The San Antonio Spurs' tenacious ball pressure bothered the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 2. Minnesota had 22 turnovers en route to an embarrassing 133-95 loss. Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle combined for nine of these turnovers. Besides doing a better job of taking care of the ball (which absolutely needs to be done), the obvious counter to this problem would be matching the Spurs' ball pressure.
While the Spurs collapsed on driving lanes and threw two on the Wolves' ball handlers, Minnesota typically opted to guard the Spurs straight up. Even still, the Spurs committed 15 turnovers (most of which were careless passes or offensive fouls).
The Wolves' best path to winning this series is turning it into a slugfest. That was the blueprint in their Game 1 win, and despite their overall defense being solid in that win, I still think they could have pressured the ball more. In Game 2, though, the Wolves' defense didn't offer much resistance at all, and this must change for Minnesota to take control of the series.
Why increasing the defensive pressure would help the Timberwolves
San Antonio's talent is undeniable, and they have a fantastic backcourt. However, they're still a young team that could be bothered by an intense Minnesota defense dialing up the pressure. For instance, Stephon Castle had five turnovers last game despite the Wolves typically guarding him straight up.
With this in mind, if the Spurs continue to pressure the Wolves, there's no reason not to match this pressure, especially given their overall defensive acumen.
Jaden McDaniels must stay out of foul trouble as he'll be central to the Wolves' defensive attack and ball pressure. If McDaniels can stay on the court, though, the Wolves' ball pressure could be highly disruptive to the Spurs.
The Spurs are an average 3-point shooting team, ranking 15th in 3-point percentage and 16th in made 3s. As such, if the Wolves pressure the ball and collapse on driving lanes, it's worth wondering if the Spurs can truly make them pay for this strategy.
If this backfires, fine, go back to a more straight-up style of defense, but to me, this seems like an obvious counter that the Wolves need to try. The playoffs are all about making adjustments, and Chris Finch has proven he can do this at a high level.
Undoubtedly, the Wolves need to activate their transition scoring more to match what the Spurs are doing, and to do so, their ball pressure needs to ramp up.
Overall, the advantages of increasing the ball pressure and collapsing on driving lanes more are undeniable for Minnesota. If the Wolves are able to win this series, I'm nearly positive we'll be discussing this adjustment as a key reason.
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