Yes, the Minnesota Timberwolves have lost two straight playoff games after Friday’s loss to the San Antonio Spurs. The series is far from over, though, and there are a few positives that can be taken from Game 3.
One of those is the play of Naz Reid, who is finding his shooting stroke once again. Dealing with a shoulder issue for months now, Reid is once again shooting from long range with confidence, and he is knocking them down.
Naz Reid has re-found his shooting stroke
Naz’s efficiency went down quite a bit as the regular season went on, particularly when it came to his 3-point shot. Before the All-Star break, Reid connected on 38.5 percent of his 3-point tries. After? That accuracy dropped down to 27.8 percent including just 21.8 percent in March.
In Friday’s loss, Reid shot 4-for-8 from beyond the arc. It’s only the second time since February 22 that he has attempted that many (took nine 3-pointers in Game 1 against the Denver Nuggets) and also the second instance since that date he has made at least four (made four in the same Game 1 he took 9).
With Chris Finch shrinking his rotation for Game 3 down to eight players (and seven after the first few minutes after Mike Conley was taken out), Naz saw 31:58 of game action. That’s the most he has played since January 16. The team was a plus-3 with Reid on the court (meaning they were a minus-10 in the 16 minutes he wasn’t).
In the three games thus far in the series, Reid has made 9 of his 15 attempts from 3-point distance. Naz has been one of the players consistently making shots from deep, as the rest of the team is just 24-81 (29.6 percent). He has also reached double figures in scoring in Minnesota’s last six postseason outings. That’s just one shy of his high mark this season (did it seven straight games from November 24-December 6).
Naz's shoulder clearly isn’t 100 percent. Reid was seen holding it after attempting a full-court shot at the halftime buzzer in Game 1 in obvious discomfort. Naz has learned to better play through it, though, lately.
The points in the paint have dwindled for the Wolves against a much more formidable defense when compared to their first-round matchup against the Nuggets.
To still have a chance in this series, Reid is going to have to keep putting pressure on San Antonio’s big men to leave the paint.
Add us as a preferred source on Google