20 years (and 1 day) later- Finals Game 1 GDT

[SameOldNudityDrew]

Watching that game was weird.

We weren't playing as well as we know we're capable of, which is disappointing, but like FNG and others have said, it also feels good that we were right there at the end despite that fact.

We hit a LOT of 3s with good efficiency, which is great to see, but Dallas' D was trying to force us into settling for outside jumpers and we largely did, failing to really attack the rim.

We got more out of Jaden and SloMo than we can expect, both of which are nice to see, but it feels wasted in a loss. We can't realistically expect them to have such good games going forward.

We had stretches where our defense was really good, but we didn't seem to be on the same page about how to respond to the pick-and-roll all the time. Too many times somebody stepped in to stop Luka, but the rest of the D didn't seem to know he would do that, so the help defense never came. We knew that would be like, 75% of their offense, so why weren't the help defenders ready in case they were needed?

And despite some real effort from guys at times, there were just a few too many mistakes.

Still, despite all of that, we could have had it. I mean, there was a moment, in the 3rd I think, when NAW and Ant took successive 3s and both of them were halfway down and rattled out. Those two balls are 1 inch more on target and we win that game. If only 1 of those goes in and we hit our FTs better we win that game.

So we didn't play well, and I agree it didn't feel like we deserved it. If we'd have won, I would have felt like we'd stolen the game. We were outsmarted, outrebounded, and outlasted (seriously, Ant really did look like he was playing his second game of the day). And despite all of that, we were right there at the end. So in a weird way, I don't feel that bad about the outcome. I hope it lights a fire under our ass though. Because nobody's going to hand us anything. We need to take it.

[TheGrey08]

I agree with you guys that this game was ours for the taking, and that's why I'm not as discouraged as I thought I might be after losing a Game 1. This is going to go 7 I think, and we have proven to be a terrific playoff road team. The two calls that most pissed me off were of course the goaltending call on KAT, and the offensive rebound call on Conley- I really thought both would be overturned on challenge. The 2-minute report isn't out yet, but I hope to see them on there.

I'm off to the gym where I'll listen to a couple Dallas podcasts. I'll report back on how they believe KAT's ball was in the cylinder and Conley nearly killed the guy jumping over his back on the rebound!

I'm trying to stay out of that mindset from the past where a MN team gives away a game in a series they can't possibly afford to give one away, but I know this team is different and will fight until it's over.

[FNG]

It was fun to watch how Luka changed his defensive approach after Jaden hit those threes. Rather than "Aaron Gordoning" him, instead he jumped out on Jaden when he got the ball in the corner. Jaden reacted by blowing by him and driving to he basket, and dropping the ball to Rudy for a dunk after Rudy's man rotated over. The growth in Jaden on offense the past three games has been fun to watch. Him making his three's will be critical to our chances of winning.

[Lipoli390]

I lot of those calls on Dallas came late in the 4th quarter as non-shooting fouls when the officials looked up at the scoreboard and realized they hadn’t made any calls against Dallas. They were meaningless fouls. But the basket interference call along with the tricky-tack calls that put Luka on the line and the non-calls that would have put Ant on the line were highly consequential.

Having said all that, I’ll reiterate my view that the Wolves could and should have won the game. Simply making a few more free throws or KAT making a couple more shots - still way below his capability - would have won the game.

Fair point on the mostly meaningless late game fouls.

The 2 calls that pissed me off the most was the KAT goal tend and the Luka throw myself into the defender and onto the floor BS. No defender in the league can avoid that nonsense if they keep calling those. Those 2 directly affected the final few minutes of the game. Cannot have those. We should have had a back & forth 1 possession game the last minute or so instead of a 3-4 point swing (can't recall if he hit both FTs or not)

Three highly consequential calls that should NOT have been made, especially in Conference Finals game: (1) the KAT goal tend when the replay clearly showed the ball was outside the rim when KAT grabbed it; (2) the minimal almost non-existent contact that Luka initiated ending up as a foul on the Wolves (a phantom foul if there ever was one); and (3) the Conley offensive rebound where he was called for a hand on the back that happens on almost every NBA rebound with no foul call. I MIGHT feel differently about those three calls if Dallas had been called for at least some of the fouls they committed when reaching in and hand-checking Conley all game or when they hammered Ant on at least two drives to the bucket that I recall. The most egregious calls were the basket interference call against KAT and the phantom foul on the Wolves on a Luka 4th quarter drive. Those two calls were worth at least 3 points (KAT’s bucket denied; Luka missed one of his two free throws I think). But the momentum swing resulting from those two calls probably had a value north of 3 points. Those two calls were the ballgame.

I understand what Dallas fans will likely say. But there’s something called reality. The reality is that KAT’s put-back was NOT offensive goal tending and the replay clearly bears that out. The phantom foul on Luka’s drive might be debatable in a regular season game but not a playoff game where significantly more contract routinely goes uncalled and wasn’t getting called last night against Dallas. I’ll give Dallas fans a genuine dispute on the Conley “shove” from behind. But honestly, that’s not a call we should see, much less in a conference finals game.

[Lipoli390]

I’ll say it now and then let it go. I’m convinced that last night’s official in the #8 jersey (don’t know his name) called the game with the intent to aid the Mavs. I don’t know that he had money on the game. Perhaps he’s a Dallas fan. Or maybe he doesn’t like certain players on the Wolves. Whatever the case, I’ll never be convinced that he officiated last night’s game objectively.

Again, in spite of the officiating, the Wolves still would have won the game if KAT had hit 40% rather than 30% of his FG attempts or hit 35% of his FG attempts and boxed out on Lively in the 4th. The Mavs’ two best players played extremely well while our two did not. And KAT’s offensive play wasn’t just sub par, it was horrendous. It’s a make or miss League. KAT’s a seasoned vet in his prime on a super max contract playing in a huge game. He has to make his shots. He can be off, but his shooting can’t be as putrid as it was last night. That’s unacceptable.

But enough beating this dead horse. . Hopefully our dead horse comes back to life in game 2 tomorrow night and for the rest of the series. I think Ant’s back is hurting him from that fall he took against Denver. Or maybe it’s fatigue. Either way, the Wolves path to the NBA finals going forward will depend on KAT.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Following Lip's posts...

... the Timberwolves need to fall down more.

Edwards doesn't have the subtle ability to draw foul calls. Neither does Towns. Nor Gobert, McDaniels, et al. Only Mike Conley will feign contact to manipulate a foul call and he simply isn't a big enough cog or grifter to get much mileage out of it.

BUT... we've seen about 10 calls over the past two series where the ballhandler has slight contact with a Minnesota defender and just falls down. I think it's been called 8 out of the 10 times. Ther was one last night, too, where Doncic tried it and it was ignored. But that's the anomaly.

Fall down, Timberwolves. Fall down.

[rapsuperstar31]

Timberwolves coach Chris Finch on today’s film session: “The Western Conference finals started. Not sure they got the memo. They got it this afternoon.”

[Jon Krawczynski] Finch: “It’s hard to imagine playing much worse.”

[Coolbreeze44]

Timberwolves coach Chris Finch on today’s film session: “The Western Conference finals started. Not sure they got the memo. They got it this afternoon.”

[Jon Krawczynski] Finch: “It’s hard to imagine playing much worse.”

Exactly what we would want to hear

[Q-is-here]

News flash: I'm not a professional athlete. So I'm not able to get into their heads. So I fully admit I don't understand the whole "poke the bear" narrative that Charles, Kyrie and others are using to explain why Kyrie so badly outplayed Ant last night. To me, Ant did nothing wrong when he said "I got Kyrie" after Game 7. But I guess in the head of a professional athlete that becomes a motivational event that swings the outcome of the game. Ant needs to be very vocal today praising Kyrie, or he may get outplayed again.


Postscript: We probably haven't talked enough about the bad offensive goaltending call on KAT on a play that would have tied the game. When I was watching live, I said "Crap, that's goaltending". But the replay to me clearly showed the ball was not in the cylinder. I was stunned when our challenge was not successful. That was a critical bad call. I don't think the 2-minute report is out yet, but I expect to see this on it.

Narrowed quote down to just these 2 chunks.

This "Ant called out Kyrie" narrative is such BS. In the post game presser he literally said his matchup would probably be Kyrie. It wasn't a "call out" like these national idiots keep talking about. They tried to stir it up in the G1 post game interview with Kyrie and he blew it off and said he took it was respect. These people LOVE drama and nonsense.

There might have been a sliver of ball eclipsing the edge of the rim on that dumb call. That happens ALL the time in the NBA and never gets called. You just don't call that in the playoffs. If the ball isn't clearly over the cylinder then you don't make that call. It's that simple IMO. What made all this worse is the Mavs got every single 50/50 call. At a certain point refs need to understand that giving 1 team all the borderline calls is swinging the game.

Conley barely touches a guy in the back, he flops and a foul is called.
Jaden charge when the defender was still moving.
Multiple weak soft calls in a game that they were letting them be physical including Ant getting substantial contact on 2 drives with no call.

The most egregious call of the night that was the epitome of officiating last night was that PATHETIC flop by Doncic. He throws himself into the defender and throws himself on the floor. 100% of the contact was on him. A "James Harden" call if you will. That shit right there single-handedly makes me not want to watch the NBA. Those should be techs and fines and NEVER called. In the NHL he'd have been in the box for 2 min for diving. It's BS and is the absolute worst calls made in the NBA.

It's disappointing that the Marc Davis crew, which for the most part has been fantastic to us, fell for this.

[Q-is-here]

I'm still amazed that Dereck Lively, a 20-year old rookie big picked 12th in last year's draft, has become a major factor in the Mavs' playoff run. It's very rare for someone that young, much less playing the most important defensive role on the floor, is able to make such a huge impact. You'd think Rudy, KAT, and Naz could take him to the woodshed. Nope, if anything, he outplayed all of them.

4-4 from the floor, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks, 1 TO and a team best +19 in only 27 minutes.

He's basically a better version of Dwight Powell - another mobile and bouncy big that has been the recipient of many Doncic lobs over the years. But he's basically rendered Powell completely obsolete and now he's even outplaying the veteran Daniel Gafford.

To FNG's point, who has been more valuable to their team in the playoffs as a whole - Dereck Lively or 6th MOTY Naz Reid?