‘Anthony Edwards GUARDING Luka Doncic was THE DIFFERENCE!’ 🙌 – Perk on WCF Game 4 | NBA Today

‘Anthony Edwards GUARDING Luka Doncic was THE DIFFERENCE!’ 🙌 – Perk on WCF Game 4 | NBA Today

okay so the Wolves improved to 3 and0 in elimination games this postseason that’s already the most wins when facing elimination in a single postseason in franchise history so you you both picked the wolves in this game perk what did they figure out in this one what they figure out it’s not what they figured out it’s what they got back and what they found they were lost and now they found who we in are we are we in church yeah we in church because I’m about to preach the gospel they got their identity back that’s one on the defensive side of things they the m to 42% shooting Kyrie was 6 for 18 the coaches did their thing they made in game they made adjustments putting Anthony Edwards on Luca donic was huge in this for that adjustment but then Anthony Edwards damn it he did his thing and he did it on both ends of the floor look his defense his tenacity was there I thought he did an excellent job on the boards he had 10 rebounds last night he was aggressive and here’s the difference when Gard Luca because of the pace Anthony Edwards could keep up with Luca he has the upper body strength to to absorb the contact and look at that close out right there look at that close out the timing of that possession inside stopped the drive by Kyrie Irving closed out took away the drive from the middle and and and forced a turnover with his active hands that’s what you want and look at the emotions that’s what they have been missing they found their identity they got they got their Swagger this is the first game in the series where we saw the Timberwolves truly have a balanced attack and it started with Anthony Edwards everyone will talk about the 29 Points but I want to talk about his playmaking so let’s take it to the court really quick as I show you how key and pivotable this was so watch this he’s backing up because he wants to bait the defense he had nine assists in the second half the most assists in a half in his career he has great vision he kicks it out to jayen mcdang who has shot 55% from three this series the best percentage on the t-wolves so that’s a heady play again he attacks he’s so good he’s so aggressive he attracts three we talk about Kyle Anderson how important he was he only had two points but he had five screen assists that led to 13 points so ant normally those possessions where you’re up in the air and you have no clue where the ball is going he still had a plan a lot of coaches would say don’t put yourself in that position but because he was aggressive because he had teammates that trusted him and teammates that knock down shots you saw a complete playmaking game from Anthony just to add a little bit to that Anthony EDS had has he’s been outstanding this entire Series in his playmaking ability that was great that was great notes uh great footage right there by you but in breakdowns Tate he’s averaging over eight assists in this series like for a young player growing in this situation learning how to adjust to a defense because the defense is focused on Anthony Edwards and stopping them that is a a beautiful thing to see and when you’re orchestrating the offense on this end and then holding Luca to five of 15 shooting against him on the other end that’s the recipe for success and then when you look at the I don’t you didn’t get at all the final couple minutes cuz we’d seen them be in that situation before where where they’ve been minus 13 in the last three minutes and they’re plus two last night all of a sudden they’re on the board but we’re still talking about a 3-1 series here right so let’s look ahead to game five listen to Kyrie Irving he spoke after the loss as well a loss like this it definitely stings it definitely hurts and you know like I said to that question is the level of disappointment we would have Lov to close out on our home floor sorry fans didn’t happen we know that we didn’t play with the best energy or um you know we didn’t create enough opportunities for us to get easy baskets enough and um you know just got to take the the hit on the chin man you told somebody in the hallway you see for game six what where does that confidence come from um what am I supposed to say I’m supposed to say um we going to lose game five no I’m not going to never say that um Michael Parsons you know he was rocking the a1s and I told him he were a size 14 I’ll bring back some nice shoes for game six that’s what I told him I say the only game they really beat us was the last game like the rest of them were close and it was like our mistakes that let us lose but does getting over the hump help you game oh yeah we could probably run off three more now what was that sound perk oh well what’s the sound that goes with this right they’re the 156 team to Trail 3 0 no one has come back but only 15 of teams have even pushed it to a game six and that’s what the the Minnesota Timberwolves have a chance to do with the win at home which also feels a little different that they’re going back home with a chance to push to a game six as opposed to going into enemy territory so it’s never happened before never in NBA history but Chan there’s got to be a first for everything so you guys know I love the numbers and sometimes these numbers don’t lie but for some reason I still have hope alive for the tea wolves because they are going back home they can extend the series which they should use to their advantage and then on top of it they found something that really worked I think a key factor in this that the Mavs really missed was Derrik Lively y his ability to generate energy I think they missed those energy boosters over the first three quarters because that’s what got them to the fourth quarter where Luca and Kyrie could take over and it is looking like Derrick livley is trending in a positive direction here for this game five I think they can win game five but complete the mission perk first of all they’re winning game five it’s going to game six and the Dallas Mavericks look a team like the Minnesota Timberwolves that’s already confident a guy like Anthony Edwards who’s the leader who’s already got a a high level of confidence you can’t give them life and they got life like they’re going into game five and it’s going to be a Smackdown it’s not going to be a a close game remember what happened last series against the Denver Nuggets in that game five when jic was standing over there in the corner with the and we said oh he got the look in his eyes Anthony I was don’t give a damn about that while they’re getting on this plane I’m telling you when they got on that plane the whole thing was we need to regroup it’s going to be fired up we need to protect our homec court advantage and guess what it’s going to be fired up I’m hearing Kevin Garnett is going to be in the building they’ve been waiting on him we know we the passing of the torch and Anthony was that’s some more confidence and some more life with the big ticket in the building okay Insider information so excited about that the only thing that gives me cause for pause is Luca donic did you see how he looked after the game there’s no one that loves suck out of Arena Lua particularly on the road have you watched SC when on the road he trying to make IE make eye contact with whether you’re a fan you’re a player you’re a coach like hahaa I got you the oxygen he gets is from that hate that under uh valued expectation of teams that have to go on the road and win that’s Luca so yes I think they have stolen momentum the t- Wolves but that guy is different too adjustment by coach Finch and his coaching I know a lot of people was like that’s not a big adjustment but it really was for Anthony Edwards chasing Kyrie Irving and Gard Luca donic is two different things because of their style of play right and their pace and I thought when we saw in the fourth quarter was Anthony Edward still had life he had energy he didn’t need a oxygen mask he wasn’t bent over he still looked like he could play another quarter if they had to I think that was the little thing but they just found themselves they got back to who they are they you know they held them to 100 points 42% shooting that’s what I saw in that game you know what’s fun for me in this matchup when it comes to the Dallas Mavericks we talked so much about how they have two closers but it’s cool that we see the t-wolves have two closers and Cat and Anthony Edwards and their ability to have I think that’s it like if you’re able to withstand the storm of the first three quarters and play your best brand of basketball in the fourth where you’re having a truly balanced attack what SA the Wolves was that ant was taking what the defense gave him and let me say this too let me say this oh go ahead I’m sorry no you’re good let me say this I I didn’t like the video clip that I saw circling around uh social media which one uh for as the Dallas Mavericks you cannot disrespect the game of basketball and to say that you’re on you’re one win away okay from going to the NBA finals this is not a shootaround atmosphere that I want to be a part of not when you no no no no no no no y’all can look at me crazy all you want we are a little bit no but but listen to me I didn’t been in a lot of these situations when you’re on the verge of going to the NBA finals it’s tense in that locker room it’s tense at shoot around it’s not dancing perk what year was that huh what year was that what you mean the last time I went to the finals was what 2018 yeah okay okay so you’re saying your last finals not your Championship no I’ve been been five of I guess my point is a lot of people credited Carl Anthony towns his ability to keep things light that helped him be able to knock down shots yeah you know he’s a little different it’s a fine line between going in loose and then being too tight you know that to me is a team being loose knowing that the circumstances are high the same way cat stayed loose so that he could feel good about his game going into the most important game of his career but but let me let me say this when you have a lot of guys with the first time being here it’s a certain type of tone that you have to set because what they thought was that they were going to approach this game and they thought that the Minnesota timberwoods was go roll over and play dead that’s not the case I don’t think they approached that way let me let me say something let me say something and I know it was back in 2008 but the way we had our locker room damn it you couldn’t play your music loud it was quiet as hell in there but it’s it’s it’s you talk about Focus you you go and talk all the all time great and you and the mentality in that locker room is locked in man I’m telling you it’s a different type of mentality especially when you’re trying to go to the NBA finals [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause]

Chiney Ogwumike and Kendrick Perkins join Malika Andrews on NBA Today to react to the Minnesota Timberwolves avoiding elimination and defeating the Dallas Mavericks in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals.

☑️ Subscribe to ESPN+: https://plus.espn.com/
📱Get the ESPN App: http://www.espn.com/espn/apps/espn
🏀 Subscribe to NBA on ESPN on YouTube: http://bit.ly/2yxs3Og
☑️Subscribe to ESPN on YouTube: http://es.pn/SUBSCRIBEtoYOUTUBE
☑️Watch ESPN on YouTube TV: http://es.pn/YouTubeTV