The Minnesota Timberwolves almost beat the Dallas Mavericks in Game 2 of their series. ALMOST. Unfortunately, a lot went wrong for the team in the closing stages of the game.
Anthony Edwards and Co. led by as much as 18 points in the second quarter, with big man Naz Reid getting the time of his life from beyond the arc. Dallas struggled covering the Sixth Man of the Year, and Reid took advantage of that as he exploded for a team-high 23 points on 7-of-9 shooting from deep.
However, even a sensational game from Reid and a massive lead weren't enough for the Timberwolves to close out the game and tie it at 1-1. In the end, they allowed the Mavs to come back before a Luka Doncic dagger in the closing seconds ended their hopes of a win.
Having said that, we take a deeper look at the showdown and name everything to blame for Minnesota's brutal collapse.
Where's Karl-Anthony Towns?
Karl-Anthony Towns played just 26 minutes in the game, and although that is in large part to the Timberwolves riding on the hot hands of Naz Reid, it's hard not to take notice of the big man's performance.
KAT finished with 15 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals. But the problem is, he only made four of his 16 shot attempts. His presence was barely felt in the game, which is quite the disappointment since many expected him to step up and dominate against the big men of the Mavericks.
Not only has Towns been struggling in the series, but he's even letting a rookie center like the Mavs' Dereck Lively to outplay him. If the Timberwolves want to win, they need Towns to be at least dominant on the offensive end.
Timberwolves bigs are lacking
The Mavericks and Timberwolves are evenly matched in most team stats in Game 2, but there's one key area that Dallas really controlled and allowed them to come back and win: points in the paint.
Dallas' trio of big men in Lively, Daniel Gafford and PJ Washington were the beneficiary of plenty of lobs from Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic. All three finished in double-digit scoring and combined for 40 points. Both Gafford and Lively didn't attempt a shot from deep, while Washington was 0-of-4 from the 3-point line.
Meanwhile, the Timberwolves' own frontcourt lineup couldn't counter them. Jaden McDaniels shot 1-of-6 overall in the game, while Rudy Gobert went 6-of-10. As mentioned earlier, Towns just couldn't get anything going, while Reid focused largely on shooting from deep.
Had it not been for Reid catching fire from deep, the Timberwolves would have been blown out in the game. It didn't help them that they shot horribly as a team (41.2 percent), but getting outscored in the painted area 54-42 really hurt them and gave Dallas plenty of confidence.
Reid won't always shoot well from beyond the arc. And if the Timberwolves keep allowing the Mavericks to punk them on the paint, then they will be in a lot of trouble as the series continues.
The Timberwolves have no reason to panic yet since both Games 1 and 2 have been so close and could have gone either way, but they can't allow themselves to fall to a 3-0 hole or else it might be too late for them to get out of it. Game 3 of the series is on Sunday, with the Mavericks playing host this time.
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