Can the Timberwolves keep pace with Kyrie Irving and the Mavs? Here are 5 keys to Game 2

After a Game 1 of the 2024 NBA Western Conference finals that saw the superstar tandem of Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving draw first blood, here are a few things to keep an eye on as the Minnesota Timberwolves and Dallas Mavericks get set to tip off Game 2 at Target Center on Friday:

Kyrie’s pace

After years as a comparatively plodding offensive team — though, with Dončić at the controls, often a wildly effective one — Dallas boasted an improved transition outfit during the regular season. The Mavs finished eighth in fast-break points per game, and just outside the top 10 in both how often they got out in transition and how many points they scored per trip, according to Cleaning the Glass. Irving was the key driver of that uptick in fast-break frequency, and you saw why in Game 1.

Irving spoke multiple times — during his in-game interview between the first and second quarters, and on the “Inside the NBA” set after Dallas’ 108-105 win — about how the Wolves were just coming off a grueling Game 7 against the Nuggets in the second round. Minnesota’s comeback victory capped a physical series, one that saw ascendant superstar Anthony Edwards average more than 40 minutes per game and star big men Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert spend two weeks wrestling with Nikola Jokić.

The 32-year-old Irving bet that Minnesota might be a half-step slow in reacting to a new opponent so soon after such an exhausting effort, and he made a point of trying to get into their legs early and often:

Time and again in the first half, when Irving saw a crease, he exploded through it. Any time Gobert was out of the lane, Towns or Naz Reid were lifted up toward the perimeter, or his man — chiefly Edwards, who famously asked for the defensive assignment on Irving and might’ve gotten more than he bargained for — was just a smidge out of position, Irving put his head down and sprinted, trusting that he could win the footrace to the rim against any rotating defender.

He attacked in the half-court. He attacked from half-court, hunting opportunities to push the pace off of misses and even some Minnesota makes. Even when he…

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Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-05-24 13:08:54

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