Suns at Wolves R1G2

[60WinTim]

I'm 1-0, so here goes the 2nd GDT!

I finally watched the beginning of the last regular season game. Sure looks like we sandbagged the Suns with our defensive matchups, which helped the Suns roll. And then all our turnovers led to the the Suns running in transition, which not only stopped us from scoring, but gave the Suns great shots. The defensive matchups in the first playoff game were much more logical, and much more effective. And cutting down our turnovers not only gave us more shots, but cut down their transition game. We also starting crashing the offensive glass, which was very productive.

But I thought the game was much closer than the final score would indicate. There were so many "little plays" that went in the Wolves favor, and if those "little plays" were a bit more even, then the game could have gone down to the wire. And it didn't hurt that ANT caught fire in the 2nd half.

Suns fans/media were so confident going into game one -- they were stunned. Unless we get the super hot ANT, or have a ton of "little plays" go in our favor again, I expect a much more competitive game tonight.

Allen is listed as questionable. Even if he plays, I won't be surprised if we see some Okogie, Young and/or Bol Bol tonight. As ususal, every game has a life of it's own. Like Q, I am certainly not over-confident. But as long as we don't get down double digits early, we definitely have a chance to go up 2-0.

[BloopOracle]

After getting way ahead of myself after game 1, imagining WCF and Finals opponents etc, I'm definitely starting to get nervous again. If the refs allow us to play like we did before I will be a lot less stressed, Gobert will feast once again if so

[Carlos Danger]

I like it! Keep it going 60WinTim. Thumbs up (if we had one)

[Q-is-here]

After getting way ahead of myself after game 1, imagining WCF and Finals opponents etc, I'm definitely starting to get nervous again. If the refs allow us to play like we did before I will be a lot less stressed, Gobert will feast once again if so

Heh, I know. I was a heaping ball of negativity and nihilism before tip-off and by garbage time I was checking flights to be there for the post-Title victory parade, LOL.

But yeah, I'm back down to earth now as these series can be just brutal and we have to win three more times. That being said, taking Game One was absolutely huge. Never mind exorcising our demons against Phoenix during the regular season. It's just a mathematical fact that winning game one improves our odds of winning the series by quite a bit.

Can't let up though: Keep the same defensive intensity and keep turnovers down. Those are two controllables. Shooting luck isn't and there may be a loss or two (even if we win the series) where we just get smoked despite great shot contests.

[Carlos Danger]

I see Basketball Reference has finally created their "Playoffs" tab for this season. Some fun facts:

1.) Luka Garza has a PER of 75.7!!!

2.) Four guys earned some VORP after one game: Towns, NAW, Edwards and Gobert each have .1

3.) Mike Conley is the only guy with a negative VORP (0.1)

It is interesting to see Finch went with only Conley and Morris as PG last game. Conley had a rough game and Morris was just ok. Hopefully a blip on the radar for both guys, but maybe JMac gets in for some change of pace as the series goes on.

[FNG]

I see Basketball Reference has finally created their "Playoffs" tab for this season. Some fun facts:

1.) Luka Garza has a PER of 75.7!!!

2.) Four guys earned some VORP after one game: Towns, NAW, Edwards and Gobert each have .1

3.) Mike Conley is the only guy with a negative VORP (0.1)

It is interesting to see Finch went with only Conley and Morris as PG last game. Conley had a rough game and Morris was just ok. Hopefully a blip on the radar for both guys, but maybe JMac gets in for some change of pace as the series goes on.

Yeah, I also found it interesting that Jmac found himself out of the rotation. Finchie had gotten into a pattern the last couple weeks of the season of starting the second quarter (and I think sometimes the 4th) with JMac and another PG on the court, and invariably it was successful. Odd that he would turn away from it once the playoffs started. I'm not too upset about it though, because we have three reliable PGs.

I just got home after a flight from PHX...more Suns fans than Wolves fans onboard. I'm going to get down to Target Center early to enjoy the pre-game...it should be rocking in there tonight! Hopefully I can bring home a win like Kek did in Game 1.

[60WinTim]

I see Basketball Reference has finally created their "Playoffs" tab for this season. Some fun facts:

1.) Luka Garza has a PER of 75.7!!!

2.) Four guys earned some VORP after one game: Towns, NAW, Edwards and Gobert each have .1

3.) Mike Conley is the only guy with a negative VORP (0.1)

It is interesting to see Finch went with only Conley and Morris as PG last game. Conley had a rough game and Morris was just ok. Hopefully a blip on the radar for both guys, but maybe JMac gets in for some change of pace as the series goes on.

Yeah, I also found it interesting that Jmac found himself out of the rotation. Finchie had gotten into a pattern the last couple weeks of the season of starting the second quarter (and I think sometimes the 4th) with JMac and another PG on the court, and invariably it was successful. Odd that he would turn away from it once the playoffs started. I'm not too upset about it though, because we have three reliable PGs.

I just got home after a flight from PHX...more Suns fans than Wolves fans onboard. I'm going to get down to Target Center early to enjoy the pre-game...it should be rocking in there tonight! Hopefully I can bring home a win like Kek did in Game 1.

Have fun at Target Center!!

Not surprising JMac didn't see minutes. Playoff rotation is shorter, and JMac could be easily overmatched since the Suns don't use a traditional point guard.

[Coolbreeze44]

I'm 1-0, so here goes the 2nd GDT!

I finally watched the beginning of the last regular season game. Sure looks like we sandbagged the Suns with our defensive matchups, which helped the Suns roll. And then all our turnovers led to the the Suns running in transition, which not only stopped us from scoring, but gave the Suns great shots. The defensive matchups in the first playoff game were much more logical, and much more effective. And cutting down our turnovers not only gave us more shots, but cut down their transition game. We also starting crashing the offensive glass, which was very productive.

But I thought the game was much closer than the final score would indicate. There were so many "little plays" that went in the Wolves favor, and if those "little plays" were a bit more even, then the game could have gone down to the wire. And it didn't hurt that ANT caught fire in the 2nd half.

Suns fans/media were so confident going into game one -- they were stunned. Unless we get the super hot ANT, or have a ton of "little plays" go in our favor again, I expect a much more competitive game tonight.

Allen is listed as questionable. Even if he plays, I won't be surprised if we see some Okogie, Young and/or Bol Bol tonight. As ususal, every game has a life of it's own. Like Q, I am certainly not over-confident. But as long as we don't get down double digits early, we definitely have a chance to go up 2-0.

To me the bold is the whole key. If we don't fall behind by 10 or more in the first quarter, our chances of winning are way better than 50/50

[Coolbreeze44]

Are you ready for two and a half hours of torture and nervousness?

[Q-is-here]

Dammit, Allen is in. Was hoping we'd catch a break and he'd have to sit. It would totally change what they can do.

I agree with Tim and Cool. Just don't let things get out of hand in the first half, keep it close and then let the crowd and our defense wear them down in the 2nd half.