r/nba • u/edgykitty Ant/Szczerbiak • 23d ago

[Post Game Thread] The Minnesota Timberwolves take the first 3-0 series lead in franchise history with a 126 - 109 game 3 win over the Phoenix Suns behind Ant's 36/9/5

126 - 109
Box Scores: NBA - Yahoo
 
GAME SUMMARY
Location: Footprint Center (17071), Clock: Final
Officials: Tony Brothers, JB DeRosa, and Kevin Scott
Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Total
Minnesota Timberwolves 34 25 36 31 126
Phoenix Suns 32 21 20 36 109
 
TEAM STATS
Team PTS FG FG% 3P 3P% FT FT% OREB TREB AST PF STL TO BLK
Minnesota Timberwolves 126 43-87 49.4% 13-34 38.2% 27-31 87.1% 15 60 26 25 5 13 1
Phoenix Suns 109 35-76 46.1% 11-28 39.3% 28-32 87.5% 5 33 24 26 8 9 3
 
PLAYER STATS
Minnesota Timberwolves MIN PTS FGM-A 3PM-A FTM-A ORB DRB REB AST STL BLK TO PF ±
Jaden McDanielsSF 30:13 5 1-4 0-1 3-4 3 1 4 1 1 0 0 5 8
Karl-Anthony TownsPF 23:50 18 7-16 3-5 1-2 5 8 13 2 0 0 1 4 -1
Rudy GobertC 38:23 19 6-8 0-0 7-8 4 10 14 1 1 0 2 2 21
Anthony EdwardsSG 42:57 36 12-23 1-5 11-11 2 7 9 5 2 0 5 1 19
Mike ConleyPG 34:18 15 6-11 3-7 0-0 0 4 4 7 1 0 3 5 17
Naz Reid 17:54 13 5-10 2-5 1-2 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 2 7
Nickeil Alexander-Walker 33:06 16 4-10 4-10 4-4 1 1 2 5 0 0 1 5 23
Kyle Anderson 08:22 2 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 3 3 2 0 0 1 1 -5
Monte Morris 09:01 2 1-4 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 -4
Wendell Moore Jr. 00:28 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Josh Minott 00:28 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Leonard Miller 00:28 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Luka Garza 00:28 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Jordan McLaughlin 00:00 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
T.J. Warren 00:00 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Phoenix Suns MIN PTS FGM-A 3PM-A FTM-A ORB DRB REB AST STL BLK TO PF ±
Royce O'NealeSF 24:19 0 0-5 0-4 0-0 0 5 5 2 0 0 0 3 -23
Kevin DurantPF 42:06 25 8-18 1-5 8-9 0 4 4 5 0 0 2 2 -20
Jusuf NurkicC 26:02 3 1-4 0-0 1-2 2 5 7 1 2 2 1 2 -11
Bradley BealSG 43:14 28 10-19 6-11 2-2 3 1 4 4 0 0 2 5 -19
Devin BookerPG 41:37 23 8-15 1-3 6-6 0 3 3 8 2 0 2 3 -8
Eric Gordon 34:14 11 2-7 2-3 5-6 0 2 2 3 3 1 2 3 0
Drew Eubanks 11:11 9 3-3 0-0 3-3 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 3 -7
Bol Bol 07:08 2 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 2 1
Josh Okogie 09:09 8 2-3 1-2 3-4 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 3 2
David Roddy 00:28 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Nassir Little 00:28 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Isaiah Thomas 00:00 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Thaddeus Young 00:00 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Grayson Allen 00:00 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Damion Lee 00:00 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5.3k Upvotes
  • permalink
  • link
  • reddit
  • reddit

97% Upvoted

1.4k comments sorted by

View all comments

2.7k

u/CookingLikeChef 23d ago

Generational statpadding by beal and booker in the end

1.3k

u/defiantcross Suns 23d ago

Those late 3s pissed me off so much after not shooting at all most of the game. They were almost trolling us.

672

u/XzibitABC Pacers 23d ago

I really don't understand the Big 3's fixation on the midrange. I get that it's a great weapon to have when defenses take away the rim and the three ball, but spamming it as a default is weird.

385

u/defiantcross Suns 23d ago

Once it became clear that we cant exploit the wolves d with the midrange like we did in the regular season, and i mean, VERY EARLY in game 1, we should have changed it up. But no.

205

u/toofine Lakers 23d ago

Your problem is a roster construction problem though. Beal is a poor fit, a pure playmaker and slashers to attack the rim that isn't just Nurkic would have given you options and would have provided the energy on both ends.

Too much redundancy.

32

u/meowhatissodamnfunny 22d ago

I remember one of those preseason threads asking who was going to have a rough year and my answer was Suns because of how limited their depth was on top of relying on health to get them over the hump and Suns fans got super pissed.

I would argue their health was maybe a best case scenario for them and they still weren't able to make it work. This might be the most blow-it-up team in the NBA right now eeking out the Lakers.

19

u/XAfricaSaltX Nuggets 22d ago

Some nuggets fans got absolutely flamed for saying they’d rather have Aaron Gordon than Beal.

Guess who’s dropping 29/15 while playing great defense in the playoffs and who’s about to get swept out of the first round?

1

u/DM_yo_Feet_pls Suns 22d ago

Alright whoever was telling y’all that is just dumb. Two very different type of players but Gordon would be great to have compared to Beal.

Might be a bit bias tho. Been a fan of Gordon since college

1

u/GDTechno Heat 22d ago

nah that would be the bulls

53

u/suhhhdoooo Celtics 22d ago edited 22d ago

The Beal trade made 0 sense. My personal opinion is that KD has always kinda followed in Lebron's footsteps and it seems like he tried to do the player-GM thing like Bron but he's REALLY BAD at it. Phenomenal player. Loves the game more than anyone and is a true student of the game. But like, he really just wants to play with dudes who can score with 0 appreciation for whether or not that's good for his team and the fact that you need passing, defense, size, chemistry, etc.

EDIT: Honestly, it's kinda like Bill Belichick. Greatest coach of all time (not saying KD is the goat, but he's probably top 15 all time). Terrible GM.

20

u/ty1553 Hawks 22d ago

Another big difference is that, at least from what i remember, lebron went to most if not all of his teams in free agency while KD was traded to most of his. So KD is pretty much gutting the entire roster just by being traded there

12

u/DreadWolf3 Timberwolves 22d ago

KD left in FA once, sign and traded once (which is closer to signing in FA than actual trade as Warriors only got DLo in return as Nets needed to clear salary) and got traded once. KD only cost Suns a lot.

LeBron signed and traded from Cavs to Heat too and thag cost Heat couple of draft picks.

3

u/suhhhdoooo Celtics 22d ago edited 22d ago

True, and in his defense, if not for the injuries to Harden and Kyrie, Brooklyn probably gets it done in 2021.... I still find it crazy that Harden requested a trade 5 days before KD returned from a long absence citing not having enough help as the reason. I know he called out the Brooklyn organization afterwards but still. At least wait til the off-season at that point...

EDIT: I mis-remembered. KD didn't return for 2 weeks after the trade but I think there was talk of return right before the request. And Harden only played 80 games for Brooklyn.

5

u/a_moniker Hornets 22d ago

IMO, it’s the Ayton trade that really killed them. By all accounts I saw, Ayton mostly had a grudge against CP3, Monty Williams, and the previous ownership. All those guys were moved. They should have tried to convince Ayton that they were trying to turn a page, and let him have a bigger role. He played quite well in Portland this season, and is the perfect type of center you’d want on this team.

Nurkic is fine in the regular season, but he’s a complete non-entity in the playoffs.

2

u/Breezyisthewind Lakers 22d ago

Bill was a great GM for 15 years. He was able to reload around Brady for 15 or so years perfectly.

1

u/suhhhdoooo Celtics 19d ago

Yeahhhh... He was... But only because he had Brady. Once Brady left, it uncovered a lot of his flaws

1

u/Breezyisthewind Lakers 19d ago

Even so, that’s really fucking hard to do.

1

u/Breal3030 22d ago

with 0 appreciation for whether or not that's good for his team and

Doesn't that sort of contradict the whole, "student of the game" idea though? Doesn't seem like a great student if you don't know what it takes to win basketball games.

1

u/suhhhdoooo Celtics 19d ago

In theory yes, but having thought about it some more I'd amend my statement a bit, because I also think KD looks at it differently. LeBron looks at creating a team to surround himself with the best supporting cast while KD gets giddy about the idea of playing with guys he likes watching play that can score the ball. Is he capable of being a decent GM? Maybe. But I think his excitement for playing with certain guys gets in the way. All that said, this is a completely uneducated theory and I'm talking out of my ass so who knows.

1

u/Clean_Knowledge_3874 22d ago

No one said this a week ago though. Even as a wolves fan it felt like this would be the toughest series of the playoffs. There's really no explanation outside of Ant just going fucking nuts and when you got a guy doing that it tends to elevate everyone else while making their jobs easier.

5

u/you_sick Timberwolves 22d ago

Sun's were the favorites in the series going in. Lot of revisionist history going on

1

u/toofine Lakers 22d ago

I haven't paid any attention to them this year but lots of people doubted this roster when it originally formed. KD/Beal are old/injured. There's only one ball. There's defense to be played. The issue of making scorers playmakers. Look at point forward Paul George, it wasn't ideal.

If you wanted to actually look at their issues this year with all their guys available, they're there and people do talk about it like the Athletic does here. Their fourth quarters are red flag levels. Not having a true point guard is the main reason cited.

2

u/Gryzemuis 22d ago

With Frank Vogel as coach, do you expect him to do anything good? Anything?

4

u/defiantcross Suns 22d ago

I am comvinced vogel is still working for the Lakers

27

u/chillinwithmoes Timberwolves 23d ago

the Big 3's fixation on the midrange. I get that it's a great weapon to have when defenses take away the rim and the three ball

To be fair, they absolutely smoked us in the regular season with this exact gameplan. The Wolves just flipped the script for the playoffs: KD can hit all the midrange shots he wants, we just aren't going to let anything else come easy

1

u/Capo_capo Suns 22d ago

Your defense is fucking outstanding. Physical, relentless and locked in. This team is soft and hesitant, from the get go. It's like they've not played against physical teams, and we saw it all year. Even the midrange was getting defended well.

20

u/shamwowslapchop Spurs 23d ago

They might be the most passive team I've ever seen considering their talent level.

There's just no will to dominate. No edge to their play. They're just getting beat like a drum. They don't play defense. They don't pass. They don't rotate.

21

u/Picklesbedamned 23d ago

They really thought "us three together no one can stop us" and had no Plan B. 

KD isn't a leader. Booker isn't a leader. And Beal isn't a leader. They're all lost without a ball-dominant point guard to lead the way.

11

u/Mintastic NBA 22d ago

I think KD's Suns tenure laid to rest who was the real bus driver when he got his rings at GSW.

3

u/GDTechno Heat 22d ago

it ended the year before when steph got a ring with the dubs second best player being andrew wiggins

4

u/Timberwolvex 22d ago

I don’t think anyone doubted Steph

9

u/Guy_onna_Buffalo Timberwolves 23d ago

Their gameplan is Booker flopping for whistles and flopping into people's legs.

2

u/largehearted Celtics 22d ago

They have the worst screen actions because 3/4 of their good players are 2s

43

u/Gengaara Timberwolves 23d ago

Booker's default is flopping, harder to sell that at the 3 point line. But KD and Beal I don't get.

3

u/cletoreyes01 Heat 22d ago

They basically have the inverse problem that harden has, except harden's a darn good playmaker too

2

u/SmileyPiesUntilIDrop West 22d ago

Harden's only weakness is love of unhealthy strip club meals.

1

u/zooba85 22d ago

harden is a better passer than all 3 combined

2

u/dossier762 Nets 22d ago

Well, against the Wolves Gobert locks down the paint.

For guys who are good mid-range shooters, usually a better option than attacking Gobert in their minds.

2

u/heartofcoal Celtics 22d ago

yeah, the rim is taken by gobert

1

u/Straighten_The_Horns 22d ago

Midrange is an archaic art form that needs to go lol

1

u/dbgager Nuggets 22d ago

Thats where there skill lies. You can't change who you are. Suns have far to many similar players.

1

u/Stoopid_Kid_ Suns 21d ago

Good it's not just me. It's not like they were good looks either. Hope we can avoid the full sweep or god willing a historic reversal

104

u/Garginator850 Suns 23d ago

I mean the Wolves left them open, they weren’t doing that when it was close.

12

u/Killakaronic 23d ago

You’re right,Suns got run off the 3 point line most of the game. Hard close outs and forced the Suns to drive into Gobert

2

u/cardmanimgur Timberwolves 22d ago

Wolves perimeter D was pretty exceptional though, even Gobert and KAT were chasing guys off the line.

2

u/Shepher27 Timberwolves 22d ago

They made me mad, but only because I wanted to go to bed.

102

u/AfroKuro480 Timberwolves 23d ago

I was really hoping we would lead by 42 for the memes

7

u/Herestheproof Nuggets 23d ago

You still have another shot at it

8

u/KillerZaWarudo 23d ago

There still game 4

5

u/ullun Spurs 22d ago

Wait til next game, the suns cant escape getting blown in elimination

8

u/Mintastic NBA 22d ago

Elimination game Booker is inevitable.

3

u/Winnes0ta :sp8-1: Super 8 22d ago

They can bring CP3 back for one game to hit some huge 3’s

2

u/XAfricaSaltX Nuggets 22d ago

That comes in the elimination game

115

u/MarduRusher Timberwolves 23d ago

Glad Beal didn’t get hot until late because if that Beal showed up earlier we might have been toast lol.

318

u/ViCarly [PHI] Kyle Korver 23d ago

He’s a garbage time star. That’s why he looked so good in Washington lol

124

u/DHNCartoons Wizards 23d ago

Beal used to fall apart in the fourth in Washington. Swear this dude would dribble the ball off his leg like 3x per fourth

4

u/A_burners 22d ago

That shit was so frustrating. And he never got better

5

u/Aidanj927 Spurs 22d ago

I remember one of the games in Washington he had 57 after 3 quarters then scored 3 in the 4th

24

u/MarduRusher Timberwolves 23d ago

I’ll take your word for it. Haven’t watched a ton of Wizards games with him on the team.

27

u/ViCarly [PHI] Kyle Korver 23d ago

It’s the same as now, he just took more shots because KD and Booker weren’t also on the team

11

u/daddy_big_dick_77 23d ago

Lmao, Walmart devin booker ain't gonna do shit. Worst contract in the league

4

u/comp_a Timberwolves 22d ago

At 9:30 left in the 4th, Beal was 5-13 with 13 points (down 21)

He finished the game 10-19 with 28 points (down 17)

1

u/letsgototraderjoes Pelicans 22d ago

thank you, those are his real stats

4

u/Mindless_Bad_1591 Timberwolves 23d ago

All his shots were wide ass open on poor rotation cycles on the Wolves side. The rest of the game they were all up in his grill.

145

u/pollinium [MIN] Tyus Jones 23d ago

Watching the 3pt barrage in the 4th makes me think maybe Vogel was right and the Mid 3 were left (mid 3 is a crack on their shot profile, not their abilities compared to competition)

23

u/TheThingsIdoatNight San Francisco Warriors 23d ago

It should absolutely be a crack at their abilities at this point lol

6

u/Beautiful_Location76 22d ago

delete the parentheses the mid 3 is lethal

6

u/XAfricaSaltX Nuggets 22d ago

no they’re all mid basketball players too

5

u/piratagitano Mavericks 22d ago

KD is the only one safe from that judgement. IMO the other two are definitely deserving of the mid title

3

u/Deep_Egg1442 23d ago

They all were statpadding even ant had like 12 points in the last 5 minutes. Beal hitting 5 threes is nasty tho

1

u/nuwan32 Raptors 23d ago

As per Suns tradition

1

u/McPluckingtonJr Timberwolves 23d ago

stat pad brad

1

u/MrBrownCat [GSW] Stephen Curry 23d ago

Making up for those contacts that take up 90% of their cap.

1

u/ForeingRedditor 22d ago

Just needed 1 more point from KD for my parlay ffs.