While they led by 13 points (81-68) against the Clippers at the end of the third quarter, the Wolves had come close to being penalized, before however winning (109-105) against the Californians.
Simple accident? That's what we might have thought, as desperate comebacks at the end of the match could cause all teams to falter. Except that the accident is starting to repeat itself a little too often in Minnesota. Leading by 9 points (83-74) at the start of the final straight against the Thunder, the Wolves had bitten the dust this time (97-102).
Same thing in the next match, with a lead of 15 points (107-92) which evaporated against the Hornets (125-128) at home. Bis finally repeated against Spurs, with a lead of 10 points which disappeared again (112-113).
Lowest scoring average in the 4th quarter in recent matches
For the Minnesota Star-Tribune, the Wolves have a problem in the fourth quarter. It must be said that over the last five games, Anthony Edwards and his teammates have only scored 97 points, in total, in the last round of their matches. This is less than 20 points on average, the lowest in the entire league over the period.
Over the last 8 games, since the match against the Clippers, the Wolves are 26th in the number of points scored in the fourth quarter, and especially 29th in “Net Rating” over the period, with an ugly -22.2 (difference between points scored and conceded over 100 possessions). With a cumulative +/- of -39, again the 29th.
By representing the “Net Rating” of the Wolves' fourth quarters since the start of the season, we can see the current trend, the only exception being the victory against the Grizzlies.
An attack that focuses too much on the Edwards/Towns duo?
For Chris Finch, his team's new collapse against Spurs is a simple question of desire.
“They played much better than us at the end”assured the coach. “They did all the 50/50 actions. They made all the tough shots… It was a game where we had an opportunity to get ahead at certain points in the game and we weren't able to do that, and so that's probably what made us The worst. »
After the setback against the Hornets, undoubtedly the most embarrassing of all for the leaders of the West (tied with the Thunder), the technician had nevertheless tackled the immaturity of his team. Karl-Anthony Towns, on fire during the first three quarters, tended to force too much to make the difference in the final.
“It's true and I believe that at the end of the match, we have to find a way to be mature and finish the job. This is something we have done very well throughout the year. […] There were moments where we showed a little immaturity, a lack of discipline but being 12 or 14 points ahead, it seemed good to me compared to the way the match was going to end.confessed the interior, author of 62 points in the defeat.
We also probably need to find a way to find a slightly more balanced attack.
Over the last five games, Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns have taken nearly 60% of their team's shots in the last quarter. Over the previous 41 matches, this ratio was only 33%…
