Timberwolves new attitude: “Let’s get a stop . . . (and end this)”
By Bret Stuter
The Minnesota Timberwolves had outplayed the Dallas Mavericks for nearly the entire game. But they needed the final 15 seconds to seal the win. When the two teams entered the fourth and final quarter, the Timberwolves appeared to have a comfortable 18-point lead. That was down from a high margin of 26 points, but the Timberwolves were still well in control.
That is until the Dallas Mavericks suddenly got hot, as good teams often do when they fall behind. The Mavericks suddenly found their range, and the imposing Timberwolves’ lead began to evaporate. If this were at another point in time of the season, the Timberwolves might have lost this game, but this was a new roster, with a new attitude, and the Timberwolves found themselves facing a do-or-die moment.
They did.
‘Man, let’s get a stop’
After the game, Anthony Edwards was asked to recap what was going on with the Minnesota Timberwolves lineup. You can feel the confidence oozing in what he said next:
Ant: "Man, they got hot at the end of the game. We had to try and calm them down. Me and Jaden, coach asked did we want to foul, I said, 'man, let's get a stop'. This what me and Jaden out here for; we out here to get a stop. So put us on the best two players and see what we do."
— Dane Moore (@DaneMooreNBA) February 14, 2023
And that is just what they did. The Mavericks could not muster a shot in the final 15 seconds just three points down at home, and that is a lineup led by both PG Luka Doncic and G Kyrie Irving.
Hot. The Timberwolves trade of D’Angelo Russell was inevitable. light
That’s no small feat, folks. Just like the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Dallas Mavericks made their best effort to upgrade their roster, landing what the Maverick’s front office believed to be the final piece to an NBA Championship roster puzzle:
The Dallas Mavericks have acquired eight-time All-Star Kyrie Irving along with Markieff Morris from the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, a 2029 first-round pick and two future second-round picks. pic.twitter.com/bmBZFXGJV4
— Mavs PR (@MavsPR) February 6, 2023
That’s the roster that the Minnesota Timberwolves had to face in Dallas and without Karl-Anthony Towns. Somehow, the national media fails to acknowledge KAT’s enduring absence from the Timberwolves lineup.