Game Report - Game 4 Redemption

[Lipoli390]

I was talking to a friend this morning who shares season tickets. He has the tickets for game 6 and was complaining this morning that he expected this series to be over before then based on the Wolves colossal collapse on Thursday night. Although I was down on the team for what happened two nights ago, my response was that he was reacting as if this were the same Wolves team we've seen over many years since the KG era. My take was that this is a very different, far more resilient team that has come back many times this season from games or stretches that in past seasons would have left them permanently deflated. So I told him to plan on attending game 6 next Friday. As it turns out, I was right - albeit only by one point. :)

Tonight's win was a redemption game in my view - redemption for the team and for Towns. The Wolves came out with energy and fight from the opening tip and never let up. And Towns was the biggest reason this team won tonight just as he was the biggest reason the Wolves ended up with 46 wins instead of 30 during the season. The team responded like a winner and so did Towns with 33 points on nearly 50% shooting, 14 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block and only 3 fouls - yes only 3 fouls. He played 42 minutes and the Wolves needed every one of those 42 minutes to win tonight.

As well as Towns played, however, he'll have to share my game ball with JMac who had 16 points on 5-6 shooting (4-4 from behind the arc). JMac saved the team from DLO's poor performance tonight. And it wasn't just JMac's shooting or scoring; it was the way he moved the ball and got the team into an offensive flow. He was phenomenal. Vanderbilt was terrific with 12 points on 6-8 shooting and 8 rebounds. Edwards put in a tremendous, gutsy performance. Battling a sore left knee and looking like he'd be out of the game early with a right knee issue, he came through with a bunch of key buckets on his way to 24 points, which included 50% shooting from the field and from behind the arc. He added 4 rebounds and 4 assists for good measure.

The only Wolves players who played really poorly were McDaniels and Beasley. Naz Reid was a non-factor as he played only 5 minutes. But it seemed pretty clear that he would have been terrible if he had gotten any more time of the floor. DLO's game is tough to judge. He had another one of his all-to-common horrendous shooting nights, hitting only 3 of 12 shots. But he still played a pretty smart game, defended well and showed nice energy. But when your starting PG takes 12 shots and makes only 3, you can't say he had a good game. He did have 7 assists, but he had only 2 rebounds and committed 4 fouls. In addition, I saw too much of last season's DLO over-dribbling. If KAT had played like DLO tonight, he would have been skewered. What was interesting about DLO is that he was by far the most talkative Timberwolf in the arena tonight - even more than Pat B. He was constantly talking to teammates and coaches throughout the game. I view that as a positive because he showed he was engaged. His overall positive attitude and effort keep me from being too down on him. He just needs to move the ball a bit better and hit his shots. He never quit on his teammates and never dogged it even as he became increasingly frustrated.

Now we get to Patrick Beverley. He played well defensively and shot well too. But he almost cost us the game with his poor free-throw shooting and really dumb technical foul. He missed 4 free throws and gave Memphis a free point at the line with his ridiculous technical. That's 5 points Beverley effective game to Memphis in what turned out to be a 1-point Wolves win. I love Pat, but his free-throw shooting and stupidity were unacceptable in a game like this which we won by only 1 point.

In any event, this was a really fun game with the biggest, loudest crowd I've experience since the game 7 win over Sacramento back in the KG era. It was a back-and-forth affair that could have gone either way, but the Wolves prevailed in the end showing a lot of mental toughness. No one showed more mental toughness than KAT tonight. His last two free throws near the end of the game were cold-blooded and, as it turned out, we needed both of them to get the win. Looking ahead, I'm still predicting that Memphis will win the series. But the Wolves have shown that they can win this series. I think the key will be DLO. If he can get hot and play his best basketball in these next two games, I can see the Wolves coming out on top. Meanwhile, I'm looking forward to game 6 next Friday.

[thedoper]

Towns was incredible. Great playoff win. You get one more home game Lip make it count.

[Lipoli390]

Towns was incredible. Great playoff win. You get one more home game Lip make it count.

I'll do my best, Doper. I have almost a full week to get my voice back. :)

[Papalrep]

Great post thanks

[kekgeek]

Most fun I've ever had in a sporting event. It's crazy how much 1 game can change perspective. I'm cool with Kat again

[DNatagal]

KAT needs a sports psychologist with him 24/7

[thedoper]

Team D and gameplan for Ja was legit. He couldnt wait to get rid of the ball all game and made some terrible turnovers. I said it in the game thread but Ja should be getting the same heat KAT got for his performance today.

[Q-is-here]

Team D and gameplan for Ja was legit. He couldnt wait to get rid of the ball all game and made some terrible turnovers. I said it in the game thread but Ja should be getting the same heat KAT got for his performance today.

Morant has legit holes in his game. I think the Grizz are going to win this series, but the lesson for other teams is that he can be targeted defensively.

[Monster]

Just finished watching the game. I think Towms did deliver but it was a mixed bag. He had a number of pretty stupid plays. Richard Jefferson kept ripping him for these plays and then later was all saying how he was doing everything doing all the little things then Towns went after that rebound instead of letting it go out of bounds. I think Towns doesn't get credit for some positive impact he has defensively.

Lip it was 5 minutes but Naz Reid did have a block on Morant and I didn't see anything that suggested he would be terrible.

My other takeaway from the national broadcast was Richard Jefferson heaped praise on Tyus and it was deserved and he has played well in this series. Meanwhile McLaughlin was absolutely terrific and he never said a damn thing about him until he left the game to a standing ovation. It was actually getting bizarre he never even mentioned the McLaughlin. Anyway it was a hell of a game from McLaughlin and was a huge reason they won. He took some of Beasley's minutes who didn't do anything but I also didn't see him do anything wrong either. I'll mention here that Bane being absolutely on fire from 3 made me want to add a shooter to this team via the draft. It also makes me glad we have Beasley on the roster.

The last few games I've been watching and pondering Vanderbilt. Right now I have to admit that I see what others lik Q and Abe were saying about him not being able to be a true starter. He really does have to get so much better at some area to be that and yeah it does seem unlikely. He has been terrific in a couple of these games including last night but damn Brandon Clarke is a better all around player and we really need to add someone who can do more. I still believe Vanderbilt can become a better version of himself but I do have to admit that him becoming a starting level player is tough to hope for. Regardless he is certainly a worthwhile piece on this team and we would not be as good if he hadn't made the jump he already has to be a guy who hasn't played a ton in his young career to be starter on a good team that has now won 2 playoff games.

Russell was just ok in this game. There were times where the Wolves did need scoring and he did look to score and there was a couple times he did make shots the wolves really needed. The thing is that Russell seems to be willing to not just jack up a bunch of shots because he is a scorer. He mostly faded back into being a PG and during the middle of the game he was really good. He only had 10 points but Beverly and McLaughlin also combined for 33 (lack of scoring other than McLaughlin was a problem) so I can live with him not delivering more in that area. We will likely need him to score points in a game but keep in mind he was less of a scorer this year in general. He took his fewest shots per 36 of any season since his rookie year with the Lakers. Same with his usage rate. This is all in the backdrop of the Wolves winning basketball games this year. Against the Clippers he went bonkers. That's always a possibility with him but I like that he has seemed to be willing to play as a true PG and do well at it. I wasn't paying attention but who is Memphis defending Russell with?

[Monster]

Also Jefferson made good points about Towns doing better in the double teams but there really were a couple times that nobody moved or did anything and there was really no pass to a teammate. It's not just on Towns. I'd be interested to know what Towns and the Wolves effectiveness has been this season etc is with him catching in those spots where he is being doubled teamed. Towns has a lot of skill so there are many ways he can be used so I would be looking at finding other spots to give him the ball and possibly mostly abandon that type of play.