Timberwolves

D'Angelo Russell Needs To Ice This Series

Photo Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

After the Minnesota Timberwolves blew not one but two 20-point leads during their Game 3 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, fans were hopeful that the team had graduated from their crash course in late-game lead management. But with another Minnesota meltdown coming just days later in Game 5, the team may need a bit more tutoring when it comes to “Playoff Basketball 101.”

Mistakes were expected for a Timberwolves group with limited postseason experience. But fumbling away two games due to their inability to hold onto double-digit leads wasn’t. Although I believe that throwing a few different looks on defense could save the Wolves from the Grizzlies’ fourth-quarter heroics, it’s unquestionable that their lack of late-game offense has been what’s holding them back from advancing to the next round.

Coming into the playoffs, the Grizzlies were tasked with stopping one of the league’s premier offensive powerhouses in Minnesota. With All-Star level scorers in Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards on the Timberwolves’ roster, it seemed logical for head coach Taylor Jenkins and his staff to gameplan around stopping both players. But after losing two of their four matchups against the Wolves during the regular season, Jenkins understood the real threat to his team’s success: D’Angelo Russell.

Through four games against the Grizzlies during the regular season, the man with ice in his veins completely torched Jenkins’ squad. Each bout saw the seventh-year guard put on a display of near-perfect scoring performances. 30 points, 28, 29, and 37! It seemed as though Russell had figured out a way to pick apart Memphis’ defensive schemes.

But DLo has faded into the background against Memphis through his first five games.

During this series, Russell has only averaged 13 points on true shooting of just 45.1%, well below league-average (58.3%). Russell’s recent poor play shouldn’t present such a problem for the talented Timberwolves with both KAT and Ant on the floor for the Wolves, assuming Towns isn’t in foul trouble. But as Chris Finch stated Thursday, one of the major components in the team’s 4th quarter scoring shortages has been their stagnation on offense.

A team with a stagnant offense is bound to go through cold spells. Too many one-on-one isolations allow the opposing team not to work nearly as hard as if they were defending a team with constant ball movement.

When the shots aren’t falling for KAT, Ant, and most noticeably DLo, the Grizzlies can play their brand of basketball: Fast. But besides Finch, who can do nothing more than scream from the sidelines for his team to run something besides another iso, Russell is the only other person who can fix the muddle Minnesota is currently in.

Regardless of his stance on his on-court position, DLo is this team’s point guard. And as the lead guard for the Pack, the responsibility lies primarily on his shoulders to ensure that the offense is in perpetual motion. Without constant movement on and off the ball, Memphis has been able to catch their breaths on D, which has helped fuel their now infamous double-digit comebacks.

Russell has played third-fiddle in Chris Finch’s pace-and-space offense all season long. If the series ends in Minnesota on Friday night, Towns, Edwards, or Finch will be blamed before Russell.

But it shouldn’t be that way.

To this point, DLo has harmed his team more than he’s helped them. Sure, he’s dished out a few dimes. And yeah, he’s even knocked down some open shots. But whether it’s his failure to command the Wolves on offense or taking it upon himself to play hero ball at the end of regulation, he must play his best basketball until the end of the series.

This series should have been over in five. With so many viable options on offense, it’s absurd that we’re even discussing Minnesota’s static scoring when it matters most. But like it or not, this is where the team stands. Their backs are against the wall, down 3-2 against a team they’ve shown they can compete with on any given night.

With Game 6 being held at Target Center, the team should be able to get out to an early lead. The question is, will they be able to hold onto it until the final buzzer sounds? It’s now or never for DLo, a player who’s been ridiculed over his ability to lead in the past. And we’ve seen him be that leader in the past, like when he willed his team to a win against none other than the Memphis Grizzlies back in late Feb. by dropping 23 points in the final quarter.

After giving fans false hope that he would be the difference-maker in this Memphis series, D’Angelo Russell’s fallen short of being the Nightmare on Beale Street he was during the regular season. And having been nothing more than a significant contributor in Minnesota being down in this series, it’s up to him to ensure we never have to hear Whoop That Trick by Al Kapone ever again.

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