Why Timberwolves’ biggest issue vs. Mavericks is their non-Rudy Gobert minutes: ‘We were soft’

The Minnesota Timberwolves played “terrible offense” down the stretch of Game 1 of the Western Conference finals, coach Chris Finch told reporters on Wednesday: “Bad shots, turnovers, no composure.” Jaden McDaniels surely regrets throwing the jump pass that landed in the hands of Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic with about two minutes left, and Mike Conley surely regrets turning down an open floater to force a lob to Rudy Gobert — another Doncic steal — a couple of possessions later.

The numbers confirm Finch’s assessment. Over the final 11 minutes of the 108-105 loss, Minnesota scored 16 points on 6-for-18 shooting, with five turnovers and an offensive rating of 72.7. In the last four-and-a-half minutes, the Wolves scored six points on 2-for-6 shooting, with three turnovers and an offensive rating of 66.7.

It is difficult to win a playoff game when you score only 43 points in the second half, as the Wolves did in the series opener. Minnesota almost pulled it off, though, because of its defense. It held the Mavericks to 113.7 points per 100 possessions (as a point of reference, this is exactly what the Houston Rockets, the league’s 20th-best offensive team, put up in the regular season) and limited them to 25 3-point attempts, the fewest they’ve taken since Dec. 31, 2021.

The Wolves’ strategy was clear: They wanted to force Doncic and Kyrie Irving into contested 2s, and they didn’t want to give up wide-open corner 3s. There was a lot of grouching about Gobert being in drop coverage on the broadcast, but it worked. In fact, it worked so well that the game might not have come down to crunch time if they’d found a way to be halfway decent without Gobert on the floor. 

Gobert played 38 minutes, during which time Minnesota outscored Dallas by 10 points and held the Mavs to 100 points per 100 possessions. In the other 10 minutes, Dallas scored 165 points per 100 possessions. The Mavs outscored the Wolves 62-38 in the paint, another talking point during the game, but much of that damage was done when Gobert was on the…

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Author : James Herbert

Publish date : 2024-05-24 13:40:47

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