Timberwolves’ seeds planted for success are beginning to bear fruit

The Minnesota Timberwolves laid waste to what was left of the Stephen Curry-less Golden State Warriors in the third quarter Monday night and are now a accomplishment away from progressing to the Western Conference Finals for the second straight season The Wolves can t help that this second-round series became much more lopsided after Curry strained his left hamstring in Contest The Warriors still feature chosen singular talents Draymond Green Jimmy Butler Coach Steve Kerr who are widely esteemed specifically because they have historically elevated their performance to meet the moment as the stakes have risen There is no disputing that Curry is the crown jewel of the franchise and the key component of their dynastic capture of four championships since But each of the rings he and his longtime teammates wear are etched with a history of chimerical circumstance as well as spectacular skill and grueling resilience People can debate whether or not it is better to be lucky than good but there is no question that it is best to be both Wolves dominate nd half Monday On Monday the Wolves did not let the opportunity for dominance lapse They recognized their placeholder mindset which allowed the threadbare Warriors offense to put up points in the first half assumed a privilege they hadn t earned a character flaw that disfigured their credibility even as they were congealing into a deep well-balanced roster with versatile virtues over the second half of the regular season The money quote came from Anthony Edwards who reported after the tournament that he advised his teammates at halftime We only got two wins I ve never seen a best of seven series end - Right now we are playing like we got four wins like they are going to lay down and knowing this band knowing their head coach they are never going to lay down Then Ant and those teammates emerged from the locker room and laid the Warriors out in the third quarter The decisive blitz was a - run over a four-minute stretch midway through the third period Ant had already Fred Astaired his way to five points via a nifty waltz move for a corner three and graceful Euro-stepping to beat rush-hour coverage in the paint for a layup Then he triggered the blitz with force going up among three defenders who fouled him in the air as he shifted hands to get the ball in the basket and then tacked on the free throw The second three points of the run happened when Rudy Gobert stood up Butler driving to the cup Jaden McDaniels snatched the rebound fed it to a streaking Julius Randle who greeted a trio of converging defenders with a pass to Mike Conley on the sideline for a wide open trey The Warriors rebuttal was thwarted when Gobert walled off Jonathan Kuminga into a helpless shot that Butler seized but couldn t exploit because it required his offensive foul to clear the defense Ant was putting up in the paint Two possessions later Gobert closed out on a Kuminga midrange so effectively that his airball could be taken by McDaniels already heading up the floor with momentum The Warriors admirably scrambled back but a high pick-and-roll between Gobert and McDaniels seamlessly dovetailed into a high pick-and-roll between McDaniels and Edwards and Ant capped it by splashing a -foot pull-up trey On the next possession McDaniels denied Butler at the rim dribbled up the court with the rebound and passed it to Ant before midcourt As everyone was getting settled Ant moved in for a pull-up -footer Bang A - run Timeout Warriors It was more than a minute of playing time before the next points were scored Ant poked the ball free from a driving Kuminga Randle retrieved it speed-dribbled down the court and then fed it back to Donte DiVincenzo trailing the play for a walk-up three-pointer that was true Ant fittingly topped off the blitz with a stroll-dribble that discovered himself wide open in the midrange the Warriors clustered in the paint to ward off another lay-up The gimme two-pointer gave Ant points with left to play in the third quarter the Wolves suddenly up - after starting the third quarter down - The - blitz platformed the Wolves declaration of dominance nestled in a - third quarter that rendered it inconceivable that Golden State can wrest the three straight wins required to triumph in this series Curry or no Curry The garden of delights being showcased by this Timberwolves organization thus far this postseason was planted and cultivated at various points over a long and occasionally arduous regular season Sometimes the weather wasn t right the nurturing heat and water out of sync adjustments required that involved both organic restraint and surgical remedies to nip weeds in the bud But close watchers of this Timberwolves gang could see the resplendence quickening slowly but surely for weeks and months now There is squash and spinach at ground level for base nourishment and there are birds of paradise and other fragrant blooms that enliven the soul Timberwolves exceed expectations Postseason success is a fleeting phenomenon that brings such pleasure that one automatically greedily incorporates it into the status quo of their expectations For those with the championship-or-bust mentality there is still a long way to go But it is remarkable that for two straight postseasons now the Wolves have exceeded rational expectations The first chance to close out the Warriors happens Wednesday night at Target Center A conference finals matchup with either the Nuggets or Thunder is now highly probable And June basketball when gardens are at their peak is a viable possibility The post Timberwolves seeds planted for success are beginning to bear fruit appeared first on MinnPost