On Sunday they will play their first game of the playoffs against a Timberwolves side which crept into the post-season by the skin of their teeth.
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I’m not saying the Wolves are going to win. It will be up to Jimmy Butler to stop James Harden, arguably the most exciting scorer in the league.
He also led his team in all five major stat columns for the season including a career-high 9.1 assist per game. But it has not translated so far in Minnesota. He averaged 27.3 points but shot just 38.5% from the floor.
Minnesota is 19-4 when they hold opponents under 100 points, while Houston is 32-3.
In their four wins over the Wolves, the Rockets shot 43.4 percent from three-point range. With that said, if Jimmy Butler winds up defending Harden for long stretches, then it could be an excellent opportunity for Paul to take over in a plus matchup against Jeff Teague.
The good news is the slate gets wiped clean, and with the way Minnesota handled playoff type pressure just to get into the postseason they’re confident they’ll be ready. But they did have time to cover up Quarterman’s. “Two or three bad minutes can really hurt you”. Head coach Tom Thibodeau’s lack of confidence in his bench could be an issue in this series, as Houston has no shortage of role players – from Trevor Ariza and P.J. Tucker to Eric Gordon and Joe Johnson – who could help swing a game or two. “You have to mix things up, change defenders, change numbers, and you have to be able to do that when you’re tied together (on the court)”.
With the Warriors new mindset of small ball, the National Basketball Association has transmogrified to a foundation of where the big man is not necessarily the most importance piece to the roster.
But the postseason is a place for redemption. Minnesota’s defense has struggled this year, and unless they pick it up, they could be swept by the NBA’s most electric offensive team.
Perhaps something clicked in the playoff-clinching victory over the Nuggets.
I can’t shake how helpless the Wolves looked at times against the Rockets.
If Houston gets hot from downtown, it’s game over for the T-Wolves. We want to be those great players, those max-level guys.
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Said Towns: “I’ve got to be better all-around”. “We didn’t wake up this morning like, ‘Hey, we’re going to go to Houston.’ We woke up saying we’re going to go to Houston and get the job done”.
