4 Questions Ahead of Timberwolves-Mavericks
Timberwolves stun Nuggets in Game 7, setting up thrilling series vs Mavericks. Despite sweeping Dallas in the regular season, new dynamics promise a challenging matchup.
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Can you believe it? Even though I knew the Timberwolves reaching the conference finals was possible, I did not consider it a lock. Now, there is technically the possibility of an Indiana-Minnesota NBA Finals that probably keeps league executives up at night. But in all seriousness, the Timberwolves begin their series against the Dallas Mavericks that certainly will not disappoint.
In the regular season, the Timberwolves swept the season series but I don’t think that matters for a few reasons. Firstly, Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic did not play together in any of the three games. Secondly, these teams played their games before January 31 and before the Dallas acquisitions of Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington. Lastly, we just saw the Timberwolves sweep the Suns in the first round after Phoenix swept the regular season series. Just throw it out. This is a new opponent in different circumstances, as far as I’m concerned.
Dallas was 28-23 with the 11th best offense and 23rd ranked defense before the deadline. After, the Mavericks finished 22-9 and ranked seventh in both offense and defense. See, practically two different teams.
Who’s Got Who?
While Anthony Edwards chose Irving to defend after winning Game 7, we will see how the Timberwolves handle the Dallas backcourt. Mike Conley is not ideal on Luka or Kyrie, but the Timberwolves do have some other bodies to throw at them. The problem is that you do not want those guys to get going as you are scrambling for answers. However, Dallas has to guard Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns, too. Unlike Denver and Phoenix, Dallas has two bigs in Gafford and Derrick Lively to potentially throw at Minnesota’s bigs.
How Is Luka Doncic’s Knee?
A big question for Dallas will be the health of Doncic and his knee he sprained in Round 1 against the Clippers. Despite playing on the knee, Doncic was great against the Thunder, shooting just under 40 percent from 3 and averaging 24.7 points, 10.5 rebounds and 8.7 assists in more than 40 minutes per game. It was actually Irving whose scoring dipped to 15.7 per game. If Doncic is healthy, the Wolves will have a challenge on their hands.
Can the Timberwolves Defend Home Court?
What makes this series interesting to me is the Wolves having home court. This is a bit of a gift considering they were the third seed and not “supposed to” have home court to start a series for the rest of the playoffs. For this reason, I would take the Timberwolves in six or seven games. Of course, the Timberwolves are 4-2 in the postseason at Target Center and will need to continue to hold things down there in this series.
Flashback to 2002
This won’t be the first time the Timberwolves and Mavericks meet in the playoffs. No, the Mavericks swept the Timberwolves 3-0 22 years ago in the first round. Minnesota had Kevin Garnett, Chauncey Billups and Wally Szczerbiak at ages 24 and 25. Garnett averaged 20-18-5 in the series, and Billups and Szczerbiak both chipped in 20 per game
The issue was not in their production but in their inability to force the Mavericks to miss from deep while making enough triples of their own. 2002 was a different time, sure, but we should have known then that the Timberwolves would be late adopters to the NBA’s 3-point revolution in the mid-2010s. Check this out:
Minnesota was 15-for-38 from deep while Dallas was 31-for-69.
Dirk Nowitzki (8-for-11), Michael Finley (6-for-12) and Steve Nash (8-for-18) led the bombardment with Nick Van Exel adding six of his own.
The Timberwolves’ two best shooters, Szczerbiak and Anthoy Peeler, were a combined 7-for-18. Billups’ six makes in the series comprised 40 percent of the teams total made 3s in series.
Three-point disparity aside, Nowitzki was on another plane that entire series, averaging 33.3 points, 15.7 boards, 3.0 steals and 1.3 blocks per game while shooting 52.6/72.7/88.9. The team had a 111 defensive rating with Garnett on the floor in that series, tied with Peeler for the best mark in the series, so it’s not like Nowitzki was just spacing out, I don’t know, Marc Jackson, the entire time.
At least this time around, the meeting between these two teams should be more competitive.