Timberwolves confidence gets the James Bond treatment in Game 1

The Minnesota Timberwolves may have entered Game 1 of their Round 1 NBA Playoffs best-of-seven series against the Denver Nuggets with high hopes and smoldering confidence, but as has been the case for the Timberwolves all season, you simply don’t know which version of the team you will get until you get there.

By halftime, the Minnesota Timberwolves had fallen behind by a score of 44-55. Ironically, the Timberwolves fans would have been uncomfortable whether the Timberwolves had held the lead, as the team has struggled to close out opponents in the second half.

If the Timberwolves view this series as a prize fight, then they lost Round 1 to the Nuggets and were given a couple of mandatory eight counts in this match. In terms of competitiveness, the first game of this series truly had all of the characteristics of an eighth seed facing a number one seed.

Timberwolves get James Bond treatment at hands of the Nuggets

The Denver Nuggets gave the Minnesota Timberwolves the full James Bond treatment. As far as the Timberwolves’ confidence, it’s been ‘shaken, not stirred.‘  The Timberwolves had no answer for Nuggets center Nikola Jokic. The problem was, that the Timberwolves’ struggles to neutralize Jokic allowed enough time for the remainder of the Nuggets roster to rally offensively.

Defensively, the Minnesota Timberwolves were not horrific. The Nuggets shot less than 50 percent from the floor for much of the game and less than 40 percent from the perimeter. The story for the Timberwolves was their inability to score points. Per quarter, the Minnesota Timberwolves put up 23 points, 21 points, and 14 points respectively. By the end of the third quarter, the Timberwolves had fallen behind by 25 points and the game was all over but the shouting.

The bad news is that the Timberwolves have fallen behind in this series by 1-0. The good news is that despite the horrific performance by the Minnesota Timberwolves, this was only one loss. While it was too little too late, the Timberwolves did get Nuggets center Nikola Jokic to foul out with 6:37 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Where do the Timberwolves go from here?

With a 28-point lead going into the fourth and final quarter, the Nuggets could have sat all of their starters and still been quite confident in winning this one.

To close out this one, the Timberwolves had to gear down and simply work on testing different looks and offensive plays. But the game was dictated by the Denver Nuggets in three vital areas:

Troublespot IV – From early on, the Timberwolves’ ability to get ball movement and find the open shooter was limited, but as the game progressed, the Wolves seemed to become more and more stuck. The Timberwolves seemed flat-footed, and their anemic assists total suffered as a result. The Timberwolves had just 18 assists in this one before Coach Chris Finch wisely pulled the starters and emptied the bench to play out the final four minutes of the game.

Troublespot III – The Timberwolves were completely outclassed in getting rebounds, as the Nuggets continued throughout this game to get second and third chances to score. The Nuggets had 50+ rebounds, while the Timberwolves had just 37 rebounds before the team pulled the starters for the final few minutes.

Troublespot II – The Timberwolves allowed far too many fast break points to the Denver Nuggets, 16 points, and simply failed to run the floor themselves, scoring just three points on fast breaks.

Troublespot I – The Timberwolves struggled to get their shots to drop throughout the game. After eight of their first 16 shots fell, the Timberwolves’ shooting went ice cold. The Timberwolves had only scored 75 points with 4:14 remaining in the game and the starters sitting on the bench.

The Minnesota Timberwolves did not play well. This was not the type of game that I expected the Timberwolves open with for this series. Game 2 will be held on Wednesday, April 19, 2023, at 9:00 pm CT in Denver Colorado.