Timberwolves’ Chris Finch Laments ‘Sluggish’ Game 3 Performance

Highlights

The Timberwolves fell flat in Game 2 after winning the first two games against the Nuggets.
Minnesota struggled offensively as no Timberwolves player scored at least 20 points.
The Nuggets demonstrated champion-level play on both ends, led by Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokić.

The Minnesota Timberwolves suffered their first loss of the 2024 NBA Playoffs after the defending champion Denver Nuggets gave them a good old classic beatdown in Game 3 of their best-of-seven second-round series on Friday night. This is the first time in this postseason that the Timberwolves were off the rails on both ends of the floor.

After the 117-90 loss, Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch lamented Minnesota’s performance, especially offensively.

“Just sluggish, slow… The pace up and down the floor wasn’t where we needed it to be where it has been all postseason. The decision-making wasn’t there. The general movement and activity wasn’t there.

I thought then we tried to shoot our way after one pass when the game was still there for us to be had. We didn’t want to work very hard for our offense and got a little bit lazy and we missed those shots… Not a lot of good things on either end of the floor, really.”

Timberwolves Failed To Take Stranglehold

Minnesota had Denver on the ropes after winning Games 1 and 2

The Timberwolves had the chance to put the Nuggets on the ropes after they took both Games 1 and 2 in Denver. But the defending champions answered the bell with a championship-level response in Game 3 with a dominant performance on both ends of the floor.

Minnesota just could not get anything going offensively, as no Timberwolves player eclipsed the 20-point mark. Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns were both spectacular, dropping 27 points apiece in their dominant Game 2 win in Denver. That, however, wasn’t the case in Game 3.

Though he led the team with 19 points on 8-of-15 shooting, Edwards wasn’t his electric self on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns, meanwhile, made 4-of-5 from beyond the arc, but was limited to just seven shot attempts overall for 14 points.

The Timberwolves offense just looked flat and a step slow, as Finch mentioned. But credit the Nuggets’ defense for coming up big. As a team, Minnesota shot just 43.7 percent from the field and made just 10-of-33 from beyond the arc.

In particular, Jaden McDaniels, Mike Conley, Naz Reid, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker made just 2-of-13 combined from long distance. Friday also marked the first time in this year’s playoffs that Minnesota failed to reach the century mark.

Nuggets Dominated Timberwolves On Both Ends

As poorly as Minnesota played, Denver deserves credit for the way they took it to the Timberwolves in Game 3. The Nuggets simply looked a lot like the champions they were. They were firing from all cylinders offensively and locked up the Timberwolves on the other end.

Jamal Murray was enemy No. 1 for Timberwolves fans entering Game 3 after he threw a heat pack during their Game 2 loss. The Target Center crowd booed the Canadian every time he touched the ball. Murray seemed to relish his villain arc and reminded Timberwolves fans just what Playoff Jamal can do.

After shooting just under 30 percent through Games 1 and 2, Murray finally regained his form from the first-round and dropped 24 points on 11-of-21 shooting.

Meanwhile, Nikola Jokić, who was recently awarded his third MVP award, finished with a near triple-double of 24 points, 14 rebounds, and nine assists.