The Wolves were so close and so far at the same time in this Game 3. Never dropped, but never totally dangerous, always in the reaction. And in this situation, the slightest mistake is paid dearly. Therefore, when there are several in a row…
In the final quarter, Wolves were consistently within two possessions of the Nuggets. Then, in the last six minutes, they lose four balls and have the worst difficulty setting up their attack.
“We didn’t manage to make enough stops in a row in defence. And when we finally succeeded, it was our attack that let us down. analyzes coach Chris Finch at the Star Tribune. “We have to be better in attack if we want to reach this level of play”, continues Karl-Anthony Towns.
But is it really possible for this Minnesota team? The question arises when we listen to the comments of Rudy Gobert, after this defeat. The French pivot points to the lack of continuity in this group this season.
“We have to pay attention to the details. That’s maturity, which comes with time. You have to build good habits. does he advance for Twin Cities. “I don’t want to complain, but it starts at the start of the season. This year we had a lot of injuries and a lot of things didn’t go our way. I played with the France team, so I arrived a few days before the training camp. I’m not looking for an excuse, but it doesn’t come overnight. That’s the difference, and not the talent, between us and Denver. »
“The transition is permanent for us”
With Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr., the Nuggets have had the same hard core for several seasons. In the last quarter, Michael Malone’s men were able to rely on their habits, their chemistry, their experience quite simply, when Minnesota did not know where to find solutions.
“The team has changed often and we had to adapt. The transition is permanent for us,” concedes Mike Conley, arrived during the season in Minneapolis and who, like Rudy Gobert, has known the strength of a common experience with Utah. “I evolved in teams which had four or five seasons together in the legs and we know what action we are going to play. We rehearsed throughout the season, during the 82 matches, the players know perfectly well what they have to do. We’re still learning how to do that. »
Now that they are 3-0 down, Wolves know their season is almost over. If they can obviously hope to do better in 2023/2024, Rudy Gobert warns that time is not the miracle solution.
“It’s also our state of mind that counts. We can’t just talk about alchemy. You have to do the necessary things, on the court but also outside. It is up to us to learn, to grow, to mature and to win. Winning first » thus concludes the pivot.
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| Anthony Edwards | 79 | 36.0 | 45.9 | 36.9 | 75.6 | 0.6 | 5.2 | 5.8 | 4.4 | 3.3 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 2.4 | 24.6 |
| Karl Anthony Towns | 29 | 33.0 | 49.5 | 36.6 | 87.4 | 1.7 | 6.5 | 8.1 | 4.8 | 3.0 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 3.8 | 20.8 |
| D’angelo Russell | 54 | 32.9 | 46.5 | 39.1 | 85.6 | 0.5 | 2.5 | 3.1 | 6.2 | 2.7 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 2.2 | 17.9 |
| Mike Conley | 24 | 31.4 | 46.0 | 42.0 | 86.3 | 0.7 | 2.5 | 3.1 | 5.0 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 1.9 | 14.0 |
| Rudy Gobert | 70 | 30.7 | 65.9 | 0.0 | 64.4 | 3.3 | 8.3 | 11.6 | 1.2 | 1.7 | 0.8 | 1.4 | 3.0 | 13.4 |
| Jaden Mcdaniels | 79 | 30.6 | 51.7 | 39.8 | 73.6 | 1.2 | 2.7 | 3.9 | 1.9 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 3.4 | 12.1 |
| Naz Reid | 68 | 18.4 | 53.7 | 34.6 | 67.7 | 1.1 | 3.8 | 4.9 | 1.1 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 2.6 | 11.5 |
| Jaylen Nowell | 65 | 19.3 | 44.8 | 28.9 | 77.8 | 0.6 | 2.1 | 2.6 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 1.6 | 10.8 |
| Kyle Anderson | 69 | 28.4 | 50.9 | 41.0 | 73.5 | 1.0 | 4.4 | 5.3 | 4.9 | 1.5 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 2.1 | 9.4 |
| Taurean Prince | 54 | 22.1 | 46.7 | 38.1 | 84.4 | 0.3 | 2.2 | 2.4 | 1.6 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 2.3 | 9.1 |
| Luka Garza | 28 | 8.7 | 54.3 | 35.9 | 78.8 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 2.3 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 1.5 | 6.5 |
| Nickeil Alexander-Walker | 23 | 15.5 | 38.4 | 36.1 | 61.9 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 1.8 | 1.4 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 5.9 |
| austin rivers | 52 | 19.5 | 43.5 | 35.0 | 76.9 | 0.1 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 1.4 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 1.5 | 4.9 |
| Jordan McLaughlin | 43 | 15.8 | 42.1 | 30.8 | 83.3 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 1.4 | 3.4 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 3.7 |
| Nathan Knight | 38 | 7.7 | 56.8 | 36.4 | 68.4 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 1.5 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 3.7 |
| Bryn Forbes | 25 | 10.7 | 36.1 | 30.4 | 100.0 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 3.6 |
| matt ryan | 22 | 8.2 | 42.4 | 38.8 | 85.7 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 3.4 |
| Josh Minott | 15 | 6.4 | 50.0 | 33.3 | 100.0 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 3.1 |
| Aj Lawson | 1 | 1.8 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 |
| Wendell Moore, Jr. | 29 | 5.3 | 41.9 | 11.8 | 80.0 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 1.4 |
