The Timberwolves are in the second round of the playoffs for the first time in 20 years. How confident are Wolves fans in Anthony Edwards, Karl-Anthony Towns, Rudy Gobert and Co.’s ability to win an NBA Championship?
The Minnesota Timberwolves gave their fans a taste of playoff euphoria for the first time in two decades, dominating the Phoenix Suns 4-0 in the first round of the Western Conference Playoffs. Not only was it the first series win since Kevin Garnett wore trees around the waist back in 2004, it was the first sweep in the franchise’s 35-year history.
Fresh off the win, earlier this week we asked fans three questions in the latest edition of Reacts.
1) What was your favorite part of the Wolves’ sweep over the Suns?
- Anthony Edwards’ rise, finally getting the recognition he deserves
- Revival of “They got KD, but we got Jaden McDaniels” clip
- Karl-Anthony Towns winning a playoff series
- Wolves proving everybody wrong
Fans kept an impressively petty number of receipts in the days leading up to Round 1, and it had to feel good for them to press send when they unloaded the bookmarks folder last weekend after the Game 4 win. Seeing national media members and NBA fans at-large eat crow about the Timberwolves’ playoff viability was tremendous content. While Wolves fans have believed in this team all season long and didn’t need a proof of concept in the playoffs as much as national media members did, it surely had to be reassuring to see a historically elite defense translate to postseason.
Beyond that, to see Edwards take a leap on the floor as a playoff Apex predator, and then have media members, fans, and everyone in between all over social media crown him as a future face of the league and seriously compare him to Michael Jordan was something that will stick with me for a long time. 30% of fans felt similarly. Ant was incredible in Round 1, but he hopes that is just the beginning.
2) What is your prediction for the Western Conference Semifinals?
- Wolves in 4/5
- Wolves in 6/7
- Nuggets in 4/5
- Nuggets in 6/7
The manner in which the Wolves demolished the Suns unquestionably inspired confidence in this fanbase. Not only did the Timberwolves’ defense shine in slowing down a high octane Suns offense, but Minnesota held the highest offensive rating (123.2) — by nearly four points — of any team in Round 1.
Edwards was an impressive engine, averaging 31.0 points on 51.2/43.8/83.9 shooting splits, 8.0 rebounds, 6.3 assists, and 2.8 stocks per game. But Towns added 19.3 points on 53.1/52.9/88.9 shooting splits, 9.5 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per contest while registering the highest assist-to-turnover ratio (1.43) and 3-point rate (34.7% of his total shots) of his playoff career. Add in a combined 31.6 points per game from Gobert, Jaden McDaniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and the third-most bench points of any team in Round 1 (27.0), and you’re cooking with some serious gas on that end of the floor.
The offense — fueled by Edwards’ ascension to megastardom and Towns following a successful blueprint — to me is why fans are so optimistic about the Wolves’ chances of knocking off the defending champion Nuggets in Round 2. We’ll see what happens.
And finally…
3) After the sweep of the Suns, what is your confidence level in the Wolves’ ability to win the NBA Finals?
- 0-3
- 4-6
- 7-8
- 9-10
What I love about Timberwolves fans is their collective basketball intelligence. They respect the Nuggets. They understand how difficult of a task it will be to knock off the Nuggets, one of the greatest clutch time teams we’ve seen in quite some time. Denver tests your discipline for 48 minutes, and two-time MVP Nikola Jokić will destroy you when you lose focus, even for a split second. Fans get that. But they also recognize that the Wolves have everything they need to win a title.
That middle ground — respecting the Nuggets but maintaining a confidence in the Timberwolves that is based in reality — reflected by the 7-8 entry collecting a leading share (46%) of the vote. The 4-6 crowd probably skews more towards “I’ll truly believe the Wolves can win a title if they beat the Nuggets, which is unlikely,” while the 9-10 legion likely leans more in the opposite direction of, “Let’s see the Nuggets stop score against this elite defense and find a way to stop Anthony Edwards.”
Time will tell which group ends up being correct. We’re about to find out.
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