NBA's King of Talking

Chapter 737 Sweeping Through the Timberwolves

In this game, the Timberwolves' offense improved; they scored 92 points, failing to score under 80 points throughout the game. However, they still lost because their opponents scored 116 points…

The Timberwolves' starting defense was terrible. Without Vanderbilt, their help defense dropped a level. Prince had little help defense ability, Beverley was too small, Towns was too soft, and Russell's defense was practically nonexistent. Edwards' one-on-one defense was okay, but his defensive IQ was too low; he was prone to getting carried away, had poor foul control, and needed to improve his emotional control.

Edwards is often called a younger version of Wade, and he does have a better shot than Wade, but in terms of basketball IQ, there is a significant gap between him and Wade.

Everyone says that height and wingspan can't be trained, but the reality is that physical talent is innate, and basketball IQ is something that can't be trained either.

You can practice passing skills, you can practice shooting, you can practice dribbling and build muscle, but if you want to develop basketball IQ, that's too difficult to train.

Edwards' basketball IQ is lacking. It's not that he doesn't work hard; on the contrary, he works very hard. If he didn't work hard, his shooting wouldn't be so good. He's not the type to be arrogant; he's the type who has both talent and hard work, but his basketball IQ is his weakness.

These two games made it even more apparent. They say "comparison is the thief of joy," and putting him next to Jia Fei only highlighted how sometimes he seemed to lack common sense. He lost his way when facing double teams and high-pressure defense, and after losing his offensive options, he would sometimes get carried away and try to overextend himself, disrupting the team's offensive rhythm and resulting in a disastrous performance of his own.

After the game, many experts and legends pointed out the biggest problem facing the Timberwolves, who are currently down 0-2 in the series – their offense.

The Timberwolves failed to completely shut down the Clippers in either of their two games, but that wasn't their fault. They didn't allow more than 110 points per game on average, which is acceptable against a Clippers team with one of the league's top three offenses this season. Their main reason for losing was their lack of offense. They didn't score over 100 points in either game. In today's small-ball era, to win with that kind of offense, your defense would have to be phenomenal. But with Russell and Towns in your starting lineup, don't expect to put together that kind of incredible defense; it's simply a pipe dream.

Game 3 of the Clippers-Timberwolves series will be held in Minneapolis. This game will be the Timberwolves' last chance. If they fail to capitalize, they will be down 0-3 in the series, and there will be no way to save them.

这场G3将于4月25日进行，在4月23日这天，快船官方宣布保罗·乔治将在G3这场比赛迎来复出！

This is certainly not good news for the Timberwolves, as the Clippers' key players are returning, and they have yet to find a way to defeat the Clippers.

On the evening of April 25th, Game 3 of the Clippers vs. Timberwolves series officially began.

The Timberwolves changed their lineup again in this game!

The Timberwolves pulled Prince and started Naz Reid instead, playing a twin-tower lineup.

For the Clippers, Paul George returned to the lineup, while Hart returned to the bench.

The Timberwolves' solution to their predicament was to play a twin-tower lineup, which was quite unexpected for most people. It's important to understand that the league is basically like this nowadays: if you want to attack, play a small lineup to open up space, improve shooting and transition; if you want to fight on defense, use a big lineup to protect the rim and battle with opponents.

The Timberwolves are using a large lineup; have they given up on their offense?

Jia Fei understood Coach Finch's intention: the Timberwolves weren't using a small lineup because they feared the Clippers' power. The Clippers' small lineup was the strongest in the league; their lineup, with him playing center, defeated the Warriors, leaving a deep impression on the entire league. This made many teams hesitant to challenge the Clippers' small lineup, even the Warriors, who recently hesitated to use their "death lineup."

The Clippers' defensive weakness has always been considered to be their interior defense, even with Hartenstein starting this season and the team no longer having Olynyk, a white interior player with relatively weak defense.

Naz Reed is definitely a promising prospect discovered by the Timberwolves. He is 208cm tall and went undrafted in the 2019 NBA draft before signing a two-way contract with the Timberwolves.

This season, he averaged 8.3 points and 3.9 rebounds in 15.8 minutes of playing time per game. Most importantly, he has a three-point shot.

His shooting form for three-pointers is a bit strange. He shoots very quickly, but it's a direct push, yet his accuracy is quite good.

In today's NBA, big men with three-point shooting are highly sought after. Naz Reed's defense isn't outstanding, but it's sufficient. Coupled with his speed and shooting ability, he has become a key rotation player for his team.

In some ways, Naz Reed's style is somewhat similar to Towns', but the difference is that Towns' ability to attack with the ball is far superior to Naz Reed's.

Of course, comparing a number one draft pick and an undrafted player is already a huge compliment to the undrafted player.

The Clippers' strategy remains unchanged: prioritizing limiting Towns and Edwards.

Against Naz Reed, the Clippers assigned Grant to guard him, denying him easy three-point opportunities and forcing him to drive and force his way through.

Paul George, who is guarding Beverley, is always ready to drop back and protect the paint, giving Beverley some three-point opportunities.

Beverley, like Prince in the previous game, hit several three-pointers, but the Clippers' defensive strategy remained unchanged.

The Timberwolves' offense remained ineffective, with Towns and Edwards tightly contained. Naz Reed's isolation plays against Grant were less effective than Towns's when there was no shooting space.

The Clippers' offense remained fluid, and while Towns and Naz Reed improved their rebounding, their defense didn't improve much. Neither of them are particularly adept at rim protection, and their rotation and help defense are average. The Clippers' lineup of one inside and four outside players creates a lot of spacing on offense, making them inherently difficult to defend.

Jia Fei's one-on-one shooting ability is too strong. Pao Jiao has just returned from injury and his body is a bit rusty. His speed is a bit slow, but his feel is still there. He is more than capable of being a fixed-point shooter.

108-96, the Clippers win another game, taking a 3-0 lead in the series!

The Timberwolves' tactical change has failed once again, and they are now just one step away from being swept...

On April 27, in Game 4 of the series, the Clippers gave the Timberwolves no chance, defeating them 4-0 and advancing to the second round.

The Timberwolves couldn't maintain their good fortune in the play-in tournament. Ultimately, the Clippers weren't a play-in team to begin with; their performance in the play-in tournament gave the Timberwolves a false sense of security, making them think they were already a good team. But as it turned out, they weren't good enough because their play-in opponents weren't strong enough.