The Minnesota Timberwolves booked their ticket to the Western Conference semi-finals, sweeping the Phoenix Suns and progressing to the second round of the post-season for the first time since the early 2000s. Just over a year on from Rudy Gobert punching his own teammate Kyle Anderson, Minnesota have undergone a quite remarkable turnaround, finally giving their glory-starved supporters an opportunity to dream. In light of this record breaking season, the question amongst many is just how far can these Wolves go?
Minnesota finished the regular season as the 3rd seed in the Western Conference, achieving the second best record in franchise history (56-26), only bettered by the 58 games won by the Wolves under Flip Saunders in 2004. Propelled by their league best defensive record (108.4), over 2 points better off than the second-placed Boston Celtics, the Timberwolves have engineered a catalogue of memorable performances throughout the year, unfazed by fans and pundits alike who question their propensity for success.
The Wolves began the season on a tear, winning 16 of their first 20 regular season games and deservedly finding themselves as the 1st seed in the Western Conference by the turn of the year. Despite their impressive second half of the season, Minnesota did experience a downturn in results from January onwards, plagued by offensive inconsistency and turnovers, and not aided by the knee injury suffered by Karl Anthony-Towns which kept the All-Star out for over a month.
It is the aforementioned unpredicability of the Timberwolves' offence that has led many NBA observers to doubt Minnesota's championship credentials. The Wolves have just the 17th best offensive rating in the league (114.6), the worst out of any Western Conference play-off team. Additionally, their offensive proficiency in clutch time (the final five minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime when the score is within five points) this season is even poorer, standing at 22nd in the league, a concerning reality given the similarities that clutch time bears with the slower pace of play-off basketball.
As such, despite their superior seeding position, the Timberwolves entered their first round play-off series against the Phoenix Suns as slight betting underdogs. From January 2nd onwards, the Suns had matched Minnesota with a record of 32-18 and had swept their opponents during the regular season (3-0). During these 3 games, the Wolves did not get close to Phoenix, losing by an average of 15.7 points. The seemingly unstoppable juggernaut that is Anthony Edwards was indeed stopped by the Suns defence, and Minnesota were simply unable to deal with Phoenix's quickness in transition. Despite their most successful season in 2 decades, the Timberwolves had, in typical Minnesota fashion, managed to land what the basketball world perceived as the trickiest post season match-up possible.
So flash forward two weeks from the Wolves' final game regular season 125-106 loss to Phoenix, what on earth could have possibly happened to bring about the play-off cakewalk that has just been witnessed? Well, Rudy Gobert happened, Jaden Mcdaniels happened, Anthony DeVante Edwards happened in what was a quite astonishing week to be a Minnesota Timberwolves fan. The Wolves demoralised the Phoenix Suns in each one of their 4 post season encounters, playing mature basketball, sharing the ball between one another, taking intelligent shots and ultimately beheading the three-headed snake of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal.
To be entirely honest, the three-headed snake seemed more like a three-headed earthworm over the series, but that is full credit to Chris Finch and his coaching team who executed a flawless game plan and stifled the Suns offence. The perimetre defence of Jaden Mcdaniels, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Anthony Edwards funneled Phoenix into the paint where Rudy Gobert stood waiting to swat away any attempts at the rim. Gobert's astonishing work, both inside the paint and when guarding in isolation against Booker and Durant, was backed up by the tireless effort of veteran Mike Conley and Minnesota's own Karl Anthony-Towns, with the latter performing particularly well on the defensive end of the floor.
Offensively, the Wolves took it up a gear (or two) from the regular season, garnering an offensive rating of 123.2 across the series, the highest of any play-off team so far. Granted, it should be acknowledged that the Suns are an average defensive team who were further weakened by the injury to Grayson Allen in Game 2, but Minnesota's execution in offence was mightily impressive, particularly in the 4th quarter on Sunday night where the Wolves pulled away from Phoenix in what was a very tight ball game throughout the first 3 quarters.
Whilst few, if any, doubted Anthony Edwards' talent, there were question marks over the 22 year-old's ability to navigate end of game play-off situations. Although the Timberwolves only found themselves in one clutch situation across the series, the maturity shown by the former Georgia Bulldog was phenomenal throughout the whole match-up. Edwards completely picked apart the Suns defence, constantly making the right read when double teamed, so much so that Phoenix coach Frank Vogel abandoned this strategy and placed just one defender on him towards the end of Game 4. Following this adjustment, Edwards dismantled Bradley Beal, scoring 16 points in the 4th quarter and fouling out the Suns guard with 2 minutes to spare in the game.
The doubters have surely been silenced then? Well, not quite. Throughout the series, media coverage has been centred around Phoenix's failings rather than Minnesota's virtuosity. Sure, this is a little unsurprising given the star-studded Suns roster and the historical insignificance of Minnesota as a franchise, but the lack of credit given to the Wolves follows a pattern that has been very noticeable during the regular season. It is about time the Timberwolves are given the respect they deserve.
The Minnesota Timberwolves and the Denver Nuggets find themselves on what seems like an inevitable crash course in the Western Conference semi-finals, with the Nuggets having the opportunity tonight to secure a series win over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 5 at Ball Arena. If they do so, the Wolves will be waiting for them what promises to be an unforgettable play-off affair.
The reigning champs will deservedly head into this match-up as favourites but Minnesota will be sure to make themselves heard and push the Nuggets to the limit. During the regular season, the two sides split the season series (2-2), although only one of these games was played with the complement of a fully fit roster for both sides - a game which the Timberwolves won. There is no doubt that the Wolves match up well against Denver, with the size of Gobert and Towns providing an antidote to the almost irrepresible combination of Nikola Jokic and Aaron Gordon. Equally, Jaden Mcdaniels has proven himself to be more than a match for Jamal Murray this year and it will be fascinating to see the two of them compete, particularly given the absence of Mcdaniels due to injury in last years play-off first round against the Nuggets.
The Timberwolves have done enough to be recognised as a contender for the NBA championship, without a shadow of a doubt. The team knows it, the fans know it and the collective of basketball enjoyers who are still reluctant to believe will be made aware soon enough.
Wolves back.