Okay, first and foremost, can the Minnesota Timberwolves please wear their black Jordan jerseys every game? After their strong fourth quarter in Game 3 against the Golden State Warriors and securing a 102-97 win, they are 3-0 in the playoffs in their “statement jerseys” and now up 2-1 in the Western Conference semifinals.
Here are two similar but very different definitions of “Clutch Time”:
1. The final five minutes of a game, or overtime, when the score is within five points.
2. Anthony Edwards missing a 3-pointer, staying put while Julius Randle gets the offensive rebound, and kicking it back to Edwards, who doesn’t hesitate or blink and reloads to knock down a dagger.
“We’re making some shots for sure, we’re getting stops, but we were getting stops throughout the regular season,” coach Chris Finch said after the Game 3 victory. “We’re just winning the possession battle in clutch time now.
“We’re not giving the ball back on cheap turnovers. We’re not giving up as many or any second chance opportunities. Today, we were actually really big on the boards in clutch time ourselves, getting some second chance opportunities.”
Even before the closing minutes, the game had a massive momentum swing. A combination of Ant’s nasty dunk and his 3-pointer to get their last lead at 85-84. It almost felt like the Wolves were up by 20 points after those powerful energy shifts.
However, it wasn’t pretty before the fourth quarter. The Wolves first had to weather the storm of Jimmy Butler’s first-half 18 points (finished with 33 points). He looked like the ghost of Luka Doncic vs. Minnesota from playoff rounds past.
Then, they fought through Golden State’s barrage of 6 for 11 3-pointers in the third and the Jonathan Kuminga explosion. Kuminga may have propelled him into the starting lineup for Game 4, finishing with an absurd 30 points off the bench.
Lastly, on the Chase Center floor immediately after the game, Edwards told ESPN’s Katie George, “I stunk in the first half.”
Ant had eight points (one in the first quarter) on 3 for 12 shooting. Then he turned into the franchise leader we’re accustomed to.
But what changed? What exactly made Edwards get out of his mild playoff slump and score 28 points in the second half, making the Warriors look confused defensively?
“Trust the work, man. One thing I never lack is confidence,” said Edwards, wearing cool and confident sunglasses during the postgame interview. It’s kind of crazy because teams usually don’t want me to get to the hole, but it’s like now they don’t want me to get step-back threes.
“Just trying to find that balance, man, like Mike [Conley] said, not being thirsty all the time. Setting screens, finding my teammates, getting through the actions, and I think just playing off the ball is better for me playing vs. this team [Warriors] because everyone is locked in on the game plan. They got a pretty good group of guys just locked in on the game plan. They have a championship DNA. They don’t make too many game plan mistakes.”
Let’s be real, NBA purists and diehard Timberwolves fans were nervous and confused by the Karl-Anthony Towns for Julius Randle trade. From the start, it didn’t gel like LeBron James and Dwyane Wade‘s Miami Heat.
The Wolves were an underperforming team, with a win percentage below 50%. Finch even coined the phrase “The November Wolves” when they were 9-10 and looked like a team that possibly made a bad trade and regressed.
Fast forward to now. Randle is arguably one of the most consistent leaders of the entire playoffs.
Julius Randle, Julius Randle, Julius Randle. Aka Wolves triple-double maker. The last Wolves player to do it was Kevin Garnett, aka the Big Ticket. Can we please give Randle the Big Digital Ticket? He’s earned it!
Yes, Edwards took a shining scoring second-half dominant showcase in Game 3, but Randle has been the motor in this entire playoff run.
Ant and Randle look like they’ve been playing together since youth basketball all of a sudden. Their chemistry is definitely noticeable.
Minnesota is not out of the woods yet. They played a lousy three quarters in Game 3, and Ant and Randle prevailed. But there is a nasty Game 4 coming up on the road. Will Ant drop 30? Will Randle get double assists?
Without Curry, there should be no questions, no hiccups, or no silly answers. Wolves be wolves, right? Wrong! Hield can wear the magical wrong shoot-around shorts, Butler can get into a time machine and drop 30-plus points like he used to as Heat, and Kuminga can drop 30 points off the bench.
This series is not over quite yet. However, the Timberwolves have a 2-1 lead and are playing well enough in the clutch to close this one out.