The Timberwolves just SHOCKED the NBA…

The Timberwolves just SHOCKED the NBA…

The Timberwolves just shocked the NBA and in doing so proved that they are a legitimate title contender that you don’t want to see come playoff time. But they’re also one of the trickiest teams in the league because they just lost to the Memphis Grizzlies, then turn around and beat the Thunder, who had had two losses all season up to this point. And they did so without Julius Randle having really that much of an impact on the game. And with Ant lowkey getting clamped down a little bit. It wasn’t his most efficient game either, but they came through, got the win without Jaylen Clark, by the way. And this was a statement. First game back for Ant from injury and he’s got to go up against the best defense in the NBA. But it it really didn’t matter. And this is a growing young rivalry that we’re starting to see because Ant really doesn’t like this dude SGA. And I don’t think SGA really likes Ant either. Ant finished with 23 points, 12 rebounds, three assists, three blocks, and two steals, and was nine of 20 from the field. That’s the inefficiency part I’m talking about. Although 45% from the field, still take that all night long. And three of six from beyond the arc. He was hitting tough buckets because OKC has three elite perimeter defenders. Uh they put the torture chamber on him right here. It doesn’t matter. He’s just going to fade away over that. That is a tough bucket. That is so polished at 24 years old. He also sees Jdub right here waiting for him to spin. So he knows he can’t go baseline. He’s just going to spin and fade away baseline instead. then coax Caruso for a second. Ball barely touches the net. Absolute beautifulness, if that’s even a word. And then the step back. Are we kidding? Down two and he hits that to put him up by a point. He’s averaging 28 1/2 points a game, 5 1/2 rebounds, own 50% shooting from the field, and 42% from three. And they get him into this horns action a lot. We’ll talk about that in a second when we look at Chris Finch. But he’s elite out of that elite here. There have been three player or two players in NBA history to shoot 42% or better on eight plus attempts from beyond the ark. Ant could join some elite company if he keeps this up for the entire season. Thought that was going to be a poster for a second. JDub caught him before he could get to the apex. But I mean, what are we doing? We really got Isaiah Hartenstein expected to guard Ant on an island. He’s got help from either side and it just doesn’t matter. Tween tween step back money because the Wolves have elite shot makers alongside of Anthony Edwards. But this was clutch. So clutch right there. Go up by one. And then right here get the block on SGA. They pass it around. JDub misses a three and then he gets the switch on to SGA again. Best on best and he gets the steal and the Wolves get out of there with a dub. Now Chris Finch, if this doesn’t get you fired up on a Saturday morning, I don’t know what does. just a coach absolutely going ballistic and he doesn’t like the Thunder. It has been very well documented that he doesn’t like it. That’s the play they’re talking about. Just a two-handed hack from Lou Dort. And Chris Finch is on the court playing defense on the raft, sliding all the way down the court. Ant’s not happy. Um Chris Finch isn’t happy. He he starts to go away and then he hears something else and gets mad about something else. Has to get dragged back by five members of his coaching staff back to the bench. Ejected six minutes in. I mean, you can’t make this up. That’s a guy you’d love to play for. Uh, but the offense for the Wolves was clicking right here. Little flare screen. It puts JDub and Chad in a really bad situation where you have to choose who to guard right there. They give up the layup. It’s just pick your poison. And then they get into horns here at the top of the key. Ant splits this screen because he’s so quick and athletic. Rudy’s going to roll to the rim and then Shay is going to have to be the roll help here, leaving Jaden McDaniels wide open, who is having a career year, by the way, that we’ll talk about in a second. Just missed that dunk right there. Julius Randall, who was as inefficient as it could get last night. Did make a living at the free throw line. Finished with 19 points, eight rebounds, five assists. Was three of 15 from the field, but was 12 of 16 from the free throw line. So, it evens up. Finds Ant here from beyond the arc knocking it down. How many times do we see him draw two defenders, especially in the post? They love doubling joyous in the post and just passes it off to Rudy Goar. On the year, he’s averaging 23 points a game, 7.2 rebounds, 5.7 assists, and a steal, shooting 48% from the field, and 34% from three on six attempts. Hit a big step back here um early in the fourth quarter and then hit the two free throws to clinch it. Two really clutch free throws, may I add, to put them up three and then Ant got the stop. Now, this Wolves team has elite role players. are some of the best in the league. Like Dante Devenzo, he is one of the best role players in the entire association this year. He’s averaging 14.1 points per game. He’s averaging 4.2 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.2 steals in 32 minutes, shooting 38% from three on eight attempts. And if you’ve got a guy like this, then it opens up driving lanes for guys like Anthony Edwards. So much more. Drive and kick offense. That’s what the Wolves run. And they run it to perfection. Knocking down the three ball right here. He’s looking more and more like New York Dante than ever before. Really starting to settle in here in Minnesota. That’s a tough shot over Jay Dub. I think he got the foul call as well. Jaden McDaniels, like I said, is in the midst of a career season. And this was the matchup to watch all night long. Um, but not just when he was guarding SGA, also when SGA was guarding him because that’s who SGA guarded for the majority of the time. Like I mentioned, Jaden is having a career year with almost 16 points a game, 4.8 eight rebounds shooting 50% from the field and 40% from three. Knocks this one down here. If you’re going to leave him uncontested in the corner, probably a bad idea. And then drives baseline here. Gets stripped a little bit, but sticks with it and goes right back up. Now, SGA was kind of walking him down on the other end of the ball. Eight minutes. He was guarding him. SGA scored 15 points on six of 10 shooting from the field. But the roll guys, like I said, held SGA. That was his statline against this group. Really great effort from the roll guys defensively. Now, if you made it this far to the video, hit that like button and hit that subscribe button. As you can see here, 93% of the people that watch these videos are not subscribed. If that’s you, let’s go ahead and fix that. And then Rio Bear, who we just talked about how great he was defensively last night, especially on SGA. Also, offensively, he did blow the wideopen dunk that got posted all over social media and got taken way out of proportion, but he’s been very good this year. 11 and a half points a game, 10 and a half rebounds, two assists, about a block and a half. Another top 10 defense in Minnesota anchored by Rudy Gobear. Nas Reed is their other big. They have three of them and as we’ll talk about in a second, they can overpower teams down low. 610 with a seven foot wingspan. How many guys with that build do you see doing this in the open court? And he’s really learning and adjusting to this Oklahoma City defense. Learning when to spin, learning when not to spin because last year in the playoffs, they were all over his spin moves. And now he can see he can take a second, another year experienced, he can see that there’s no help coming. So the spin move is open. Last year they would just double him and trap that spin move in the playoffs and pretty much neutralize Nas. He was not a factor in that OKC series last year. This year he’s averaging 14 and six with two stocks shooting 46% from the field and 38% from three on 7.3 or 6.3 attempts, excuse me. And like I said, they have the bigs. They can play bully ball down low between the three of these guys. Of course, Nas almost 7 ft. Rudy a legit 7 feet. And then Julius Randall only 69 but at like 250 plays like a Mac truck down low. They also have Bones Highland who has been such a welcome addition to this squad. Had 13 points, three boards, and three assists with two steals last night on four of seven shooting from the field. Was four of six from beyond the arc against the best defense in the world. Yes, the best defense in the world. I don’t care what you say. This Oklahoma City defense is the best in the world. I don’t care how much they foul. and Bones went out and put up a performance against him. You see the numbers over his last five games, shooting 51% from the field and 46% from three. The dude has been playing some really good basketball and it really helps this Wolves team out to help him be that microwave score off the bench that they’ve been missing. Now, they missed Jaylen Clark last night with an illness. He is only shooting 32% from three this year, which is questionable considering he shot 43% last year. Maybe it’s just a bad start, but we’re getting a little bit too deep into the season for it to be a bit of a bad start. However, he’s still a fantastic defender. Was honestly expecting TSJ to kind of go off. Feels like he goes off every time um the Wolves and Thunder play, but it feels like Bones is kind of taking his role as that score first guy coming in as a flamethrower off the bench, but again, still only a second year. And then Rob, man, it might be time for some uncomfortable conversations about Rob. He is not panning out whatsoever, but still plenty of time. you invested too much draft capital in him to give up on him after a year and a third. So, not not time to hit the panic button yet on RAW, but a little bit concerned. With that being said, that’s going to be it for today’s video. Thanks so much for watching. Make sure to like button, leave me a comment down below, hit that subscribe button, and without all that being said, thanks so much for watching today’s video.

This video looks at the Minnesota Timberwolves and how they just shocked the nba by beating Shai Gilgeous Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder behind 26 points from Anthony Edwards
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