2024 NBA Playoffs: Western Conference Finals: #3 Minnesota Timberwolves vs #5 Dallas Mavericks (DAL leads 3-0)

[FarBeyondDriven]

If I was a betting man I'd put money on Wolves winning Game 4. One loss for Mavs doesn't go against the script and in fact, helps DAL as they'll be able to host another playoff game which is good for millions of dollars. Too tempting to pass up. Plus they have the loss of Lively for political cover.

scratch that, I got my series mixed up. I'd put money on the Pacers to force a game 5 in Boston because of Porzingis being out and BOS getting to host a home playoff game which is worth millions of dollars and a small market team in the luxury tax needs that. I think DAL sweeps the Wolves but I wouldn't bet on it since Lively is out and Game 5 would be in MN.

[dirkules_41]

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Hahahaha love Luka!!!

Funny thing is that you can see Luka has some fat on his face. He is definitely not in a great shape fitness wise.

He has a lot of 'baby' fat on his face.

The really funny thing is how there's a clear and obvious foul by KAT in this video (I guess on top of the ensuing foul by Gobert on Gaff), pretty much what happens every single time Luka drives and yet Edwards has the audacity to cry about the FT disparity in the presser. Unreal

[Petergrifindor]

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Huge play to break the tie and i have no idea what Edwards is doing

My favorite play of the game from Dallas.

The win started here. What a read.

[durden_tyler]

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Huge play to break the tie and i have no idea what Edwards is doing

My favorite play of the game from Dallas.

The win started here. What a read.

More than specific plays, it was Dallas' poise that impressed me. Multiple times in the fourth, the Wolves got the lead and Mavs never panicked one bit! It paid off and they even got that nice big lead late!

[CodeBreaker]

After the last 2 games, all I can say is the Playoff Luka we knew is back.

[SweetTouch]

This series is so simple when you go through the stats

Why are the wolves down 3-0

Looks at their two best players stats lol

Wow had a duo ever been this trash in a playoff series

[Archx]

He must be doing this on purpose lol..

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[rapstarter]

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Didn't realize the difficulty of the shot after that foul. Gobert really pushed him hard.

[Yuri36]

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Huge play to break the tie and i have no idea what Edwards is doing

My favorite play of the game from Dallas.

The win started here. What a read.

More than specific plays, it was Dallas' poise that impressed me. Multiple times in the fourth, the Wolves got the lead and Mavs never panicked one bit! It paid off and they even got that nice big lead late!

That's the result of the confidence they've accumulated for the last few months, particularly down the stretch (see their last wins against Denver or Houston for instance)

[Yuri36]

Kyrie and (finally healthy) Luka with a NBA final and ring on the line? Good luck to their remaining opponents

[SweetTouch]

Also it’s crazy Kyrie has been fully healthy all season

You ask any cavs fans they will tell you it was mostly hard to trust him because he always got injured. The one time he didn’t get injured they won a title

[Van_Trump]

This series is so simple when you go through the stats

Why are the wolves down 3-0

Looks at their two best players stats lol

Wow had a duo ever been this trash in a playoff series

Clippers?

Watch on YouTube

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[Yuri36]

This series is so simple when you go through the stats

Why are the wolves down 3-0

Looks at their two best players stats lol

Wow had a duo ever been this trash in a playoff series

I think perhaps it's better to look the other way and say "look at who are their two best players opponents and how they are cooking them especially down the stretch"

I wouldn't be surprised if part of the reason both KAT and Ant are not playing at their best is that both Kyrie and Luka are on their heads especially the more you approach to the money time.

People really underestimate how hard it's to face two guards like that on the same team, especially when both are possibly the coldest killers in the money time along or perhaps even in front of Dame and Jamal.

[BrianInPhilly]

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Huge play to break the tie and i have no idea what Edwards is doing

I saw this in highlights too. INexecusable lack of defensive focus by Edwards. It's as if he thoughts "Luka/Kyrie will go 1 on 1, I can just chill". Dude had his back turned to his man and the ball, like wtf.

Media won't even mention this though. Gotta pump up the next superstar. Never seen certain guys make such a bad defensive play like this before. Example - Dirk my all time favorite player and it annoys me how people underrate his defense. Dude was always in the right position defensively, never made a defensive brain fart like this, etc. That counts for a lot but people don't look at Basketball IQ / Defensive Focus as a skill.

[BrianInPhilly]

It's cliche but Mavs want this series more & it shows in their effort/concentration.

People critcize the "wanting it more" idea but there's a lot of truth in it. You can FEEL Luka & Kyrie really want this, and their teammates seems to be playing their heart out to make it happen too. No lapse in defensive concentration. Meanwhile Minny's stars just seem way too cool/chill; I don't sense the same desperation even in their body language. Evident from on court stuff too - Too often in 4th Edwards seems to be chilling defensively, he also runs the clock down offensively too much & just dribbles. Not enough purpose.

[BrianInPhilly]

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Didn't realize the difficulty of the shot after that foul. Gobert really pushed him hard.

Honestly how was that not a flagrant? I remember (yes cause I'm older) Jerry Stackhouse shoving Shaq on a dunk Game 4 of the 2006 NBA finals and it was a 1 game suspension for the next game. I thought shoving a guy midair is an automatic something ..

[hauntedcomputer]

I'm more interested in what Luka and Kyrie do on defense. All of Boston's starters are two-way players. So if Jrue Holiday/Jaylen Brown start on Luka, who will Luka defend on the other end? He can't hide defensively this series. Neither can Kyrie.

Doncic and Kyrie are playing all-NBA level defense right now. Communication and commitment. Narratives are hard to shake, I guess.

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[Ssj16]

Lmao KAT saying he’s shooting 1500 shots a day. Why lie?

The Paul George of Big men

If you look at the 3 point shooting contest where they take 30 shots in one minute and multiply that by 60, this would get you to 1800 shots in a hour. I don't think it's that insane for someone to take around 1500 shots it they are doing 1 hour drill as a professional basketball player.

[Ssj16]

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Shai was pretty much comparable to Luka last round, if not out played him, but Luka is definitely looking like his old self in round 3.

[Dundalis]

It's cliche but Mavs want this series more & it shows in their effort/concentration.

People critcize the "wanting it more" idea but there's a lot of truth in it. You can FEEL Luka & Kyrie really want this, and their teammates seems to be playing their heart out to make it happen too. No lapse in defensive concentration. Meanwhile Minny's stars just seem way too cool/chill; I don't sense the same desperation even in their body language. Evident from on court stuff too - Too often in 4th Edwards seems to be chilling defensively, he also runs the clock down offensively too much & just dribbles. Not enough purpose.

That's the type of thing you expect from a heavy underdog who is clearly just lucky to be there, or an already super successful team that maybe falling off a bit. Not a young team who is both favored and has never been there before looking at a golden opportunity to get to their first NBA Finals.