“ We must quickly put this last series behind us. » After the time of celebration, having eliminated the reigning champion, at the end of a memorable seventh round, Chris Finch and Wolves must now focus on one other animal », Dallas.
“ It will be a different style of play with a lot more pick-and-rolls », asks Mike Conley straight away, in reference to the main offensive initiator opposite, Luka Doncic, assisted by Kyrie Irving.
“ They play fast by throwing their athletic wingers forward. We will therefore have many challenges to face in this series », continues the leader who, at the time of his first conference final since 2013, admits to being still hampered by his calf injury.
They don't know the new version of the Mavs
His Wolves have won three times in four meetings this season with the Texans. A downside to this record: the two teams have not played against each other since January 31 (34-point defeat for the Mavs, deprived of Luka Doncic). However, a week after this last match, Dallas changed its face by getting its hands on PJ Washington and Daniel Gafford during the trade deadline.
“ We didn't play this version. […] They are much more complete and complementary. Their defense took a big step forward thanks to the rim protection. We could see that their defensive cohesion and their general effort are at their highest level. And they have a lot of very good elements around Luka and Kyrie », remarks Chris Finch.
After all, the Mavs were able to beat the Thunder with a Slovenian who was much less productive in scoring than in the regular season, and a Kyrie Irving with barely 16 points on average. At the heart of a more defensive series, the newcomers, like Derrick Jones Jr, compensated.
If the Wolves start favorites in this series, they will have work to do before winning the four games necessary to invite themselves to the NBA final, to try to win four more.
A very open league
“ This is my dream. I always dreamed of being a champion. That's always been my goal, to win a title, since I've been in the league. And when I got traded here, the first thing I said was I believe, I believe in this organization, I believe in this group. We are now in territory that we have never experienced before for this group. You have to appreciate the moment », Demands Rudy Gobert.
For his part, Chris Finch recalls that Wolves have had a great season and accomplished a lot so far. “ But we said to ourselves from the start and as the season progressed: why not us? », asks the coach. After all, his team is one of the last four in the league still standing.
With two conference finals that no observer could have seen coming at the start of the season. Who would have imagined Wolves and Mavs facing each other at this point? What about the surprising Pacers to challenge the more anticipated ogre Celtics? “ The league is very open. We are not in a dynastic period. There will be a new champion this year. Everything remains to be played out, but the road ahead is long, very long. », Finishes Chris Finch.
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Party | Pts |
| Anthony Edwards | 79 | 35.1 | 46.1 | 35.7 | 83.6 | 0.7 | 4.8 | 5.4 | 5.1 | 3.1 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 1.8 | 25.9 |
| Karl Anthony Towns | 62 | 32.7 | 50.4 | 41.6 | 87.3 | 1.5 | 6.8 | 8.3 | 3.0 | 2.9 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 3.3 | 21.8 |
| Rudy Gobert | 76 | 34.1 | 66.1 | 0.0 | 63.8 | 3.8 | 9.2 | 12.9 | 1.3 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 2.1 | 3.1 | 14.0 |
| Naz Reid | 81 | 24.2 | 47.7 | 41.4 | 73.6 | 0.9 | 4.3 | 5.2 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 2.1 | 13.5 |
| Mike Conley | 76 | 28.9 | 45.7 | 44.2 | 91.1 | 0.5 | 2.4 | 2.9 | 5.9 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 1.7 | 11.4 |
| Jaden Mcdaniels | 72 | 29.2 | 48.9 | 33.7 | 72.2 | 0.8 | 2.3 | 3.1 | 1.4 | 1.2 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 3.0 | 10.5 |
| Nickeil Alexander-walker | 82 | 23.4 | 43.9 | 39.1 | 80.0 | 0.4 | 1.6 | 2.0 | 2.5 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 1.7 | 8.0 |
| Kyle Anderson | 79 | 22.6 | 46.0 | 22.9 | 70.8 | 0.8 | 2.7 | 3.5 | 4.2 | 1.2 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 1.6 | 6.4 |
| Monte Morris | 27 | 15.1 | 41.7 | 42.4 | 70.6 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 1.7 | 2.3 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 5.1 |
| Shake Milton | 38 | 12.9 | 40.0 | 26.4 | 81.8 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 4.7 |
| Troy Brown, Jr. | 37 | 11.1 | 44.1 | 36.9 | 86.4 | 0.4 | 1.6 | 1.9 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 4.2 |
| Luka Garza | 25 | 4.9 | 48.0 | 28.1 | 72.0 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 4.0 |
| Tj Warren | 11 | 11.3 | 43.9 | 15.4 | 75.0 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 2.0 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 1.0 | 3.7 |
| Jordan McLaughlin | 56 | 11.2 | 48.3 | 47.2 | 72.2 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 2.0 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 3.5 |
| Daishen Nix | 15 | 3.3 | 37.5 | 35.3 | 50.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 1.8 |
| Leonard Miller | 17 | 3.1 | 65.0 | 40.0 | 50.0 | 0.3 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 1.7 |
| Josh Minott | 32 | 2.9 | 47.2 | 40.0 | 85.7 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 1.6 |
| Wendell Moore, Jr. | 25 | 3.0 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.7 |
| Justin Jackson | 2 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
