This really needs to be said more, the timberwolves are better than the Lakers and are the better coached team. I don’t see this series going to 7 games and I also don’t see the Lakers winning the series as a whole

44 comments

  2. “If Minnesota is somewhat competent” is the key phrase.

    Luka and LeBron will presumably play mistake free. Ant and Randle need to do so as well.

  3. I have trouble with the NBA meta conversations. It’s like it’s own world and I don’t get it. Folks just want to argue / spin.

    **A best of 7 series should tell us what we need to know about these two teams…** with the note that the Twolves are not above playing uninspired basketball at times and seem generally incapable of getting their butts back in gear. But if that happens the maybe they’re not “better”.

  5. The whole “competent late in games” part is the issue. We are about the worst clutch team in the league for a reason.

  6. My hot take on clutch time: there’s zero reason why we are below league average so we will revert to the mean come playoffs and have an epic run resulting in a chip.

    You’re welcome.

  8. The execution late in games is a major question mark, being arguably the worst clutch team in the NBA is especially noteworthy against guys like LeBron/Luka who manipulate games so well.

  9. People call me crazy when I say the wolves have a good chance here. I agree with the caveat that they’re very inconsistent in the clutch, but they’re known to get a wide lead in the first 3 quarters. If they keep it that way and stay smart in the 4th it’s hard to see this go in the Lakers favor.

    My only concern is the whistle. “Durr refs are gonna rig it” even tho the Lakers are smarter at drawing the whistle and the wolves are known to commit really dumb fouls. That’s really my own concern here, cuz Bron and Luka are gonna get theirs regardless. Just keep them off the line and we have a chance.

  12. Lakers been playing great against teams with size and athleticism. They ran off OKC out of the building 2 weeks ago in one game and held a lead in the third before luka got tossed out couple of days later.

  13. Lakers have one of the best 3 players in the league and one of the best two players all time.

  14. Man I’m just excited for some playoff basketball. Our biggest weakness this year was being unfocused at times and then tight when we got down to worse teams, or playing sleepy basketball at home. None of these should rear their heads in the playoffs of all places. I think we give em hell but everyone in the west is good so we’ll see what happens.

  15. I think it’s foolish to disrespect JJ Redick. If our argument is that the Twolves are a better and more athletic team than how did the Lakers finish above us in the standings. Their team had many disruptions besides the massive trade, they had injuries and a blown up trade. Their schedule was much more difficult than ours to close the year as well. Redick did a very good job of coaching this year, let’s just be honest.

  16. Adding in “better coached” is funny, esp considering its a lie

    JJ Reddick was better this year. Lakers have some of the best gameplaning in the league, meanwhile Wolves are the worst clutch team and Finch couldnt draw up a successful play after a time-out.

  17. Navigating zone and late in games … this is pretty much why we’re a 6 seed this year

  18. It’s kinda hilarious so many people are confident one way or the other. This is an incredibly uncertain matchup, as they’ve never played each other full strength. We just don’t know.

    I’m fine with people making predictions of course, but all these commentators and analysts never mention how this is by far the most uncertain series of the bunch.

    With that said, Wolves in 4.

  19. These Homer takes are going to age badly if we lose. I don’t see the upside to acting this confident. Who are we trying to convince, and to what end?

    Last year the Timberwolves couldn’t get through Luka, And now he’s paired with LeBron James. A melding of two of the most versatile and well-rounded players the league has ever seen. I know he had Kyrie Irving before, but now we also has Austin Reeves, who is a dog.

    The Timberwolves are more athletic and longer, but that’s really the only advantage they have. The Lakers have more experience, and more consistent production from their core.

    JJ Reddick won Lakers fans over this season after a lot of them were about ready to write the season off, thinking that hiring a podcast host was a mistake. They performed better this year than the Timberwolves did, in the same tough conference, despite the identity and roster of the team being shuffled mid-season. And now for the first time, their group has had a chance to sit, analyze, and practice with everything they’ve learned, with the goal of beating the wolves in a series. Luka is going to give them all the information they could hope for.

    The Lakers won’t have an answer for Ant outside of double-teaming him, and trying to force Gobert into holding the ball away from the basket, and then live with giving Julius Randall open shots, as he doesn’t have the greatest track record in the playoffs. But the IQ of the Lakers is such that they will have considered all of this and come up with a variety of answers that they will implement throughout the game until they find something that works. If the Timberwolves aren’t absolutely locked in they’ll get beat.

    I think it’s foolish for other team to think they’re better than the other, or for the fans of either to be cocky either way. They both have advantages and disadvantages, it’s going to come down to who is the most focused and determined to win.

  20. Why is everyone afraid of the Lakers? They won 1 more game than the Wolves. Even with Luka they were only slight above that pace.

    They are a small, unathletic team as a whole. They have 3 very good scorers and playmakers with little to no depth beyond them.

    The Wolves have the size, athleticism, and depth to make life miserable for them. Naz, Donte, and Naw are the best 6-8 off the bench group in the NBA.

    Who’s guarding Ant? Who on the Lakers is protecting the rim when Ant and Randle take it inside? Who is grabbing boards from Rudy, Randle, and Jaden? The Lakers have problems to solve as well as the Wolves.

    Luka picked apart the Wolves last year, but so did Kyrie. Ant matches up a lot better guarding Reaves. Luka doesn’t have Gafford and Lively this time. Lively in particular killed us in the short roll and the lob. Hayes is not at that level, which is why they tried trading for Mark Williams.

    I’m not saying it will be an easy series for the Wolves, just don’t understand why many Wolves fans have already counted us out. It will be a hard fought series that goes 6-7 games.

  21. I’d love to Finch put his dick on the table and roll out something crazy like Edwards, McDaniels, Naz, Randle and Gobert for like 8 minutes and see how many rebounds we can get.

  22. If our lowest BBIQ players had 60% of Lebron and Luka’s IQ and clutchness I’d agree. Playoffs come down to the margins and that’s where we struggle. But anyone saying we have no shot is an idiot – this Wolves team is incredibly strong, deep, and peaking at the right time.

  23. It’s the Luka pick and roll that we couldn’t stop last year that is concerning 

  24. I’m not sure I trust the guys to be somewhat competent at navigating the zone right now

  25. I’m a big Finch supporter but idk how you can argue we’re a better coached team. I’d agree with evenly coached maybe, but JJ Redick has already shown a great ability for game-to-game adjustments and being able to extract great defense out of a roster with a lot of holes on that end.

  26. MN is a deeper team, no doubt, Ant continues to improve his shot and decision-making ability. He’s also seen doubles so consistently this year that I have no doubt he’ll way better than he was last years playoffs. He’s also red hot right now. Let’s hope he keeps the insane shooting going. That being said, a 40 year old LeBron and a prime Luka Doncic with his crazy shot making ability is a worry for any team. The attention of those two alone commands will open things up so much for players like Austin Reeves. I’m pretty sure Austin is going to average 20+ this series.

  27. This is a valid comment all around, zones have been giving this team fits like in the Milwaukee game for instance. They’re going to have to work on that

  28. I think its either gonna be Lakers in 5, or us in 7. Luka and Lebron HAVE to be on demon time the whole series or else they’re screwed. If we are even moderately good, or even better than we have played like against the Blazers, then we’re taking this series. Luka just scares me. Him and Jokic against us can erase 20pt deficits like they’re nothing.

  30. Idk about better coached. JJ Redick is *really* good and very well-prepared. Yes, he’s a rookie head coach but he played in the NBA for 15 years, played for Coach K for 4 years and has been around excellent coaches. If you listen to his podcast, he was thoughtful and it was clear he studied the game in an intelligent way.

    Not saying this means Wolves will lose (I agree we are a better and deeper team) but I think JJ will have a game plan to cover up his team’s weaknesses.

  31. My only concern is blowing 20+ leads tbh. And that has nothing to do with the lakers

  32. I see why ppl are picking the Lakers. Better top-end talent, they’ll have the officiating advantage, they’re the only team NBA talking heads watch or care about…

    But the last few years the playoffs have been about functional depth. Just seems like the Lakers will essentially always have 1-2 players on the floor that don’t really belong in the playoffs. Think this is Wolves in 5.

  36. Timberwolves are literally the perfect team to beat the lakers. Naz “Naz reid” Reid can easily guard lebron or luka, McDaniels and randle can also do that, Ant can easily stop austin reaves. Lakers will always be in the negative defensively when they play a 40 yo bron, luka and reaves. Not to mention, gobert’s gonna absolutely feast against lakers sorry excuses for centers. How anyone with an ounce of basketball Knowledge can think otherwise is beyond me.

  37. Usually – not always – in playoff series, the team with the best player wins. I’d go into this assuming that Luka is the best player, but it’s entirely possible Ant could outplay him for a series. Rudy and Hayes is an interesting matchup. If we can get Rudy lobs, that would help a ton. Hayes is definitely more athletic (and a lot smaller, of course). Mostly, it’s a really odd matchup. Even Jaden does not matchup well against LeBron or Luka because they can just bully him because he weighs about 190 soaking wet with rocks in his pockets.

    Given our track record, we’d better be winning games by 10+, because we are nearly incapable of winning close games.

    We do seem to play a lot harder against good teams when the stakes are higher, so hopefully we show up instead of lollygagging through quarters.

  38. Yeah I mean. Luka, LeBron and Reeves are obviously pretty lethal. I can see why nobody is willing to bet against them. I have full faith in Anthony Edwards to put on a performance, but we need everyone else to perform at their best every night and consistency hasn’t exactly been our thing this year. We def have the potential if everyone gets going though.

  39. LeBron figured out how to beat Gobert a long time ago and that’s him rubbing the 5 and putting Gobert through screens. I’ll like to see how finch adjusts

  41. We just scored 8 points in the 4th in 10 minutes against the bucks, anything is possible. If we live up to potential we are a top 5 team in the league though.

  42. ESPN said Lakers have better depth, what a joke. Probably best player. Not depth though

  43. Did this fucking subreddit not learn its lesson from the WCF?? I’m confident in MN as much as the next fan, but seriously, this thinking just sets us up for disappointment.

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