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I regret to inform you that the Minnesota Timberwolves will not sweep the San Antonio Spurs in their best-of-seven second-round playoff series after all.
On Monday night, the Wolves parlayed the momentum from beating the favored Denver Nuggets in the first round with the adrenaline kick of their superstar Anthony Edwards returning to active duty way ahead of his scheduled maintenance for a nasty knee injury. Meanwhile, the Spurs, who were heavier favorites than the Nuggets had been, allowed their skyscraping superstar, Victor Wembanyama, to clank three-pointers, eight of them, while keeping their quicksilver point guard, De’Arron Fox, tethered to an egalitarian game plan that too often left his motor idling in neutral.
The result was an engrossing dogfight that became an upset win for the Wolves when an errant, last-second three-point attempt from the Spurs failed to alter a 104-102 result.
On Wednesday night, the Spurs performed with more savvy and moxie. Wembanyama’s first three shots travelled an average length of about nine inches – two putbacks and an alley-oop. Fox, who failed to score on three attempts in the first half on Monday, had nine points on six shots in the first nine minutes on Wednesday.
By contrast, the Wolves operated with the dampened desire of a squad that had already received what they came to collect in Texas.
“I told the guys after the first game that it is the natural tendency for the team that steals the first game, the away team, to get blown out in game two,” Ant revealed. “We can’t come out cool and we came out cool and what happened? We got blown out.”
The final was 133-95, the worst postseason defeat in Timberwolves history. (Although, to be fair, that is drawn from a puny sample size. Before the arrival of Ant and coach Chris Finch, the franchise had played 52 playoff games in 32 years. Ant and Finch will top that total in a five-year span in the fifth game of this current series.) Barely two minutes into the fourth quarter, the scrubs were on the court after both coaches emptied their benches.
“We got punked,” was Finch’s pithy assessment. “They just kicked our butt in every aspect of the game. Offensively, defensively, it didn’t matter. They just took it to us and we didn’t respond very well.”
And yet, there is a reason for the “natural tendency” to which Ant referred. The Spurs 38-point trouncing in Game Two is worth no more than the Wolves two-point escape in Game One. Indeed, Minnesota still holds the home court advantage they earned in the series opener, with the next two games, and three of the next four, if necessary, occurring at Target Center.
Anyone who watched the Wolves get shellacked on Wednesday might regard any talk of “advantage” as whistling past the graveyard. But as someone who has predicted the Wolves demise when previewing the matchups against the Nuggets and the Spurs, let me emphasize the risk of prematurely counting them out.
Exhibit A in the Wolves defense (and offense), is Jaden McDaniels. “Playoff Ant” has become a recognizable phrase due to the manner in which Edwards has consistently elevated his play in the postseason. But that narrative has been usurped by the comprehensive primacy of McDaniels in the first eight games of this current playoff experience.
By word and deed, he devastated the spirit of the Nuggets, matter-of-factly called them out, then set the nail on the truth of his words by fearlessly embarrassing them at both ends of the court. Jaden as a two-way problem for opponents has been in full flower during the first two games of this Spurs series. Injuries to playmakers ranging from Ant to Donte DiVincenzo to Ayo Dosunmu created a void that he has helped fill with his signature style of no-nonsense, results-oriented integrity. The chip on his shoulder is for his own benefit but provides cover for anyone who wants to ride along.
The Spurs intimidate with perimeter defenders who put the body on you off the dribble, confident that Wemby will blot out the basket should you happen to get past them. McDaniels understands and accepts those terms of engagement and was the best player on the floor for the Wolves at both ends of the court on Wednesday.
Flexing a better handle, more sophisticated footwork, and an increasing tendency to bob and weave his rhythms off the bounce – all bound together by his abiding willingness to joust – McDaniels deftly elided or blew past the first wave of converging defenders for midrange jumpers that feature his signature “rocking chair” fadeway, or a lean-in to invite the foul. In the third quarter, he squared up with the Giant, dribbling against Wemby both facing and with his back to the basket before abruptly turning to toss in a floater.
He was 6-for-10 from the field, the only member of the core rotation besides Naz Reid to shoot better than 50%. On a night of putrid offense, his four assists and 12 points tied for the team lead and would have been higher if, in a brilliant bit of jujitsu, the Spurs hadn’t used his competitive aggression against him, blatantly coaxing fouls to get him out of the game.
The hinge moment of the Wednesday night massacre occurred when San Antonio’s Stephon Castle stole the ball and then gulled McDaniels into his third personal foul just 2:11 into the second quarter. The score at the time was 30-22 Spurs. With McDaniels on the pine the rest of the period, the Spurs stretched the lead to 59-35 at the half, a decisive 29-13 run that permanently altered the complexion of the game.
“Jaden was a bright spot for us,” Finch said after the game. “A lot of the fouls he picked up, he was kind of left on an island (defensively). Early attacks (on offense by the Spurs) where he was left vulnerable and we didn’t bring enough help. It kind of derailed his night.”
And the Wolves chances.
“You need Jaden on the floor at all times,” Ant said in the postgame locker room. “Him being off the court is going to hurt us every time. The team knows it, you know it, the whole gym knows it, their team knows it. When he gets in foul trouble they know he can’t affect the game.”
The highlights of Game Two essentially begin and end with McDaniels. Ayo Dosunmu finally recovered enough from his calf injury to play, only to be ineffective from rust and then suffer a heel injury that threatens to put him back on the shelf. That leverages more pressure on Ant to spur the offense, which let go of the rope via turnovers and attitude after the Spurs made it clear they were in charge.
There are more blowouts in the playoffs than one might imagine, ironically due to the importance of each game and the weight of teams’ mood swings when one clearly gains the upper hand.
There is also plenty of evidence that blowouts in the postseason don’t have as lasting an effect as one might imagine. Memories are necessarily short and the dynamics can shift abruptly.
“These games are always tough,” said the ever reasonable Mike Conley after the game. “Obviously for the last two days (the Spurs) probably went home angry and made adjustments they were trying to cook up. I’ve been in that locker room (situation) before. You come out with a whole other mindset and motivation.”
And then, he said, “It flips. We go home and now we are the ones having to be sitting for two days, hearing all the things that we are terrible at, all the things we can’t do anymore, and we have to go out there and prove it and show it at home.
“Ultimately, we came and got what we needed – got one game. Now it is time to protect home court.”
Wishful thinking or trenchant analysis? The answer to that will determine the course and length of this series.
