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‘Timberwolves basketball’ will likely win Game 7 — if Minnesota can deliver it

jace frederick, pioneer press
·4 min read

  • The Wolves and the Nuggets will play Game 7 in their semifinal series at 7 p.m. on Sunday in Denver. Watch on TNT or tune in to 100.3 FM.

The Timberwolves’ coaching staff put together clips ahead of Game 6 on Thursday at Target Center.

No, they weren’t cut-ups of the ways in which Denver had gotten the better of Minnesota over the previous contests in the series. Quite the opposite, actually. It was essentially a hype video comprising Minnesota’s greatest hits from the first two games of the series, both Timberwolves’ victories.

“Just showing that we’re able to compete with these guys. Like, we’ve done it before. Like, we’ve won games,” Wolves wing Jaden McDaniels said. “Just being able to see that and trying to recreate things we seen on the video.

“Like, they showed me and Nickeil (Alexander-Walker) trapping Jamal (Murray). Just us getting out in fastbreaks, playing Timberwolves’ basketball. It was good video. I think it was a great idea from them.”

The intent was to re-instill Minnesota’s confidence as a team, to remind the Wolves what they can do to any opponent when they’re firing on all cylinders and playing their brand of basketball.

It certainly worked in Game 6, as Minnesota ran the Nuggets out of the gym in a 45-point victory.

“Everybody started to believe after that little edit that they put together,” Wolves guard Anthony Edwards said. “I could tell the energy shifted after that little edit.”

Those two things — belief and energy — have helped push Minnesota to where it is now: 56 wins, the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference and now just one win away from the Western Conference finals, which the Timberwolves likely would be favored to win.

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All that stands between the Wolves and a stage the franchise hasn’t reached in two decades is Sunday’s Game 7 in Denver. All that stands between the Wolves and victory on Sunday is the type of effort they brought in Games 1, 2 and 6 — the harassing, relentless approach that doesn’t surrender an inch for free on defense and contests every single rebound.

Minnesota can win with that, as was again evident in Game 6.

After the Wolves fell down 9-2, the team called timeout and Wolves coach Chris Finch and assistant coach Micah Nori informed the team there was no more wiggle room. Either the Wolves would regain their identity or they would go home.

“We all locked in and we understood the assignment. It just finally clicked. We found that desperation we’ve been looking for and we played like that the rest of the game,” Karl-Anthony Towns said. “That defense was something that I think fans of Timberwolves, or fans of the NBA, have seen a lot from us this year.”

Because it’s who they have been for the past seven months, and it should be what they can fall back on in the most pressure-packed moments on Sunday in what’s sure to be a hostile environment.

As Mike Conley noted after Game 6, the Wolves believe that ultimately, they’re the team that won the first two games of this series in Denver in dominant fashion.

Minnesota sounded like a confident crew after Thursday’s thorough beatdown of the defending champs, but they must also check the second box. It’s not a given the Wolves can play “Timberwolves basketball” on Sunday, because Timberwolves basketball is one of the most taxing brands you can play. It’s highly effective, but it is also difficult.

“That takes a lot of mental fortitude, a lot of physicality. It’s not easy to do,” Conley said earlier this series. “What we do out there isn’t easy. We take the hard road, and guys are really buying into that.”

This road — requiring consecutive elimination-game victories over the Nuggets, the second in Denver — is indeed a difficult path.

Towns was asked after Game 6 how much fun Thursday evening was at Target Center.

“It wasn’t fun,” Towns said. “It was not fun.”

Those two and a half hours on Sunday won’t be, either. They’ll be difficult. But if Minnesota can emerge victorious, the feeling after should be awfully satisfying.

“It’s going to take consistency and discipline and execution if we expect to win this best-of-seven series, with Game 7 being next,” Towns said.

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