The Timberwolves made a lot of poor decisions in their Western Conference Finals loss to the Thunder. A former NBA star calls out a particular one as the worst.
The Minnesota Timberwolves fell short in the Western Conference Finals for the second consecutive season. The Oklahoma City Thunder comfortably beat them.
Brian Windhorst has outlined the big dilemma facing them this offseason. But the Timberwolves are still facing criticisms for their decisions during the series.
Rudy Gobert’s inability to get points and be involved in the offense is one of the issues that cost Minnesota. Marcus Morris has now pointed out another.
Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty ImagesMarcus Morris slams Minnesota for making Nickeil Alexander-Walker guard SGA
One of the fun aspects of this Conference Finals was that it pitted two cousins against one another. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was going up against his cousin, Nickeil Alexander-Walker.
NAW isn’t the same caliber of player as Shai, who had a phenomenal series. And speaking on the Kevin O’Connor Show, Morris slammed the decision to have Alexander-Walker guard the MVP.
“Let me say this,” Morris said. “His cousin guarding Shai might have been the worst ___ing decision I’ve ever seen.
“Why would you put his cousin on him? Why? That doesn’t make no sense to me, because there’s not going to be no bad blood. It’s just basketball. And some of this s— can’t just be basketball.
“We’ve seen his cousin on him and he was just baking him.”
Nickeil Alexander-Walker had a good series against OKC
While Morris’s take is an eye-catching one, it would be wild to claim that Alexander-Walker did anything but his job during the series.
The role player averaged 12.0 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game during the series. He shot 41 percent from three-point range and also had an electric Game 4 performance.
Nickeil also played good defense, the Thunder just found an offensive groove that was impossible to overcome for Minnesota.
Nobody in the league has been able to stop SGA or OKC this season. Whether it’s the Pacers or Knicks they face in the Finals, it’s hard to see either stopping the Thunder.