A lack of composure down the stretch cost the Timberwolves in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals against the Mavericks, head coach Chris Finch lamented after Wednesday’s game.
“It cost us a game in the Denver series. It certainly had an impact on this game, too,” Finch said, per Jon Krawcznyski of The Athletic said. “We’ve got to be better in clutch moments.”
Despite the Timberwolves’ size, they were manhandled in the paint, Krawczynski notes. Dallas outscored them 62-38 in the lane and out-rebounded them, 48-40.
“I’ve got to do a better job on the rebounds,” Rudy Gobert said. “I can’t let these guys just get offensive rebounds. I’ll be better.”
In a similar vein, Chip Scoggins of the Minneapolis Star Tribune writes that Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns looked lethargic.
“We didn’t play with enough energy,” Towns said. “We just looked tired. We didn’t move as well as we usually do.”
We have more on the Timberwolves:
- Mike Conley believes the team will benefit from its late-game slide, when it was outscored 10-3 in the final 3:37, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN. Minnesota also committed half of its 10 turnovers in the fourth quarter. “I think we haven’t been tested like this where we’ve had to trade basket to basket, late-game free throw situations or fouling situations, stuff that we have to be better at,” Conley said. “But we’ll learn from it. I think each game we’ve learned a lot about ourselves, a lot we can get better at. Obviously, it’s going to be a long series, regardless of what happened tonight.”
- While the Timberwolves faced major defensive challenges in the first two series against Phoenix and Denver, finding a way to control Dallas’ dynamic duo of Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic presents their toughest task in these playoffs, Jim Souhan of the Minneapolis Star Tribune opines. The two star guards combined for 63 points in Game 1.
- In a comprehensive feature, The Athletic’s Krawczynski and Joe Vardon detail how Edwards is poised to become the NBA’s next major American-born star.