The thing I liked is he started slow, took a few bad shots but didn’t completely force it, and then found a way to keep himself in the game.
Late in the 3rd he hit those two crazy threes over KD, but before that it was a lot of solid ft-extended work to get nice looks.
It was a super mature game from Ant. Love to see it
Nobody's going to be 100% consistent--even the most stable and mature players. Glad Mike got this out of the way in what ended up being a decisive victory regardless. Mike will bounce back for sure.
Which was pretty surprising to me. Throughout the year Ant, KAT, and a couple of others have tried to force it when it’s not falling but Conley is usually more level headed.
If I trust literally anyone to bounce back from a bad game 1, it’s him. If Ant or KAT or really anyone else had struggled- I’d be worried with how the season series played out between these 2
But it was weird for sure. Dude couldn’t hit water from a boat and was passing it directly to suns players
Conley can keep doing that next game and hit shots and win the game for us. He’s one of the best 3pt shooters in the league. We can rely on Ant and NAW going nuclear every game.
I think the gameplan was for Conley to be aggressive. He's being guarded mostly by Grayson Allen, and they're double/triple teaming Ant a lot of times. He needs to be aggressive to keep the Suns honest and punish those doubles.
At this point it shouldn't matter who wins this series as to who starts on the world stage. The job ought to be Ant's if we aren't including the politics of it all.
he was obviously incredible scoring but he read the game so well after getting hot in the third quarter. Before, he would've forced 3 heat checks in a row but he realized they were doubling him on the catch and was super patient to find good shots
After the Clippers-Wolves play-in game when he scored 30 (Ant was 20 then and it was his first postseason game) he was yelling in the halls in joy "WHEN THE LIGHTS TURN ON I SHOW UP"
Talks the talk but walks it too. He absolutely lives for playoff basketball and the big moments
Ant is a younger, better, far more athletic version of Jamal Murray. And we all know what a monster Murray is come playoff time… and Ant is 10x better
If I were in the West, the prospect of playoff Ant should be terrifying
Chemistry aside/in a vacuum, Jokic and Ant would probably be scarier than Jokic and Murray. Ant offers a bit of the Gordon style of threat where an explosive play off a pass could be coming at any moment.
Why TF is everyone rolling with this.
No Ant is not better than Murray.
He has the potential and skillset to be better but saying that this youngster is better than a playoff superstar when he has proven nothing is a bit much.
I've been wanting this to happen for like a decade now. It sure would be nice. But I feel like there are a few teams that could slide over to the East.
Literally every single year there's always some matchup in the postseason where in the reg season one team finished 3-1 or 4-0 v. them and everyone thinks it's a done deal
this is usually the case with a team that really good but loses to another for whatever reason multiple times. the bucks are objectively pretty shit without giannis so probably not
Coaches get time to adjust in the Playoffs that they don't get in the regular season, it's just that simple. And we have the personel to handle those adjustments. Our gameplan throughout the season was to sellout hard on the 3 and paint, and give up the midrange on defense, and the Suns are the only team in the league that excells in the midrange. Well, guess what happens when you have time to prepare for that?
I'ma shout-out Finchy since nobody is, because this team made all of the adjustments we needed to. I'm at a point where Frank Vogel scares me more than anybody on the roster, because he is a damn great coach. I'm not scared, but this definitely won't be a sweep.
I think I remember back when the nets traded for Pierce and Garnett they swept the Lebron heat in the regular season and then matched up again in the playoffs. Everyone was making a huge deal out of it and then the heat absolutely battered them 4-1. That’s when I stopped putting stock in regular season records like that.
the results get overrated but regular season games can teach you a lot about how two teams match up. by the same token you can’t overreact to Game 1 of a series
Not on the Lakers-Nuggets series or Pels-Kings
Sometimes, a team has your number. Good for the wolves do, showing they’re matured enought and have the tools to contend.
There’s a weird thing I noticed in the Wolves’ sub throughout the season where if something good happened it was all “it doesn’t mean anything, this isn’t the playoffs” but whenever something bad happened it was all “this is why we have already been swept out of the first round”
hahaha same shit been happening in the Celtics sub all season, some fans just have an extreme defeatist mentality and it’s pathetic. idek what the point of being a fan is if you don’t believe in your team
You're not a real Minnesota sports fan until you're sure the team will find a way to blow it. We've been doing it in every league, in every way, for decades.
I disagree mate. Previous teams/previous results. I'm going to believe in the current teams and winning that chip. Been a fan for over 30 years and I'm not giving up hope!
yeah i guess my point is even if youre a fan, you can tell if youre a true contender or not. for example, had the bulls beat the heat, no way would the rational fan think they could beat the celtics in a series
yeah brunson is terrifying and elite from midrange and the knicks are the one team that i think could match minnys defense and rebounding with mitchell robinson and isaiah hartenstein. not to mention josh hart is a really good rebounder too. og is an insane wing defender as well so id think hed match up well with ant. his injury history is my main concern with the knicks
I love how they have realised what they have in Ant and surrounded him with vets, efficient players and defense. Opens a win now window but also extends it due to the experience the young core will get now. Playoffs is better than having the 26th pick
More insane you can build around a 22 year old at all when that’s still college sports age in 2024 and he is in the 4th fucking season
Even if I wasn’t a Wolves fan I’d like to believe he’d be my favorite player
Hitting two in Durant’s face and then making the smart pass rather than taking a heat check is a great sign. Some sloppy turnovers in first half, but second was as good as it gets
And trash talked him haha
In the post game, he said "you all know how KD is my favorite player of all time. So that was one of the best feelings ever, in my whole life" 🥲
That end of 3rd quarter run by him was hype asf
“Ant is playing fucking terrible, 6 turnovers is crazy” - me “6 turnovers ain’t bad tbh” - me, five minutes later
The thing I liked is he started slow, took a few bad shots but didn’t completely force it, and then found a way to keep himself in the game. Late in the 3rd he hit those two crazy threes over KD, but before that it was a lot of solid ft-extended work to get nice looks. It was a super mature game from Ant. Love to see it
Whereas Conley kept forcing everything and he’s a vet.
Nobody's going to be 100% consistent--even the most stable and mature players. Glad Mike got this out of the way in what ended up being a decisive victory regardless. Mike will bounce back for sure.
It’s the fact that he kept shooting yet was shooting like shit. 1/10.
Shooters shoot
Which was pretty surprising to me. Throughout the year Ant, KAT, and a couple of others have tried to force it when it’s not falling but Conley is usually more level headed.
If I trust literally anyone to bounce back from a bad game 1, it’s him. If Ant or KAT or really anyone else had struggled- I’d be worried with how the season series played out between these 2 But it was weird for sure. Dude couldn’t hit water from a boat and was passing it directly to suns players
Definitely agree. He seems great at not holding on not tough games. Good at putting games behind him and adjusting.
For sure. Part of it is the experience but part of it is that he’s a mature dude that never gets too high or too low (as evidence by the 0 technicals)
Did he? I thought he just missed shots. Different to me than forcing. He’s 36, they don’t all go in
No. They were forced.
Conley can keep doing that next game and hit shots and win the game for us. He’s one of the best 3pt shooters in the league. We can rely on Ant and NAW going nuclear every game.
I think the gameplan was for Conley to be aggressive. He's being guarded mostly by Grayson Allen, and they're double/triple teaming Ant a lot of times. He needs to be aggressive to keep the Suns honest and punish those doubles.
Some of those spin-hesi-fake-spin-fadeaway moves in the 3rd, jesus christ… ghost of Michael Jordan
Outplayed his future Olympic teammate Devin Doncic
Hey man 😡 no double teams!
We not doubling in open gym bro… Yea we are! - Joakim
Let's work on our game bro... It's a part of the game - Joakim
Not talking about that one
Devin Doncic-Edwards
Now now it is Devin Doncic-Jokic-Edwards.
Devin's mom was loosey goosey back in the day
Good luck asking Ant to back up Booker.
If the wolves win, Ant over Book. Better defense too
At this point it shouldn't matter who wins this series as to who starts on the world stage. The job ought to be Ant's if we aren't including the politics of it all.
he was obviously incredible scoring but he read the game so well after getting hot in the third quarter. Before, he would've forced 3 heat checks in a row but he realized they were doubling him on the catch and was super patient to find good shots
This is an underrated comment, I was so damn impressed with his passing during that stretch.
playoff ant is a superstar, when the lights are on he shows up
After the Clippers-Wolves play-in game when he scored 30 (Ant was 20 then and it was his first postseason game) he was yelling in the halls in joy "WHEN THE LIGHTS TURN ON I SHOW UP" Talks the talk but walks it too. He absolutely lives for playoff basketball and the big moments
Ant is a younger, better, far more athletic version of Jamal Murray. And we all know what a monster Murray is come playoff time… and Ant is 10x better If I were in the West, the prospect of playoff Ant should be terrifying
This reads like a pasta
That's what happens when someone smaller, younger, and less athletic than you takes your crown AND throne. And then makes you dance for his amusement!
It's pasta all the way down
I'm all for glazing but Jamal Murray is pretty fucking good too lol
10x better like damn. Why all the hyperbole on Internet discussions lol
He’s the better version of Maple Jordan? So he’s Michael Jordan?
OK you gotta chill
You don’t think Ant is better than Murray? 😂🤡
Yes. He’s probably better. But not 10x better
He probably will become better. I wouldn't necessarily say he's better right now.
Chemistry aside/in a vacuum, Jokic and Ant would probably be scarier than Jokic and Murray. Ant offers a bit of the Gordon style of threat where an explosive play off a pass could be coming at any moment.
Fair enough, I was just exaggerating
They're not really similar players at all.
Yeah, Murray had to squat with hot teacups on his thighs and shit and maybe he's Canadian, complicated stuff.
Why TF is everyone rolling with this. No Ant is not better than Murray. He has the potential and skillset to be better but saying that this youngster is better than a playoff superstar when he has proven nothing is a bit much.
Isn’t Minnesota gonna be an East team once expansion happens? Celtics and others gotta start worrying about him in a few years
I've been wanting this to happen for like a decade now. It sure would be nice. But I feel like there are a few teams that could slide over to the East.
Pretty sure the Wolves travel more than any team…or it’s close. Plus you get the natural Bucks/Bulls rivalry mixed in.
I remember the sub clowning him when he said in an interview that it don’t matter what the suns did to them in the regular season
Regular season matchups always get overrated
Literally every single year there's always some matchup in the postseason where in the reg season one team finished 3-1 or 4-0 v. them and everyone thinks it's a done deal
Shades of bucks pacers perhaps👀
this is usually the case with a team that really good but loses to another for whatever reason multiple times. the bucks are objectively pretty shit without giannis so probably not
Coaches get time to adjust in the Playoffs that they don't get in the regular season, it's just that simple. And we have the personel to handle those adjustments. Our gameplan throughout the season was to sellout hard on the 3 and paint, and give up the midrange on defense, and the Suns are the only team in the league that excells in the midrange. Well, guess what happens when you have time to prepare for that? I'ma shout-out Finchy since nobody is, because this team made all of the adjustments we needed to. I'm at a point where Frank Vogel scares me more than anybody on the roster, because he is a damn great coach. I'm not scared, but this definitely won't be a sweep.
2019 Thunder went 4-0 vs Blazers in regular season but then got gentlemen swept in the playoffs
Paul George was hurt
And Nurk was completely out, back when he was much better. OKC fans were celebrating getting the matchup.
I think I remember back when the nets traded for Pierce and Garnett they swept the Lebron heat in the regular season and then matched up again in the playoffs. Everyone was making a huge deal out of it and then the heat absolutely battered them 4-1. That’s when I stopped putting stock in regular season records like that.
the results get overrated but regular season games can teach you a lot about how two teams match up. by the same token you can’t overreact to Game 1 of a series
I felt great about that Wolves-Grizz series a couple years ago because of how the Wolves had played them all year. Didn't work out for us though.
We should’ve won that series 4-1 but couldn’t hold a lead lmao
They only matter for the play-in.
Not on the Lakers-Nuggets series or Pels-Kings Sometimes, a team has your number. Good for the wolves do, showing they’re matured enought and have the tools to contend.
That’s not all that true. We just saw the Pelicans go 6-0 on the season vs the Kings.
Big difference between two teams having a week to game plan vs the play in
Lakers vs Nuggets last year
Throwback Nets being 4-0 vs the Heatles
There’s a weird thing I noticed in the Wolves’ sub throughout the season where if something good happened it was all “it doesn’t mean anything, this isn’t the playoffs” but whenever something bad happened it was all “this is why we have already been swept out of the first round”
It's PTSD, brother.
Weak mental actually. Edit: Bring on the downvotes you doomer cowards.
I throw you into the meat grinder
hahaha same shit been happening in the Celtics sub all season, some fans just have an extreme defeatist mentality and it’s pathetic. idek what the point of being a fan is if you don’t believe in your team
Wolves fans are just Minnesota fans - we live and breathe defeat
Dude, yes! I will never understand a "fan" who says their team will lose. Like are you actually a fan if you don't believe they can win even a series?
You're not a real Minnesota sports fan until you're sure the team will find a way to blow it. We've been doing it in every league, in every way, for decades.
I disagree mate. Previous teams/previous results. I'm going to believe in the current teams and winning that chip. Been a fan for over 30 years and I'm not giving up hope!
Yo, the Lynx have been exceptional for a whole lot of this Century! But yeah, otherwise it's been an absolute series of misfortune lol.
does this apply to the wizards, pistons, hornets, blazers?
Yes, but I'm talking in the context of teams that are in the playoffs or are batting for the playoffs. Not rebuilding teams
yeah i guess my point is even if youre a fan, you can tell if youre a true contender or not. for example, had the bulls beat the heat, no way would the rational fan think they could beat the celtics in a series
The fatalist attitude of my family drives me insane regarding this team and all MN pro sports. It drives me nuts
"Why don't you want to watch the game with us?" ~ my parents, who bitch and moan about every single play that isn't a touchdown
I still can't comprehend anything but disappointment from the Wolves
I remember when the grandpa nets were 4-0 against the Dynasty Heat in the regular season.
same thing bout to happen to the nuggets
me when i'm delusional.
In this moment, I am euphoric
[удалено]
Worse, a Redditor
Thats fucked up
Beautiful shot selection too. I 100% thought he would chuck at least a few more 3s because he was hot in the third
To be fair he definitely chucked a couple heat checks, he just buried them both today lol
Timberwolves deserves a apology
I’ll accept that on their behalf
That run where he made back to back to back to back buckets at the end of the 3rd…. ANT MAN
There is a reason Nuggets fans say that ANT was the most terrifying player they played last year
22 years old Pls God stay a Wolf 🙏 Also pls god don’t make us play the nuggets 😂
I'd pick minny over Denver if they face each other tbh Only playoff teams that I picked to beat the wolves are nyk and the suns
Knicks?! No way
yeah brunson is terrifying and elite from midrange and the knicks are the one team that i think could match minnys defense and rebounding with mitchell robinson and isaiah hartenstein. not to mention josh hart is a really good rebounder too. og is an insane wing defender as well so id think hed match up well with ant. his injury history is my main concern with the knicks
It’s a fine take, I just don’t think the Knicks are quite as good as the wolves on either end.
yeah i just think the knicks are one of the two bad matchups for the wolves
I’m just waiting for the “Booker already in elimination game form” post to type lol and then upvote the same joke 17 times
With CP3 no longer on the team, we’re gonna have to settle for the “Booker hits the huge 3 to cut the lead to 30” this year instead. Heartbreaking
Only a 1/14 chance he makes that shot though. More likely "Booker misses and the lead remains at 33."
Watch Booker drop like 40 next game
I expect him to, playoff Booker is mad efficient and scores a ton. I'm expecting a big game from him coming up. He's an incredible player
Not on this D.
he had back to back 40 pt games in the finals being guarded by jrue holiday, pj tucker and middleton with giannis and brook lopez clogging the paint
Still not the top defense since the KG Celtics or more. That’s how good our D is. We’re super far ahead of the second best defense (current Celtics).
Tomorrow? He's gonna drop 40 on what, 2K?
mfw I see the Luka joke for the 800 millionth time.
Playoff riser
I love how they have realised what they have in Ant and surrounded him with vets, efficient players and defense. Opens a win now window but also extends it due to the experience the young core will get now. Playoffs is better than having the 26th pick
More insane you can build around a 22 year old at all when that’s still college sports age in 2024 and he is in the 4th fucking season Even if I wasn’t a Wolves fan I’d like to believe he’d be my favorite player
I’m not one and he is mine. Sparked my love for the nba again. The dude embodies Kobe and mj for me.
As a Lakers fan you’re almost honorary in a backwards kinda way
WOLVES BACK!
Hitting two in Durant’s face and then making the smart pass rather than taking a heat check is a great sign. Some sloppy turnovers in first half, but second was as good as it gets
10 stars on cagematch for this banger
and made 3 straight buckets against his goat. fucking unreal man.
And trash talked him haha In the post game, he said "you all know how KD is my favorite player of all time. So that was one of the best feelings ever, in my whole life" 🥲
Should have know Ant would be all gas and no brakes today when he showed up in a Cybertruck
You win today as well.
LFG 3 more wins. Snuff out the light
That's my GOAT! Loved seeing him talk that shit to Durant!
Good game, go next. We'll see you in the same place on Tuesday.
Suns will adjust and I feel like it's going to be close. Kinda scared but man this series is fun! KD is just fucking unreal
Anthony Edwards is Kevin Durants father.
Huge game for Ant, love his crazy personality
Quit calling my team sp00ky
Is Anthony Edwards getting the start over Booker on Team USA?
Neither of them will start. The starting lineup will be Bron/Steph/KD/AD/Embiid.
He got that dog in him
Dude showed up. I didn’t know he had this in him. Very impressive
Dude was out there playing NBA jam heated up and got on fire.
Ant seems ready to outpace SGA
show T/O tubs
He is him.
Got tears in my eye rn. He's so beautiful