It hasn’t been easy. However, the Minnesota Timberwolves have officially clinched a spot in the 2023 playoffs after beating the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night.
While the expectation was much higher than just barely squeaking by with the eight seed, we all need to give credit where it’s due. The Timberwolves endured a great deal of adversity all season long. From losing Karl-Anthony Towns for 52 games to trading D’Angelo Russell mid-season and losing key players like Jaden McDaniels and Naz Reid, Minnesota has gutted it out all year long – even if it hasn’t been pretty.
Following Friday’s win, Chris Finch expressed his feelings about how the season played out:
We are certainly happy and proud, this season was a tough one in a lot of ways. We are happy for the fans, we’re happy for the organization. We felt all season we were a playoff team no matter what the circumstances were. Very pleased with the guys continuing to fight through everything, really kind of never let go of the rope. We want to try to build something up here, it starts by consistently playing for the most meaningful games, and those happen to be in the playoffs.
It’s good for our young players still, to keep going through this. Every time you get to the playoffs it’s a learning experience, the defenses you’re going to face, the game planning gets to another level. All that stuff is invaluable. And for the franchise, super excited to be here, always have been. I don’t really know what’s gone on [in] the previous 20 years, but these guys here are very happy and proud to represent this organization.
Caesars Sportsbook favored the Wolves to beat the 10th-seeded Thunder (40-42) by 5.5 points. However, as we all know, Minnesota being favored to win has not resulted in the team actually pulling out the W. So it was encouraging to see them beat OKC using their size to exploit mismatches along with their aggressive mindset from the jump.
However, the Denver Nuggets will be favored as the 1-seed in this series. And they bring a lot of size, which gave Minnesota trouble against the Los Angeles Lakers in the first play-in game. Still, the Wolves feel they can match up against anybody and exploit their size the way the did against the Thunder.
“We believe that every night there’s going to be mismatches,” Rudy Gobert said after Friday’s win. “And even if it’s not a mismatch, I think KAT can score against anybody in the post. And I can dominate against anybody in the paint. It’s really about us as a team, understanding how to space for each other, and understanding the momentum of the game.”
Gobert and Towns both combined for 49 points and 21 rebounds on 17-of-27 (63%) from the floor against Jaylin and Jalen Williams, who stand under 6’10”. Each of them was able to dominate in their own ways; KAT from inside and out, and Rudy playing off the ball while attempting a slew of free throws — putting Tim Connelly’s vision on display.
Looking ahead to the matchup against the Nuggets, the Timberwolves will face a much different challenge against the Northern Heights and their teammates. However, if the Wolves can execute the game plan the way they did Friday night, Denver will not have as much of an advantage as 1-seeds historically have.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker’s Importance
Losing Jaden McDaniels arguably was the most crucial injury a Timberwolves player sustained this season, based solely on how and when it occurred. McDaniels had an emotional outburst following two quick foul calls that led him to fracture his hand.
“I mean, immaturity. Certainly, immaturity has been one of our issues all season, said Finch after game 82 vs. the New Orleans Pelicans “But immaturity at the wrong times points to why we’re 3-9, 3-10 against some of the teams we should be better against.”
McDaniels has been Minnesota’s best defender this season, and losing him during that final game of the regular season to an off-the-court injury is inexcusable. However, it’s next man up in the NBA. The Wolves didn’t have any time to feel sorry for themselves as they headed into the Play-In Tournament against the Los Angeles Lakers.
The overall team defense against the Lakers wasn’t bad. They held LA to only 108 points through overtime on 41% from the floor and 32% from deep. However, McDaniels’ presence was most missed in the on-ball defense category.
LeBron James and Dennis Schröder combined for 51 points on 17-of-33 (51.5%) from the floor. It was tough for Anthony Edwards to shoulder most of the perimeter defensive load for the Wolves on Tuesday, especially after he fell on his left shoulder and was in visible pain the rest of the night.
Heading into Friday’s game, Chris Finch made the decision to start Nickeil Alexander-Walker for the first time in a Wolves uniform – a choice that Finch said came from his boss. “It was something that Tim Connelly said,” Finch recalled. “‘Hey, here’s a wild one, what do you think?’ And I was like, ‘makes a lot of sense.’ I hadn’t really started thinking about that type of stuff.”
It was a huge moment for Alexander-Walker. His first start with the Wolves would come against his cousin Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Alexander-Walker and Gilgeous-Alexander grew up playing against each other, but they did not play against each other this year. While some other younger players would have folded against the pressure, NAW, 24, did exactly the opposite. He finished with 12 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 blocks on 5-of-10 from the floor.
However, his ability to put the clamps on Gilgeous-Alexander made his outing that much more special. Alexander-Walker held his cousin to only 22 points on 5-for-19 (26%) from the floor.
“With his length, his defensive prowess, like obviously that’s corporate knowledge,” Finch offered on NAW’s impact after the game. “That allowed us to lengthen our rotation as well, not that we did but if we wanted to. It kept Ant out of early foul trouble. We thought Ant would move over and guard him more, then Nickeil did such a wonderful job.”
Regardless of if Alexander-Walker will be coming off the bench or starting against the Nuggets, it will be crucial for him to bring the same level of defensive intensity he did against OKC. Denver has its fair share of perimeter threats, especially Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. Without NAW picking up some of McDaniels’ defensive slack, the Nuggets could close out the series quickly.
Who’s Going to Be the Joker’s Batman?
On top of Denver’s incredible spacing, they also have arguably the best passing big man in the history of the game in Nikola Jokić to swing the ball to open shooters. Assuming Finch assigns Gobert to Jokić, Rudy will need to change his usual plan of attack. Through the 21 total games, Jokić has played against Gobert in his career, the Joker is averaging 20 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists.
Gobert has seen Jokić a lot throughout his seven-year career, so matching up against him isn’t anything new. However, it will take a full team effort if the Wolves hope to contain the offensive firepower that Jokić brings. We saw the Wolves double Anthony Davis in the team’s first Play-In game on Tuesday. Davis finished with 24 points, but doubling him seemed to work incredibly well at times.
Sending a double Jokić’s way seems like an absolute no-brainer. The only stipulation will be if the Wolves don’t properly rotate out on shooters — a problem that’s stung them in the butt all season long. In that case, containing Nikola’s scoring will be the last thing on their minds.
Holding. The. Lead.
Building leads hasn’t been that big of a struggle for the Wolves this season. However, holding those leads has. It doesn’t matter who the opponent is, good or bad, Minnesota seemed to let up in the third quarter. They often didn’t maintain their lead long enough to hold onto games they should have won.
Friday night was one of the few exceptions this season. The Wolves opened up a 15-point lead on the Thunder out of halftime and never looked back.
Minnesota played like a team that knew they were on another level than their opponent.
Heading into the Denver series, the Wolves will be on the other end of the spectrum. While It may be difficult for Minnesota to build a sizable lead on the No. 1 seed, they can’t blow three leads against the Nuggets, as they did against the Memphis Grizzlies last year.
Do-or-die games are always interesting, and the Wolves should use Friday night’s game as a blueprint for how they approach the playoffs. If so, a potential upset may be on the horizon because we still don’t know what this team is truly capable of.
