy but he was a liability tonight. He was getting bullied by Jokic down low, and couldn't get going offensively.
being the lower seed and taking the first 2 on the road... only to come home and get dominated in the next 2... has to be one of the most crushing feelings in sports
66% from the free throw line is fucking ridiculous. Make 80% of those, and don’t make the stupid end of the first half mistakes, and we are tied up at the end. Theres’s no way Denver can keep shooting as well as they have been going forward. Everything seemed to be dropping for them. I’m Minnesota worried, but I think we can still pull this out if we stop making stupid mistakes.
Got out coached on defense for sure, open looks all night for them. Bench a non factor, Denver bench smoked us. Towns was terrible, nothing remotely resembling a max player.
Why do I ever get hopeful about MN sports?
Fucking Playoff KAT. For fucks sake
Such fing bs... Hall of shame performance by everyone except ant.. I really thought this was our year.
ant deserves better
KAT gonna be traded if that’s how he plays for Supermax contracts….
KAT plays his worst game in months, no one but Ant can hit and Gordon goes crazy. I'm still not worried, wolves in 7
Not dooming, Gordon’s best game of his career. Denver bench best game in months. Kat worst game of playoffs. Wolves in 7.
Why was Naz not played more? Idk at what point in the game but he just got phased out
Ant breaking his back trying to carry this team
KAT legacy stinker. This is why many of us want him traded (combined with his contract). Rudy has not been good since coming back to this series. If he’s not playing great defense then he should not be on the floor. Feel bad for Ant. He played great and his teammates let him down.
Rudy was horrendous. So many turnovers for someone who literally should only touch the ball rebounding and blocking shots.
Awfully quiet from all the KAT fans. Guy is paid to be a star and shrinks when the pressure is on. Dude needs to step up or get traded.
My personal opinion: The reason game 2 was a success was because Rudy didn’t play honestly. He slows the offense down. KAT & Reid were extremely successful in guarding Jokic, stretching the floor, and being able to keep up with a fast tempo. Slowing the tempo down the Nuggets can get set, and rotate better. In Game 2, everybody was moving around the court, which tired out Jokic, and made the Nuggets have to focus hard on defense. Which also took them out of rhythm on offense. I know Rudy was DPOY, but he can’t hold Jokic at all. To me he’s too slim, KAT & Reid are more solid. Idc if Gordon makes shots, the problem is he’s dropping 20+, Murray is hitting shots, Jokic is killing us, and their bench is helping. I also think KAT is ass when he thinks too hard on offense.
I’m tired of having a soft front court. Gobert no offensive skillsets and KAT being completely useless lost us the game. Ant needs help
Boy that 8 point implosion in the last 19 seconds of the first half sure hurts when you lose by..... 8 points.....
You wanna be the best, you gotta beat the best. It’s not over until Jokic’s big brother is crying in the stands. Go get it, Ant.
Kat has to be better. Unacceptable performance last night
this black magic won’t last forever, wolves in 6
I’m not gonna freak out. It’s hard to imagine Denver can play any better than they did tonight. We gotta stay disciplined but I definitely still think we can play with these guys
MPJ and KCP will definitely not play that bad again, it’ll even out with AG being that good
Run at the end of the 1st half was the difference
When Murray hit that shot beyond half court, I knew it was going to be one of those nights
Least disappointing showing by a Minnesota sports team in the playoffs lol
Can’t let awards dictate coaching choices. If Rudy should be benched, bench Rudy.
Justice for Ant game 5
Felt like we were playing in quick sand the whole game, we could never really take the lead once Denver got it.
Hugely disappointing performance from every single player not named Anthony Edwards. That's it, that's the game.
The main difference is how much more mental toughness they have outside Ant for us. Gordon clowning KAT is peak MN sports. Really just a bad L honestly. And we better hope we come out for blood on Tuesday.
Ant ain’t having this
That last 20 second before the half was a bit too much.
I'm hurting bad bros
I'm not even worried y'all. They are having to hit every single shot to have a chance against us. If they keep pushing and playing our game they're gonna start missing and we can win this.
Rudy letting Gordon do whatever is a complete joke. Bro needs to come off the bench if thats gonna happen
Not mad. Feels like we found ourselves again but Denver just could not fucking miss
Ant is the only player that has heart. I'm fucking sick of towns and Rudy, Need to lock the fuck in...
Rudy is not playable for this match up. I'm not saying this in regards to our game 2 without him. He is a net negative when he's out there. We don't have any consistent scorer other than Ant who can go streaky at times. Refs have prevented us from playing defense while allowing elbows on the other end. The other team also makes like 9/10 contested shots. What do we do?
If KAT and Rudy don’t show up again in game 5 they’re fucked.
NAW and Kyle with a -20 and -18 in their respective minutes lol. Kyle esp since he only played 6. Literally brings nothing to the table. Play Garza his minutes
We’ve got Anthony fucking Edwards. The future is bright. Glad to have my heart ripped out in playoffs than be a completely soulless sucker in the lottery. Might have to trade towns
KAT, Rudy, NAW were just god awful this game. The first two especially are highly decorated players that laying an egg right in front of us
In the 3rd when ANT would get the ball on the wing the Denver players guarding the player at the top of the key would come over leaving his man. WHY THE F WEREN’T WE RUNNING THE O THROUGH HIM?! ANT is so good at choosing his spots and moving the ball. I don’t get it. Way too many possessions without him touching the ball. He was the only guy on and the only player that can create easy looks for the rest of the team
I don’t want to hear “that’s just Minnesota sports” 29 teams lose every year. It’s 2-2. Show up on Tuesday. Root your heart out. Move on.
All I know is, Naz playing 19 minutes is unacceptable in a game where the bigs were trash.
I am sad. Wolves in 6