The Minnesota Timberwolves fell into an 0-1 hole in the NBA Western Conference Finals after falling to the Dallas Mavericks 108-105 on Wednesday night.
After the game Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards shared his thoughts on why the team finished flat and allowed the Mavs to come back and steal Game 1 on the road, saying “I think we just came out flat today. We found our energy and went back to being flat. So, I think it was on us. Everything was on us today. I did not get downhill as much. Yeah, just stuff like that. We were just tired probably.”
Timberwolves coach Chris Finch isn't having it, per John Krawczynski of The Athletic:
“Chris Finch said it was a no-nonsense film session today. ‘The Western Conference finals started. Not sure if they got the memo. But they got it this afternoon.'”
TNT analyst Draymond Green also wasn't a fan of Edwards' comments.
“I've said a lot about Anthony Edwards interviews all playoffs long, and that was one of my least favorites. Saying ‘We're tired, we didn't know what to expect.' The same way those guys have followed you to this point, they'll follow that as well,” Green said after the game on Inside the NBA on TNT.
Green also pointed out the Timberwolves getting absolutely dominated in the paint. With the big-man combo of Karl-Anthony Towns and four-time league DPOY Rudy Gobert in the middle, the Timberwolves entered Game 1 with people expecting they'd have an advantage over the Mavericks inside. But Dallas flipped those expectations, as the Mavs scored 57.4 percent of their total points in Game 1 in the paint. The Timberwolves, on the other hand, posted just a 36.2 percent tw0-point rate in the contest.
Timberwolves fall flat against Luka Doncic, Mavericks
The Timberwolves know that there is no reason to panic after a little setback like this. They were resilient against the Denver Nuggets as they bounced back from a 3-2 series deficit and a 20-point Nuggets lead in Game 7, so there will be no reason to overreact.
But Minnesota knows better than to let homecourt advantage slip away. They might have gotten away with two losses in their home floor during the Nuggets series, but they will not want to tempt fate against a Mavericks team that seems to be getting more locked in with each passing playoff game.
Moving forward, the Timberwolves have to clean up their games. In particular, their stars will have to play better.
The Mavericks had one more day of rest than the Timberwolves did, so it's possible that the stamina deficit played a part in Edwards' underwhelming scoring night. However, superstars who call themselves the best player in the game can't make any excuses for themselves.
Edwards will have to play better, but knowing his approach to the game, he'll for sure bring it in Game 2 on Friday. Hopefully Finch's film session has the rest of the Timberwolves ready to roll as well.
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