Locked On Wolves POSTCAST: T-Wolves Show Heart In Dramatic Loss vs. Denver Nuggets

Locked On Wolves POSTCAST: T-Wolves Show Heart In Dramatic Loss vs. Denver Nuggets

Absolute Mayhem at the Target Center as the wolves go toet to- Toe with the defending champs I got the expert Tyler meaf he’s going to help us break it all down and it’s all coming up next on the lockdown wolves Postcast you are locked on wolves postcast part of locked on Minnesota on the locked on podcast Network your team every day what’s up what’s up back in the lab back at it another t-wolves postcast episode right here on the lockdown Sports spota Network you got myself Luke

Inman lukor spin that’s the man Tyler metf he’s on X at Team metf 11 and Tyler before we jump into all the action quick reminder tonight’s episode brought to you by LinkedIn LinkedIn jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to faster post your job for free

At linkedin.com lockdown NBA that’s linkedin.com lockon NBA to post your job for free terms and conditions apply uh all right man wolves coming off that season sweep last night over the Jazz feeling good as far as you know winds go but this team is just going through it when it comes to bigname

Injuries no capat we know that still no Rudy goar he’s missed three games now and now if that’s not bad enough no Nas Reed he missed the second half last night with concussion like symptoms so no one really knew what to expect tonight in fact I think a lot of people

Were kind of gearing up buckling up for a blowout I mean you never know what you’re gonna get but this was one of I mean I know they lost here and we’ll get into it one of the games of the year though if you’re just a fan of good

Basketball one of the best games the wolves have been a part of this year nuggets going to 143 run to end the first half they score 70 heading into the locker room wolves fight back though outscore M 2917 in the third quarter thanks to Anthony Edwards just putting

The team on his back once again in the end though the t-wolves despite just an A+ effort they fall short 115 112 they fall to 47 and 22 they moved to third place in the west now we’ll touch on that a little bit more here coming up

But man this turned out to be an absolute incredible gutsy gritty game especially again compared to what we thought we were gonna get on paper heading in kick us off here Tyler what were your biggest takeaways maybe the a topics from this one where do you even

Start just the the fight and uh confidence in this team is very very real and going into this game it was like is this just one of those games where they sit everyone and just chalk it up as a schedule loss where I mean they’re missing three three of their

Centers their three centers uh they’re coming off of or it’s the second night of a back toback that was just in Utah uh they landed at 3:00 a.m. this morning they’re going against Denver who you know everyone is basically everyone’s favorite for uh to repeat as Champions

Um if not Boston and joic as MVP and this is a game where they really could have easily won this I mean you look at just some of the numbers here seven Miss free throws 34% from three while Denver was at 52 that’s kind of the story right there and there weren’t

I know Jaden had a big night tonight but outside that there wasn’t any real outlier fluke performance by any of the role players on the Timberwolves it was just a real team effort against a fully loaded and fully healthy Denver team and it took every ounce of effort from

Denver to pull off this win yeah man if if just one or two more of those buckets could have F man especially during that three four five minute Mark wolves kept making stop after stop after stop it was like a lid was on that Rim though but

Again like you said give this team credit they fought their butts off they brought the defending champs down to the wire again missing so many big big name key players on this roster this team I mean they’ve been on the road for two weeks they’re playing the second half of

A backto back with again three of their bigs and best players out of the lineup and they brought this one down to the final second so I guess what are the biggest positives even in a loss I I know as much as it stings now and I

Don’t want to go too cliche the bit here but what did we just learn about this team as far as just their heart and their fight that they have yeah and the the the biggest kind of category that stands out to me is the rebounding differential and you know Denver

Finished with 51 they outrebounded the Wolves but the wolves are 46 it’s f a difference of five when your starting center is Kyle Anderson your backup center is Luca Garza the fact that that’s only a five differential that should be embarrassing for the Nuggets honestly um I was expecting that to be

In the 15 range I was expecting the Wolves to give up TW near 20 offensive rebounds tonight it felt like it was going to be kind of a repeat of that Anthony Davis performance against the Lakers where he just dominated everything because there’s just no size

Out there to deal with them but just some of the defensive matchups that the Wolves were able to throw out there they were able to kind of put Nila Alexander Walker and Jaden McDaniels in spots where they were really able to consistently uh collapse from the weak

Side disrupt stuff around the rim and then that also kind of put them in uh position to secure a lot of those rebounds uh eight rebounds combined between those guys the team on the total tonight had 10 steals seven blocks compared to five and one for the Nuggets

So that defensive playmaking that high intensity their ability to force just a ton of turnovers tonight it was really really impressive and just a really gutsy effort on the defensive end how in the world are we get a look back at that six-game road trip and then what

Happened tonight and explain what and and who Anthony Edwards has become and kind of evolved into I mean another 30o performance tonight the dunk of the season last night guys got 25 or more points in the second half six times this year no that didn’t happen tonight but

Just a crazy stat I had to pull out that’s second most in the NBA behind only dearn Fox again I know they lost tonight but but bro the legend that is Anthony Edwards the way he had the Target Center rocking in the third quarter during that comeback put it into

Words best you can I guess after the last seven games of what we just watched we’re seeing a young star emerge into a worldwide Superstar I it’s he’s taking over games on both ends of the floor he’s creating highlight plays but then also scoring at volume and also

Rebounding and then taking on the toughest defensive matchup uh creting for others he’s finding ways to impact the game all over the place I know he kind of disappeared in the fourth quarter tonight but that’s because he had to do everything to even bring them

Back into the game in the third and they were blitzing every pick and roll they roll he ran they were doubling him every time he touched the ball and he still had 38 and eight that’s huge that is absolutely huge um and like the these last couple highlight plays the dunk

Against the Jazz the block against the Pacers he’s always kind of done those highlight things where it’s like oh my God the upside the potential what this guy could be the athleticism it’s freakish but now he’s also combining that with elevating the play of everyone around him of doing the little things on

The court that he wasn’t doing and it’s just that consistency any player in the NBA is capable of going off for a huge night for 25 plus on any night the great ones are the ones who do it every single night and he’s doing it every single

Night right now uh no unicorns on the court again as we’ve gone over no cat no nazri no Rudy I’m trying to find some positives and at least we’re getting some good looks at what some wolves small ball looks like if and and and when they need to you know throw that

Rotation out anytime moving forward what do you see from the smaller lineups I guess these last two nights now with no big men on the court and and any chance you think they could still be successful if were they were to you know kind of be

Forced to go that route in the future I I think it’s definitely proving to be a viable option you know kind of better than we thought right yeah exactly like a a break glass in case of emergency type thing instead of a uh like hey it’s second quarter let’s throw this out

There for extended minutes but what it allows them to do is be super versatile on the defensive end be really aggressive and getting up into the ball handlers and we saw that tonight with nil’s ability to really be a pest on ball uh Kyle’s hands digging uh from the

Weak side and on ball Jaden’s just insane we know what he is as a Defender then Anthony Edwards too and then Mike Conley who’s you know not the greatest Defender but he’s incredibly smart and experienced with all of it there’s a reason they for they had seven blocks

And 10 steals tonight it’s because they’re so active they’re so athletic and they’re really versatile in those lineups so obviously having Kat Nas Rudy back is ideal that that how this team is structured and built to play but they just kind of continue to prove that if

One guy goes down they’re going to adapt and they’re going to figure out how to play to their strengths and kind of change their game plan from what they were doing just a week ago yeah no well said um box score scouting I know doesn’t always tell the whole story but

Something to go off of here again ant 30 Conley 13 team best plus 12 in the plus minus Jaden 26 I’m going to save him put him on the Shelf we’re going to talk about him in segment two uh Na Four Points Luca Garza you mentioned 11

Points Monte Morris with eight TJ Warren with six I guess just final thought here as we close out segment one an opportunity to maybe shout out anyone else here for good or bad tonight um I I thought Monte Morris gave him some good minutes um and the the the one two guys

That really stand out rare rough shooting night for nille over for four from three Luka Garza two of eight from three when you look at that two of eight from Luca you know those a lot of them were pretty wide open pick and pop looks top of the key

Right where Nas and Cat Just Beast against defenders in those situations so it’s it’s tough I’m not trying to throw luuka under the bus here um because he was thrown into a role that he’s not used to playing um and he’s capable of making those shots and he’s probably

Kicking himself for missing them but it’s kind of hard to imagine that cat and right cat and or Nas in that situation that either or both of them are going two for eight and Jordan mcclaflin usually always good for that one picking pop three coming off the bench oh0 for one tonight unfortunately

Again when you lose by three in a game like this you just start to replay all those over in your head all right plenty more Deep dive including the Wolves bench play tonight that’s all coming up right after this quick reminder tonight’s episode brought to you by LinkedIn when you

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Linkedin.com lockon NBA that’s linkedin.com lockon NBA to post your job for free LinkedIn terms and conditions apply all right man Jade McDaniels it’s been a roller coaster year I mean I’m just going to call it Spade of spade always gives you this you know A+ All-Star type defense every night but

The shooting been pretty non-existent I mean maybe that’s even putting it politely at times pretty quiet for a while now was tonight the Catalyst he needed in some ways to maybe get going offensively again or or what you see from him tonight I guess what’s your assessment of his play just overall big

Picture the last few games and the the defense has been phenomenal yeah every night and it you know we’ve known that for a couple years now that every night we can basically count on him to be an awesome Defender and he hasn’t been getting in that consistent foul trouble

That we’ve seen so frequently from him I know he had five tonight but a couple of those came late in the game he he just he’s been really good at staying out of foul treble it’s the shot and tonight and previous games too he isn’t really hesitating he’s still letting it Fly

He’s still being confident with it and that’s what you want to see it’s when guys start consistently passing up wide open looks that’s where it’s like oh okay this is this is a big issue he’s getting The Yips and it’s like okay you know if there is an injury or some

Mechanical thing those things can be corrected but the mental aspect that’s where it always gets tricky and if the confidence goes out the window that a little tougher to deal with throughout this entire stretch he’s still shooting he’s still getting up a handful of attempts per game his

Teammates are still driving and kicking out to him in the corner and finding him and not really hesitating on those kickouts it just it really feels like a matter of if or when they fall he’s gonna look awesome and that they fell tonight and he looked really

Good this was his best game in a while in a couple weeks now I think he had that two or three game stretch where he was up in the 15 to 20 point range nice to see him get back to that um and all all night he was just really

Confident and getting to his spots in that kind of short mid-range or just letting it fly from three like that late three that he buried to cut the lead to one or two um he just caught it stepped into it and dropped it it was really smooth it was decisive and that’s what

Most of his jumpers looked like tonight and the results kind of be fruit there uh wolves have trailed by 15 or more and ended up winning by 10 or more three different times this year that’s tied for most in the league with Denver who else go figure what does that

Characteristic say about a team do you think like obviously we’re talking about two of the best teams in the league for a reason right but but what does that crazy stat tell us do you think yeah I well we’re we’re used to that being reversed but it it we are yeah still

Feels weird yeah it just tells you the the depth and the confidence um and just the the maturity in this team where even in all these games where they should be out of it they’re not and they know that they’re more than capable of consistently fighting their way back

Into it um they’re just they’re going to be a really tough out I know there have been a lot of Skeptics about how real they are for the playoffs but you’re going to have to kill them they’re not going to roll over and that type of kind

Of Never Say Die attitude really carries over into the postseason uh I asked Jack this last night I kind of want your two cents as well es I think it’s especially pertinent after tonight’s game give me one reason why you think the Wolves can beat this Denver Nuggets team in a seven

Game series come playoff time now and one reason why you’d obviously be really nervous I the joic is the one and he’s just yeah he’s just the master key and he just he’s insane it’s that simple um I they they I think they just match up

Really well across the board and I don’t think they’re intimidated by the nuggets at all um every every time they play them they give them their best whether they’re underman or not and one through five they have the shooting the athleticism uh to match up on both

Ends of the floor so if they can defend like they have been all season that stuff really carries over um they’re are going to be off off shooting nights like there was tonight but even if they just shoot their average percentage tonight they’re winning despite having over $100

Million on the injury report how much different would you feel going from that one seed that the Wolves held on to for so long during this season to the three seed come playoff time if that’s how it shook out like should we feel different about their chances at an NBA title if

They do drop to the three seed and I guess what are the things that would change your mindset when it comes to that topic the most um my my Bigg worry would honestly potentially Landing a first round matchup with the Pelicans um I I think that’s just a brutal brutal matchup and

The Pelicans have been playing really well recently so hopefully they kind of cement themselves in that five seed um and we don’t have to worry about that but that would honestly be my biggest worry other than that I don’t think it matters I I think the Warriors the Kings the Suns the

Lakers they’re good teams and though obviously you know give a good fight to the Timberwolves but I think in a seven game series I I don’t see any reason why the timber woles shouldn’t come away squeaky clean from that yeah well said all right stick around last segment coming up we’re

Going to preview that Cavs game and these three home games coming up that’s all coming up right after this quick reminder tonight’s episode brought To Us by Stitch fix guys one of the best cliches that always resonates with me the most is if you look good you

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Monte Morris watch you know every episode H how’s He adjusted just bigger picture not just tonight I know he had a good game tonight but just bigger picture obviously he’s a guy who’s getting a lot of run now with all the injuries especially now that he’s back from that hamstring injury how important

Of a piece though to the puzzle big picture has this guy kind of quickly come off the bench for this team and he he’s really important because like and the whole selling point with with him on that trade was that he’s Mike Conley light and he kind of plays like that

Obviously you know their their size similarities have a lot to do with that but once the shot hopefully comes around a little more consistently that’s where the real value comes and even on these nights where whether he was hurt or the shot hasn’t been there I think Jordan

Mclin’s just ascendency as a spot up shooter has really helped kind of it’s allowed Finch to kind of toggle those to a little more consistently where if Monte shot isn’t falling and he’s not having that offensive impact that they want him to have then okay well Jordan mcgloin’s good for one or

Two spot up threes a game now which is a huge development the fact that he’s over 40% from three on the season is really kind of putting pressure I think on Morris and in a a good way where it gives just more pieces to this kind of ever expanding rotation uh one concern

The biggest concern you have and one positive kind of one big good takeaway you didn’t expect from this wolves team over the last what four or five games now without Carl Anthony tals what what comes to your mind top of your head when you think about that uh the just the outside shooting

Consistency yeah um they have a lot of guys who can really get hot in a hurry and light it up from outside you know is but they never kind of seem to do it all together at a consistent rate whereas like tonight jayen went off and nikiel disappeared the other night jayen was

Nowhere to be found and nille went off so it’s kind of finding everyone doing it together and doing it consistently and not just having one guy shoot at a really high level but having a couple guys shoot at an above average level which would be ideal but it’s kind of

Been that way with this team All Season how’s the West looking right now I mean just top to bottom like the last week or so what’s changed over the last two weeks whose stock is up whose stock is pointing down right now and Dallas has been playing a lot

Better recently because they were struggling right they lost like three four in a row about two two and a half weeks ago yeah yeah uh those like first two weeks after the All-Star break that your defensive rating was the worst in the league um not good so they’re kind of starting

To figure out their new pieces Daniel gaffard um is really kind of starting to make an impact there once PJ Washington starts shooting um you know they’ll get they’ll become even a a tougher matchup and then when you just have those kind of on ball creators and scorers and

Kyrie and Luca they’re always always going to be tough especially come playoff time but they’re slowly starting to figure out some of their defensive stuff um and on the flip of that the suns are just kind of floundering and really struggling to find their identity yeah Jeff with the shout out Suns went

From six to eighth seed now over the last week or so interesting stuff going to be interesting to watch this all unfold over these last final what two three weeks now coming up before the playoffs um two more here for you before we close out close out with a little

Preview I guess of this Cleveland rematch remember they went to OT what just like 10 days or so ago that box score that final box score did not really do it justice as far as how close that game really was um but but maybe just in in a broader term in a bigger

Lens combine these next three home games in here as well you got the Cavs Warriors and then pistons and and then gota keep this in mind too where does Rudy and Nas fit into the equation and kind of mindset if you’re coach Finch for this home stand stretch as well yeah

And I I believe Donovan Mitchell will be out of that Cleveland game again I think he just had like nasal surgery um and they’ll be coming off of a game on Wednesday against the Miami Heat which will be a big one for them because of their kind of playoff seating and that e

Eastern Conference rivalry so I they should go three and 0 in this homeand Golden State you know they’re going to be tough especially because they’re fighting for their lives trying to climb out of that N Seed I believe they’re in right now but they’re not that good they’re

Not a great team and I we all know who how bad the Pistons are so that should be a blowout win but this team has not not the cleanest track record of always kind of demolishing the Lesser Talent so it should be a three and 0

Sweep at home um and going into that Denver game on the 29th with a little bit of juice a little bit of momentum and kind of looking for payback from tonight uh last one here this one comes from our guy Sam extrom Believe It or Not host of the Minnesota basketball

Party every Wednesday right here in the lock Sports Minnesota network uh the t-wolves Tyler have five straight home losses against winning teams now how concerned should we be um I’m not honestly um so I’m just looking at these losses it was tonight against Denver they were missing three

Of their top six guys yep um then we that Clipper that Clippers 8988 loss I mean what just an abur score in 2024 uh overtime loss to Sacramento over time they’ve struggled in overtime all season and those games can just go either way and then the Bucks where they were just

Coming out of um the all break so it’s I me it’s not a it’s not a great thing to have happened but overall I’m not too concerned about it because a lot of these losses are just couple shots go the other way and we’re talking about

Five straight home on yeah it’s so true because when you hear that stat and think about that oh my God that’s a heartbreaker hate to hear it but when you take it game by game and dissect each one you’re totally right like each one could have easily went the other way

None of those losses really left you with the feeling like of hopelessness or like they can’t do it they didn’t get blown out in any of those so um definitely not what you want for sure especially when it comes to the wins and losses department but I will say at at

Closer inspection not too worried as well uh all right man great to see you well done as always wolves lose a heartbreaker tonight ver the Champs 11512 but they show some serious heart in a gutsy performance two days of rest followed by three straight home games next one again that’s first Cleveland

This Friday night tip off for that one 7 PM Central Standard Time as always huge shout out to everyone that joined us in the Stream you guys are the absolute best rest assured we’ll be back each and every game same time same place right here to break it all down quick reminder

As well got to go check out all of Tyler’s work on X at teaf 11 anything new haven’t talked to you in a couple weeks anything new you should go uh go check out or be on the lookout for uh just the kanes hoopus team continues to

Do awesome work over there at the site and uh March Madness time so if there are any college guys that go off and you’re like who in the world is this guy go over to No Ceilings nba.com I almost guarantee you that we’ve covered them in

Some form or fashion okay I got to get my bracket in tonight man clock’s sticking down give me uh I mean no spoilers if you don’t want to I get it but but can we can we hear your final four matchup real quick before we get

Out of here oh boy uh off the top or how about the winner how about how about the the championship game this is boring but I I think Yukon is by far the best team in the country right now uh couple sleepers I think I think Marquette could

Make a run um I liked kraton as kind of a sleeper like a week ago but they seem to be everyone’s sleeper so that’s kind of I don’t I don’t know I watched this big 10 Championship round uh Illinois they got this kid Shannon man he he he

Knocked my socks off man I maybe I may have Illinois going a little bit further than maybe I should realistically what do you think about that yeah and they’re they’re playing their bus ball right now and my my concern with him is that if he’s not getting 10 plus free throws a

Game sure what the the offense can kind of fall fall apart um and they did this I think two years ago where they went on a big run won the Big 10 tournament I think they got one seed and then lost on their second game so I’m just a little

Scarred by them big time inconsistency with their offense but if things are clicking right now um it it definitely could carry over uh Nebraska’s got what the Steph Curry of the tournament famine buy are you buying it or are you selling it uh selling okay fair enough all right

Hey guys make sure you check out the uh entire crew on that Minnesota basketball party again that’s each and every Wednesday our guy Sam extrom he’s always hosting gopher leg Ron Johnson in the building Carol Evans Reggie Wilson always bringing the heat plus our guy Ben Beacon always ripping it up over on

The lockdown wolves podcast each and every day as well that’s going to do it for us tonight he’s Tyler meaf I’m Luke Inman on Twitter lukor spining until next time Sig now

Down multiple star players, the Minnesota Timberwolves took the defending champions down to the final shot. Join Luke Inman and Tyler Metcalf for the immediate breakdown and reaction following the game.