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The Suns are in trouble
The Minnesota Timberwolves are bullies – at least that has been the case so far in their series against the Phoenix Suns. They beat and embarrassed the Suns in the first game. In the second game, the Wolves did it again. This time, however, it wasn’t Anthony Edwards doing spectacular things and talking trash on his way to victory. It wasn’t even Karl-Anthony Towns exploding. (Ant had 15 points on 3-of-12 shooting and eight assists. Towns finished with 12 points and eight rebounds in 24 minutes.)
Last night’s full moon saw Minnesota dominate Phoenix with a 105-93 victory, but the score wasn’t that close. The Wolves controlled the entire second half by simply being physical and forcing the Suns to be uncomfortable. Rudy Gobert locked them up. Jaden McDaniels did the same scoring a game-high 25. Mike Conley Jr. was the best guard on the ground most of the night.
Phoenix couldn’t get into its sets effectively, so the Suns fought quicksand all night. Minnesota forced 20 turnovers and scored 31 points off those miscues. The Suns? They were just two points behind the Wolves’ 14 turnovers. Nothing was easy for them, so they were excluded from the field.
Things were going so well and so easily for the Wolves, Ant appealed to referee Zach Zarba in the third quarter. It was a one-point game, but the Wolves couldn’t have been calmer. What was great was Zarba. was not trying to give Ant a handshake. He was just trying to make him come at the point of arrival.
F
The Suns are having trouble getting home. This feels a lot like their series against Denver last year. They need to review their style of play to get back into it. Otherwise, they will be pushed to Cancun.
The rest of last night:
Pacers 125, Bucks 108 (series tied 1-1)
- What is the scenario? The road team won! And what many of us predicted for game one happened in game two. Milwaukee couldn’t stop Indy from scoring when he wanted. However, if you wish 🌶️, Bobby Portis called the Pacers favorites to only speak when they are standing.
- Who played ? We had another big game from Damian Lillard (34 points), but the trio of Pascal Siakam (37-11-6), Myles Turner (22-7-6 and three blocks) and Andrew Nembhard (20 points) was too much. for the Bucks. Tyrese Haliburton only had 12 points but dished out 12 assists.
- Who failed? The Bucks defense gave up 52 points in the paint, the one area they are supposed to expertly protect.
- What is needed in game 3? In three words: the return of Giannis Antetokounmpo. Milwaukee needs its unstoppable force to put pressure on Indy. Shams has more on this below.
Mavericks 96, Clippers 93 (series tied 1-1)
- What is the scenario? Kawhi Leonard is back after missing the Game 1 win, but things didn’t go well for the Clippers, who seemed completely out of rhythm on offense. Some of that was forced by the Mavs defense, but the rest was just bad shooting. They couldn’t keep up with Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving. A 3-pointer by Paul George at the buzzer made it a one-possession loss. Also look at this passage from Luka.
- Who played ? Luka had 32 points, nine assists and six rebounds. Kyrie had 23 points. And 15 of PJ Washington’s 18 points came in the second half. James Harden had 22 points and eight assists.
- Who failed? Kawhi had 15 points on 17 shots with no 3s and attempted just two free throws. The Clippers shot 36.8 percent.
- What is needed in game 3? Ball movement! LA’s offense was constipated and needs to move the ball against Dallas.
The latest news from Shams
Giannis update; Bulls make changes
Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo is making progress in his recovery from a calf injury, doing some ball-handling drills and stationary jump shots, league sources tell me. But I’m told it’s more of an injury two to four weeks from when he was injured in terms of a possible return, and Tuesday marked exactly two weeks since Giannis left the game against the Celtics.
Giannis missed Milwaukee’s final three games of the regular season and the first two games of the Bucks’ series against the Pacers, which we now know will last at least five games after Indiana tied it 1-1 last night . We’ll see how the two-time MVP continues to progress.
In Chicago, Bulls assistant Maurice Cheeks is expected to leave his full-time bench role on Billy Donovan’s staff, league sources tell me, although Cheeks could remain in another role under Donovan. Cheeks has coached under Donovan since 2015, first in Oklahoma City and then in Chicago. Assistant Chris Fleming is also no longer on the Bulls staff, I’m told, while assistant John Bryant is expected to move to the bench next season.
Wemby or Joker?
Who would you start your team with?
One of the best arguments basketball fans like to have is which player they would choose to start a franchise. Who do you want to build around? NBA players seem no different. In the anonymous player survey conducted by Sam Amick, Josh Robbins and Athleticism staff, we received 136 votes from players answering this same question. Maybe they I know what lies ahead after the historic rookie season we just saw in San Antonio.
Rookie of the Year favorite Victor Wembanyama (20) received 27.9 percent of the vote, edging out reigning Finals MVP Nikola Jokić and his share of 27.2 percent. It’s crazy when you think about it! I’m not even sure this is wrong, because there are many ways to split this, but that’s how the impact Wemby had on the league In first year.
Jokić is likely to win his third MVP award in four years. He is the defending champion and could be the favorite to win another title and another Finals MVP. The Joker won’t turn 30 until next February, with no signs of slowing down. Maybe the players think he will leave in a few years to take care of his horses?
Do not mistake yourself. Wemby is awesome. I could choose it too. He’s incredibly young and already a defensive monster even if he doesn’t know what he’s doing there. He’s also a monster in attack without knowing what he’s doing on that side either. Wemby is only going to get better, but it feels like we have a boat against the mystery box situation here.
THE Most Improved?
Tyrese Maxey takes home honor after career season
Yesterday, the league announced its first award of the 2023-24 season, with Most Improved Player honors going to Sixers All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey. He is the second 76ers player to win this award (Dana Barros, 1994-95). Interestingly enough, Maxey only appeared on 79 of the 100 ballots, but received the highest number of first place votes (51), which helped him garner 319 voting points to edge out the guard of the Bulls Coby White, who finished with 305 voting points and appeared on 91 ballots. .
My official ballot contained one of 32 first place votes given to Coby White. I also voted for Maxey and Alperen Şengün on the other two places in my ballot. Even though Maxey and Şengün were fantastic, I felt their game improving last season before benefiting from a higher volume of use This season. But with White (24), he has never been better at any point in his career and has completely increased his impact this season.
Bouncing passes
Looks like a Jokić brother punched another fan in Denver. I’m sure the Nuggets will act quickly. 🙄
These reports from the last two minutes remain completely useless.
Legendary Purdue big man Zach Edey declares for the 2024 draft. Where is he going?
Screenplay (all times Eastern)
- The game you want most: Pelicans – Thunder (9:30 p.m. ESPN). Hopefully we will have another match like the first match.
- Game you got first: Heat-Celtics (7 p.m. ESPN). You need to eat your vegetables before you enjoy your steak.
(Top photo: David Berding / Getty Images )