The Minnesota Twins won a Major League Baseball World Series back in 1991. The state of Minnesota has not won a men’s professional title since. The 2024 Timberwolves are looking to end that losing streak.
The T-wolves won their first playoff series in 20 years when they swept the Phoenix Suns in the first round. Now up against the defending champions Denver Nuggets the Timberwolves face their toughest task of the year.
The Key Players
With perennial superstar Anthony Edwards at the helm and a quality cast around him, this squad has all the makings of the Timberwolves’ first championship team.
Edwards’ stardom has skyrocketed due to his increasingly impressive play this season, especially this postseason. He’s averaging the third most points per game in these playoffs and his dazzling playstyle and aura are garnering comparisons to all-time greats like Dwayne Wade, and even Michael Jordan. But it wasn’t just Ant’s contributions in the opening series that made the Timberwolves successful. Minnesota’s supporting cast was looking good.
Long-time Wolves big-man Karl-Anthony Towns was playing high-quality offensive, and Rudy Gobert was excelling defensively while cleaning up the glass. Gobert was awarded his fourth Defensive Player of the Year for his efforts this season, and his early playoff performances were on that level.
16-year veteran Mike Conley has been a calming presence in the Minnesota locker room and even won his second teammate of the year award. Fan phenom and spark plug Naz Reid took a huge jump in usage during his fourth year with the Timberwolves winning the Sixth Man of the Year Award.
The Challenges/ers
The T-wolves were rolling after dominating a talented Suns team, they shocked fans everywhere by winning two games on the road against the Nuggets but the Nuggets won’t go down without a fight and the fully reloaded Denver team is one of the scariest in the league.
The foundation of this team is three-time MVP Nikola Jokic. One of the most gifted big men to ever play the sport, Jokic can do it all. He struggled in games one and two but lit a spark under the rest of the Nuggets squad.
The Nuggets responded with three straight wins after going down 0-2 flipping the script on the Wolves.
Edwards had uncharacteristically lackluster games three and five, but the Timberwolves’ role-players are under heavier public scrutiny, and for good reason.
Gobert’s offense has been non-existent. In his last five playoff games (he missed game three for the birth of his child) he’s averaged just 10 ppg (in his first three games, he averaged 17).
But the defense has been more problematic, the tandem of Gobert, Towns, and Naz Reid made Jokic look human in the first two games, but now The Joker looks comfortable. He combined for 99 points in the last three games and has been significantly more efficient shooting the ball and specifically owned Gobert in game five backing him down in the paint almost every possession.
Also, Conley missed game five due to a right Achilles soreness and the loss of the Timberwolves’ best playmaker was evident. Edwards was forced to do heavier lifting in the backcourt and didn’t play up to his standard.
What Comes Next?
Everyone seemed ready to pencil the Wolves into the conference finals after game two but now the Nuggets are one win away from advancing.
The Nuggets are the more playoff-hardened team with a championship history. The Timberwolves got hot at the right time but how long can the flame last?
The Wolves have all the talent to compete with and defend the Nuggets but it’s difficult to stop Jokic once he gets rolling.
Now, with both teams looking forward to game six in Minnesota, it’s up to Edwards and his role-players to play a cohesive four quarters or Minnesota will go trophyless once more.
