Timberwolves defend Suns first-round dimming

All season long, the Timberwolves have won games thanks to their defense. It resulted in a 56-26 regular season record, the second-best mark in franchise history.

They had by far the best defensive rating in the NBA, allowing just 108.4 points per 100 possessions. That’s a whopping 2.2 points better than the second-best Boston Celtics.

Still, what they did in the postseason feels a little different.

In a blowout 120-95 victory over the Phoenix Suns in Game 1 of their Western Conference first round series, the Wolves forced the Suns into 15 turnovers, shooting 44% from the field and 32% from three-point range. . The Suns’ Big 3 of Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal and Devin Booker combined to score 64 points, with 31 coming from Durant on 11-for-17 shooting. The rest was silent.

“As you know, we have been a defensive team all season. I would say we played a lot more like this in the first half of the season,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “I think we were a little more inconsistent in the second half with our physical defense. You know, the playoffs bring that out naturally, so that’s been good for us.

Queue Game 2, when the Wolves won 105-93 and held the Suns’ Big 3 to just 52 points as Phoenix turned the ball over 20 times and shot 45% from the field and 36% from 3-point range.

“We have guys who like to guard, guys who like the challenge, and they have a lot of guys who can really score, so every time you don’t make it, you have to win your first fight,” Finch said. “And our guys are doing it now.”

They certainly did that. And it’s been a long time since the regular-season finale against the Suns, as the Wolves lost 125-106 in a game that set up the two teams to meet again in a first-round playoff series.

With a week off to prepare, the Timberwolves have made some adjustments. They have turned on the ball screens more and the intensity and physicality from early in the season has returned.

It starts with the perimeter defense of Jaden McDaniels, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Anthony Edwards, who have been aggressive in containing the Suns’ trio of Durant, Booker and Beal.

“Luxury, absolute luxury. And we have Ant too. Three offensive defensemen,” Finch said. “Most teams have one, or are lucky enough to have one. We have three, and then we can continue to flip matchups based on different traits or characteristics that guys do or don’t do well on defense.

When that trio was on the field together, the Suns looked lost.

“Every time we go on the field and I see the two of them,” McDaniels said, referring to Edwards and Alexander-Walker, “I just think, ‘Who do you want to guard?’ It doesn’t matter which one, which person we’re guarding, I mean, it’s great to have.

And then you can’t forget who they have behind them: All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns and Defensive Player of the Year frontrunner Rudy Gobert, who together have clogged the paint and made life even harder on the Suns, who often looked offensively.

“Jaden, Ant, Mike, all these guys are pretty hard on the ball, and then you’ve got me, KAT back, you know, so it’s a total team effort,” Gobert said. “We’re really trying to compete with every possession. Obviously they have some generational talent offensively, so it’s a big challenge for us, but I’m really proud of the way the guys are already rising to that challenge.”

So far, so good. The Timberwolves have a 2-0 lead in the series and the series will shift to Phoenix on Friday for a 9:30 PM tipoff. If Minnesota can maintain the same aggressiveness, intensity and physicality they have at home, the Wolves might be able to make quick work of the Suns.

“Come into Game 3 with the same mentality, from the first minute to the last. Play with our physicality, play with our urgency and then make the right play offensively. When we do that, good things happen,” Gobert said.