Western Conference Finals: Minnesota Timberwolves (3) vs Dallas Mavericks (5)
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The Luka vs Tatum narrative will be strong.
I think it’s good for Tatum. Should fire him up. I mean he’s already going to be fired up to be in the finals but every talking head is going to say Luka is the best player in the series and that’s going to be annoying
I think it’s good for Tatum. Should fire him up. I mean he’s already going to be fired up to be in the finals but every talking head is going to say Luka is the best player in the series and that’s going to be annoying
Does anyone know if Kyrie likes and respects Kidd? It feels like the media is dancing around this topic.
And yes, mute came off.
And yes, mute came off.
The reality is this matchup is so, so bad for Minny. They're strength is their interior defense, but Dallas strength is their guards. On the flipside, Dallas' weakness is their perimeter defense, but Minny has nobody that can get by a traffic cone besides Ant. It's just what it is.
Wasn’t there some blurb somewhere that Kidd was an idol of his or something?
He's going to get a ton of bullshit calls in the finals. It's going to be maddening. I think the Cs have enough to beat this team, but it will be a challenge to say the least.
If there was I must have missed it during the series. I wish Reggie would speak to this.
The Celtics are +37 against this team in 2 games. Mavs are playing well but we all get caught up in recency bias. 10 days ago, all the talk was about Minnesota’s dominance.
I will say that I really want KP back. He’s going to be needed for sure.
Supposedly when Irving was growing up in NJ, Kidd played for the Nets and was his favorite player.
Miller has told some version of that story on every ESPN Mavs game ever. He's not even trying during these games.
I heard it on the radio from a radio talker who like Kyrie grew up in West Orange, NJ. I empathized as before Kidd punched his wife in the face he was my favorite player in the league.
It’s like Shawn Marion had a baby with Haliburton that got dropped on its head.
One thing I liked about the bubble tourney was that pretty much everyone was healthy going in. If KP plays and is healthy, it’s our best against their best. So, yeah, 100% agreement.
It's part of the reason he lasted until the 30th pick in the draft
OK, since this series is all over, it's trivia time
Without looking it up, name as many as you can of the 13 players drafted ahead of Kyle Anderson who played in at least one NBA game during the 2023-2024 regular season
Replace Gobert with Al Horford and the Wolves chances go up significantly in this series.
He was terrible. So easy to marginalize on D if you know what you’re doing on offense and he is a one-man clog in the half court O.
These Gobert takes are terrible. He anchored the league's best defense for an entire season and it's not his fault KAT and Ant are not ready to carry the requisite offensive load
‘Will KP returning mess up the chemistry’ is a good one, Reggie. I bet that gets circulated in the NBA narrative ecosystem.
What an absolutely putrid performance that was from Minnesota. Team gave up a 17-1 run in the first quarter of an elimination game at home.
They really are.
Gobert was a huge net positive for the Wolves. All the numbers demonstrate that. https://www.theringer.com/nba/2024/5/30/24167795/rudy-gobert-minnesota-timberwolves-defense-luka-doncic
Before tonight, the Wolves defense want really the problem in the series. The issue has been that they really don't have any offensive gameplan, and their stars underperformed on that end.
I.e., basically the same defense MIA used against BOS when BOS had Smart and TL on the floor. But it's much harder to do this when everyone can shoot.
I don't hear a lot of Chuck's picks but of the ones I do hear, he is so often wrong.
After the game Ant was asked what he could take away and learn from what the Mavs did to him. His answer was 'nuthin.'
I’m glad people referenced the Suns because this was a Sunsian pants shitting in Game 5. Credit to the Mavs for going out and grabbing it. I thought they might be content to just end it in Dallas, which they would have.
Every time Rudy gets a pass it's like the first time in his life he's ever seen a basketball. It's incredible
That is a far different team than we’ll be playing in The Finals. Anything that team did prior to the start of March isn’t really relevant to this series. It’s been 3 full months of recency bias…..that isn’t a bias.
I thought it was from the start of February and the Gafford / Washington trades? Regardless, our most recent matchup with them was in March.
That haymaker in the first quarter from Luka was Curry-esque. Give them a lot of credit for exposing this Wolves team.
I thought OKC gave the Mavs the most problems during this run, and the Celts are a supercharged version of that offense, with more experience, clearer rotations and roles, better decisionmaking. I think the Mavs will have their runs but the Celts will be very comfortable against them.
I thought OKC gave the Mavs the most problems during this run, and the Celts are a supercharged version of that offense, with more experience, clearer rotations and roles, better decisionmaking. I think the Mavs will have their runs but the Celts will be very comfortable against them.
Ant's postgame comments after their win were telling, "I've been in the playoffs three times and I've never been swept..." They fought hard enough not to get swept and then totally gave up. Time to hang the didn't get swept in the WCF banner.