Western Conference Finals: (3) Minnesota Timberwolves vs. (5) Dallas Mavericks

[Xiao Yao You]

Factors:

- Gafford, Luckey: these are the unsung heroes on Dallas. The reason Irving and Doncic have room to maneuver is Wolves now know they will feed Gafford, Luckey for the alley-oop. This is a potent weapon that allows Dallas guards options inside the paint. These two handle the pass well and finish at the rim.

- Irving, Doncic passing: In addition to making shots, they effectively play off their bigs to create a versatile, unpredictable offense. I came into this series thinking it was going to be the old way ISO offense which the Wolves can stop cold. But instead the Mavs are playing as a team, the ball is moving and the Wolves are having a hard time keeping up.

- Edwards has crumbled under the pressure. Has totally given up on trying to drive the ball. Does not pass well under the pressure; makes poor quality passes, turnovers and passes that put his teammates in a bad position which are like turnovers. His frustration under the double-team as well his teammates not getting open, and coach's not adapting plays to this, is hurting the Wolves.

- Irving takes his game to new levels. This guy takes his game to another level in the postseason. He himself can cut through the Wolves defense on his own. I should add Doncic is playing a lot smarter than he did in his early years.

- Edwards showed his lack of composure down stretch. Wolves up 2, with as much time on shot clock as in the game. He rushed a pass, strained from double team and turned it over. Thats all the Mavs needed to shoot a 3 and win the game. He is a great player but still immature.

- Wolves stars shooting when they shouldn't. ANT and KAT shot the most for Wolves. They both shot under 30%! Credit Mavs defense but the Mavs are forcing the ball out of their hands. They should get rid of it. Gobert shot 60%, conley 50%.

Mavs have the element of surprise. They are playing better team offense and defense than they have all season. Finch needs some adjustments- the most important of which is how to score as a team when they're mobbing your stars.

Law Murray: Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns are a combined 21/69 from the field in this series 30.4 percent field goals from Minnesota’s All-Stars. Luka has made more buckets BY HIMSELF (22/49 field goals) than Ant and KAT combined to start the 2024 WCF. – via Twitter LawMurrayTheNU

[Xiao Yao You]

Factors:

- Gafford, Luckey: these are the unsung heroes on Dallas. The reason Irving and Doncic have room to maneuver is Wolves now know they will feed Gafford, Luckey for the alley-oop. This is a potent weapon that allows Dallas guards options inside the paint. These two handle the pass well and finish at the rim.

- Irving, Doncic passing: In addition to making shots, they effectively play off their bigs to create a versatile, unpredictable offense. I came into this series thinking it was going to be the old way ISO offense which the Wolves can stop cold. But instead the Mavs are playing as a team, the ball is moving and the Wolves are having a hard time keeping up.

- Edwards has crumbled under the pressure. Has totally given up on trying to drive the ball. Does not pass well under the pressure; makes poor quality passes, turnovers and passes that put his teammates in a bad position which are like turnovers. His frustration under the double-team as well his teammates not getting open, and coach's not adapting plays to this, is hurting the Wolves.

- Irving takes his game to new levels. This guy takes his game to another level in the postseason. He himself can cut through the Wolves defense on his own. I should add Doncic is playing a lot smarter than he did in his early years.

- Edwards showed his lack of composure down stretch. Wolves up 2, with as much time on shot clock as in the game. He rushed a pass, strained from double team and turned it over. Thats all the Mavs needed to shoot a 3 and win the game. He is a great player but still immature.

- Wolves stars shooting when they shouldn't. ANT and KAT shot the most for Wolves. They both shot under 30%! Credit Mavs defense but the Mavs are forcing the ball out of their hands. They should get rid of it. Gobert shot 60%, conley 50%.

Mavs have the element of surprise. They are playing better team offense and defense than they have all season. Finch needs some adjustments- the most important of which is how to score as a team when they're mobbing your stars.

Edwards has been by far the teams best player over the first two rounds wtf are you on about

Ant ortg 121. 4x dpoty ortg 129 ant drtg 109 4 x dpoty drtg 107. One guy is playing his part. The other isnt.

[tontoz]

Luka is obviously playing hurt, he looks like an old man shuffling up and down the floor, but was still the clear best player in the game. Luka haters in shambles right now.

Ant looked like what he is, a 22 yr old lacking playoff experience. He seemed like he was trying too hard to be unselfish. He needs to do a better job finishing in traffic.

Rudy looks like an oaf trying to finish inside when he can't dunk. His lack of offense really limits what they can do

Another crap game from Kat.

[Manny98]

Ant ortg 121. 4x dpoty ortg 129 ant drtg 109 4 x dpoty drtg 107. One guy is playing his part. The other isnt.

Those stats don't mean anything, Ant has had a bad couple of games but he's undeniably been Minnesotas best player in both the Phoenix and Denver series

Or are you really going to sit up here with a straight face and try and claim that Rudy was the best player in those series

There's delusional then there's straight idiocy

[Manny98]

Thank you that's the gif I was looking for

[Xiao Yao You]

Those stats don't mean anything, Ant has had a bad couple of games but he's undeniably been Minnesotas best player in both the Phoenix and Denver series

Or are you really going to sit up here with a straight face and try and claim that Rudy was the best player in those series

There's delusional then there's straight idiocy

When the team is best when you are on the floor and at its worst when you are off what does it tell you?

[Xiao Yao You]

Kendrick Perkins: Ain’t no way in hell we are going to blame that L on Rudy. That blame goes to Ant Man and KAT. I’m usually on Rudy case but we ain’t about to do that. The 2 Franchise Players hasn’t showed up in this Series. – via Twitter KendrickPerkins

[Xiao Yao You]

Dave McMenamin: During the time Anthony Edwards was checked out of the game from 7:53 to 5:31 remaining in the 4th Q, the Wolves guard put on a face mask to receive oxygen in the tunnel by the Minnesota bench. – via Twitter mcten

might need to spend the off season training with rudy

[Manny98]

When the team is best when you are on the floor and at its worst when you are off what does it tell you?

On and off stats don't tell the whole story by that logic Derrick Lively has been the Mavs best player this playoffs and even though he's been great nobody is looking at him as their best player

You're just bringing up stats that favor Rudy but you don't have a faintest clue of what those stats actually mean

[Xiao Yao You]

On and off stats don't tell the whole story by that logic Derrick Lively has been the Mavs best player this playoffs and even though he's been great nobody is looking at him as their best player

You're just bringing up stats that favor Rudy but you don't have a faintest clue of what those stats actually mean

Tell me what it means? One guy gets the blame while doing his job and others get the credit while not doing theirs. Lively comes off the bench like all world reid. Gobert plays most of the game. Nice try

[Manny98]

Tell me what it means? One guy gets the blame while doing his job and others get the credit while not doing theirs. Lively comes off the bench like all world reid. Gobert plays most of the game. Nice try

You're using a stat that generally favours big man, Al Horford also has the best on/off on the team this playoffs but not one Celtics fan looks at him as the best player

I don't like using advanced stats anymore because they don't tell the complete story and I prefer to not look like a complete idiot trying to talk about something I barely understand

And I'm not denying Edwards has been terrible this series but to ignore his performance and how he's essentially carried the team over the first two rounds is idiotic

[CurryOverLebron]

[Xiao Yao You]

You're using a stat that generally favours big man, Al Horford also has the best on/off on the team this playoffs but not one Celtics fan looks at him as the best player

I don't like using advanced stats anymore because they don't tell the complete story and I prefer to not look like a complete idiot trying to talk about something I barely understand

And I'm not denying Edwards has been terrible this series but to ignore his performance and how he's essentially carried the team over the first two rounds is idiotic

He carried team witb two all nbaers and 6th man of the year and another all d player and a former all star? Idiotic?

[Manny98]

He carried team witb two all nbaers and 6th man of the year and another all d player and a former all star? Idiotic?

Um yes he averages 31/8/6 against the Suns in the first round, he was by far the best player on the Court that series

[ArbitraryWater]

Those stats don't mean anything, Ant has had a bad couple of games but he's undeniably been Minnesotas best player in both the Phoenix and Denver series

Or are you really going to sit up here with a straight face and try and claim that Rudy was the best player in those series

There's delusional then there's straight idiocy

There is no helping him.

He said Gobert was the Jazz best player in the 2020 playoffs while Mitchell was dropping 50 point games everywhere