The Minnesota Timberwolves’ magical season has come to a close via a crushing blowout defeat in front of their home crowd to conclude the Western Conference Finals. The Dallas Mavericks came into Game 5 with their eyes set on closing out the series and did just that. Luka Doncic dominated the game from start to finish.
The Slovenian superstar single-handedly outplayed the entire cast of Timberwolves. Doncic poured in 20 first-quarter points compared to just 19 points Minnesota mustered. Luka’s individual greatness has been an inevitable aspect of this series as the Timberwolves’ coaching staff failed to at any point in time make him uncomfortable.
Kyrie Irving also got going in the first half tallying 19 points himself as the dynamic backcourt duo combined for 44 points in the first 24 minutes of game time. The Mavericks dominance this series exclusively came from those two.
Irving and Doncic combined for 297 points this series. In the five games, Dallas scored a total of 557 points. The Mavs’ starting backcourt accounted for a whopping 53.3% of the team’s points in the Western Conference Finals.
Minnesota prided itself on the defensive end all season long. However, when the going got tough, the Timberwolves failed to find answers for some of the game’s best shot creators. Let’s analyze where Minnesota went wrong defensively.
Timberwolves' pick and roll drop coverage
The NBA Playoffs are all about adaptability. With so many talented offensive NBA players in today’s game, the ability to adjust your defensive scheme outweighs individual defensive talent. The Timberwolves showed the ability to change their game plan this postseason.
Against the Phoenix Suns in the First Round, Minnesota confused the likes of Devin Booker, Bradley Beal and Kevin Durant by mixing up their looks. The Wolves at times played back in their traditional drop coverage. At points, Minnesota blitzed ball screens and forced the Suns’ big three to pass the rock. Occasionally, the Wolves even switched Rudy Gobert out in space and relied on Karl-Anthony Towns to defend Kevin Durant in isolation.
Against the Denver Nuggets, Minnesota switched up their matchups frequently. Showing different bodies to Nikola Jokic and bringing a ton of help his way consistently. The Timberwolves won as Aaron Gordon and the other Nuggets’ role players failed to lift Denver.
However, the Wolves passively allowed Luka Doncic to end their season time and time again. The Timberwolves’ drop coverage became easy pickings for the league’s best point guard. This is not an indictment on Rudy Gobert. Rather, a credit to Doncic’s talent.
He ate the open space and chewed up Minnesota’s defense by living inside the arc. Forcing Gobert to choose between allowing Luka to take a layup or giving up an open lob dunk to Dallas’ rolling big.
The defensive matchup we never saw
Minnesota’s one potential solution to Luka’s greatness was toying with the matchups. Rather than solely employing Gobert on one of Dereck Lively or Daniel Gafford, placing Towns on Dallas’ five man would’ve challenged the Mavs in new ways.
Gobert would then sag off of PJ Washington who shot 8/32 (25.0%) from three this series. The Wolves’ anchor could then meet the Mavericks’ rolling big at the rim after Towns blitzed Doncic at the level of the ball screen. From there, Dallas’ role-players would be forced to make plays after removing Doncic’s initial read from the equation.
This isn’t conjecture. In fact, Chris Finch employed this defensive scheme frequently against Luka Doncic since his hire date back in February of 2021. Surprisingly, the Timberwolves’ coaching staff refrained from fully diving into their “high wall”. When the Wolves did blitz, it often came with Gobert being the guy to double the ball handler. This placed too much pressure on Minnesota’s back line of defense as Towns and Anthony Edwards’ off-ball defense was too often a step too slow in rotation.
As a direct result, Doncic was far too comfortable all series long. Minnesota allowed the Mavs’ best player to take them to the promised land. Dallas’ desired plan of attack played perfectly into what the Wolves’ ultimately were willing to allow.
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