Timberwolves vs. Mavericks: Anthony Edwards, Luka Dončić and how the West will be won

The Western Conference’s No. 3 seed, the Minnesota Timberwolves (56-26), will take on the fifth-seeded Dallas Mavericks (50-32)in the 2024 Western Conference finals. It’s the first postseason meeting between the two franchises since 2002, when Dirk Nowitzki outdueled Kevin Garnett and an elite Dallas offense outclassed the Wolves en route to a 3-0 sweep.

A lot has changed since then! For one thing: The first round is no longer a best-of-five affair. For another: Anthony Edwards is no longer 8 months old.

By getting off the mat and punching back.

After shocking the NBA-watching world by taking the first two games of Round 2 in Denver, the Wolves found themselves in shock when the Nuggets roared back with three straight wins, capped by a historic performance from just-crowned MVP Nikola Jokić, to put them on the brink.

You know what they say about wounded animals, though:

Minnesota got level in Game 6 by doling out the most lopsided playoff defeat in Denver franchise history, and then — after falling down by 20 in Game 7, on the road, at that famed Rocky Mountain elevation — absolutely suffocated the Nuggets. The best defense in the business held Jokić and Co. to just 37 points on 35.9% shooting in the second half, dominated the glass, got massive fourth-quarter buckets from a wide array of sources, physically overpowered an exhausted opponent and dethroned the defending champions.

With the top-seeded Thunder falling on the other side of the bracket, Edwards, Karl-Anthony Towns, Rudy Gobert and Co. now hold home-court advantage in the conference finals. The Wolves sit four wins away from the championship round — a level of success that this franchise has never reached.

The party continues Wednesday in Minneapolis. Bring ya ass, won’t you?

By winning the chess match and the dice rolls.

In the second round, Dallas tailored its defense toward switching screens, showing help and packing the paint, taking away driving lanes for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams and using their towering across-the-board positional size to cut off Oklahoma City’s drive-and-kick game. Coach Jason Kidd bet that if the…


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Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-05-21 21:02:08

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