NBA Playoffs Series Preview Guide: #3 Timberwolves vs #6 Suns

Well, here we are again, friends.

The Minnesota Timberwolves are back in the NBA Playoffs for the third straight season as an underdog, this time facing the No. 6 seed Phoenix Suns, the only Western Conference opponent they did not defeat in the regular season (0-3).

Anthony Edwards, Karl-Anthony Towns, Rudy Gobert and the Timberwolves are hoping to add another bullet point to their long list of “firsts since the 2003-04 Wolves” — win a first-round playoff series. But it won’t come easy, as they drew another All-Star trio of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal, who are playing their best basketball of the season entering the playoffs.

Not only does Phoenix boasts the best net rating in the NBA against Minnesota this season (+15.6), but it is twice as high as the next highest team (+7.8). Even more impressive, only seven teams held a positive net rating against the Timberwolves this season, but just two of them (the Suns and the Chicago Bulls) won the season series.

But the good news for Wolves fans is that their favorite team will have had an entire week spent at home preparing for how to solve the Suns equation. While their counterparts have done the same in the desert, the practice time may be more valuable for the Timberwolves. Towns is still working his way back into rhythm from a torn left meniscus that sidelined him for 18 of the team’s final 20 games of 2023-24 campaign, and, well, Minnesota perhaps more desperately needs to find answers that evaded them in the three regular season matchups.

More than anything, the Timberwolves need to carry an all-time high sense of urgency into the playoffs.

They have two veteran stars in the primes of their respective careers in Towns and Gobert, and a blossoming superstar in Edwards who is just scratching the surface of what he can mold his insane physical gifts into on the road to building a potentially all-time great career.

Not only that, but the Wolves have a historically elite defense led by the greatest rim defender of this generation, a 6-foot-10 weapon who is just good defending the perimeter as he is the interior (and already one of the league’s top defenders at just 23 years old), and a 6-foot-5 on-ball pest who doubles as a 50/50 ball master with a knack for fourth quarter . But behind all of them is a home-run hitter in the clean up spot inviting anyone to come get it on aisle three, where he raises his defensive level — and amplifies his teammates’ defensive impact — commensurate with the stakes of the moment.

But the tricky part is that for all of their collective buy-in and egoless play on the defensive end, it doesn’t translate the same way on the offensive end.

There, they are led by a 17th-year veteran conductor in Mike Conley, who does everything in his power to help the group perform the music as its composer wrote it, from setting a good tempo to directing others to play louder or quieter, sequencing solos, and everything in between. While he can insert himself where needed, he cannot control whether those in the orchestra play the right notes. No song will sound good or play the way the composer intended it to if the players can’t hit the right notes at the right times.

The song may sound one way in the dress rehearsal, but if the real thing doesn’t match the rehearsals, difficult changes will have to be made regarding who plays and who doesn’t, and that may ruffle the feathers of a group who has not cared who is first chair, second chair or third chair all season long. If the Timberwolves are truly as egoless as they have shown, they’ll let Head Coach Chris Finch do whatever he feels is necessary for his music to sound as he intends it to be heard.

Either way, Wolves cannot let mediocre offense evolve into the kryptonite of its great defense. Because if they do, they will spoil a chance to continue a historic run that, like Conley said on Thursday, does not come around often.

Matchups to Watch

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Defensive Alignment + Philosophy

If there is one single thing to take away from the Timberwolves’ three regular season matchups with the Suns, it is that Phoenix proved to be the one team Minnesota couldn’t quite neutralize defensively. Head Coach Frank Vogel’s group produced an offensive rating of 123.7 against the Wolves’ defense, the second-highest mark of any team in the league. For reference, the Boston Celtics’ 123.2 offensive rating leads the NBA this season, while the league average is 115.6.

Minnesota has a uniquely big lineup, as one of two teams that starts three players 6-foot-10 or taller (joining the Orlando Magic). One would think that smaller, more athletic teams that can spread them out and shoot a ton of 3s would find success. Or perhaps teams with physical point guards that can overpower Conley.

The two teams that immediately come to mind are the Suns and the Los Angeles Clippers, who had polar opposite experiences playing the Timberwolves this season. L.A. produced an offensive rating of 105.6 (would be last in the NBA over a full season) and narrowly avoided going 0-4 against Minnesota in an 89-88 win. Phoenix, meanwhile, has done some serious damage. Why?

Well, the Suns are a significantly more athletic team than the Clippers are; Booker, Beal and Grayson Allen can all explode off the dribble to get past the first line of the defense, whereas Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and James Harden cannot say the same. The Wolves’ defense is incredibly tough to score against when they can keep ball-handlers in front of them; they were able to do that against the Clippers, but not the Suns. L.A. isolated more (12.0% of total possessions) and scored more efficiently (1.051 points per isolation) than any team in the league, per Synergy. The Clippers also scored 1.109 points per possession on spot-up plays (which include catch-and-shoots, as well as attacking close-outs), ranking third in the NBA, per Synergy. Phoenix ranks

But between Jaden McDaniels, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Edwards, Gobert, and Kyle Anderson, Minnesota had more than enough to stick with the Clippers laterally, which made it difficult for L.A. to get into the paint, break down the defense, force scrambles, and make extra passes to create open 3-point looks or opportunities to attack overly aggressive close-outs.

However, outside of Edwards, all of those defenders lone defensive weakness is a relative struggle to contain very quick matchups. So, with this in mind, it would make sense that Minnesota can structure its defensive assignments around containing Phoenix’s speed on the perimeter.

Theoretically, a stronger first line of the defense can prevent the Suns from getting into the mid-range (where they shoot a ridiculous 47.4%, second-best in the league) and the paint, from where they spray the ball out to the perimeter and play generally great offense in spot-up situations (1.087 PPP, seventh-highest in the NBA). For reference, the Timberwolves hold opponents to shoot 40.9% on mid-range shots (second-lowest in the NBA) and 0.993 PPP on spot-up plays (also second-lowest).

But in the three losses (most recent first), Minnesota allowed Phoenix to shoot 51.6% (21st percentile), 35.7% (75th percentile), 51.3% (17th percentile) in the mid-range, and score 1.400, 0.960, and 1.571 PPP in spot-up situations, according to Synergy. So, what can they avoid from the first and third losses?

Well, first up would be to put Towns on Durant instead of Allen. For as good as Durant is, he isn’t going to consistently blow past defenders on the drive; while he can, he doesn’t want to play through that much contact consistently. KD at this stage of his career is much more of a finesse player who wants to play in the mid-range and above the 3-point line, with the occasional post-up mixed in. Towns is much better suited to defend that style of play than he is to chase Allen around on the perimeter — a strategy that has never worked throughout his career. Not to mention that Towns — if he maintains discipline — has the height to make Durant’s jumpers as difficult as one can. Durant is shooting a whopping 51.0% on 2-point jumpers and 41.3% on 3s this season, per Synergy.

From there, the logical next step is to backfill the Allen assignment with Conley, who has primarily played a chaser role all season. I’ll get into this more in a bit. Gobert will likely check Jusuf Nurkić like he has all season, since he can sag off the Bosnian big man, who shoots just 25% from 3 and takes just 12% of his shots from deep.

That brings you to your last choice — McDaniels on Booker or Beal. My vote would be to keep Jaden on Booker, as Slim limited him quite a bit as a scorer in the second and third matchups, and that should continue on some level in this series. Minnesota will live with Booker beating them as a playmaker (like he did in the second game with 13 assists, albeit with seven turnovers), but not with him stacking efficient scoring performances. I feel confident that length (McDaniels) is a better choice than physicality (Edwards) when it comes to guarding Booker. If McDaniels can force him to consistently take contested shots or pass out of the mid-range, the Wolves will live with the results that come with good process.

Edwards getting physical with Beal feels necessary with how easily the three-time has scored in the previous two matchups; Beal scored an easy 14 points on nine shots in 27 minutes earlier this month before dropping a very loud 36 points on 14/21 shooting, including 6/6 from deep, in the regular season finale. Edwards needs to take that matchup personally and make it difficult for him to get going.

Beal is often the first substitution out for Phoenix before returning later in the quarter (like Towns for Minnesota) to bridge into the second quarter. That will likely put Nickeil Alexander-Walker in position to check Beal during his second stint. Edwards could then switch to guarding Durant as a means of keeping McDaniels on Booker.

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Offensive Rebounding

The Wolves have a good opportunity to create easy offense for themselves against a defense that has given them trouble this season. Minnesota rebounded 32.4% of their own missed shots (sixth-best against the Suns) and averaged 20.0 second chance points against Phoenix (third-best) this season.

(For reference, the New York Knicks lead the NBA in offensive rebound percentage at 32.2% and the Utah Jazz lead in second chance points at 16.5 per game).

They need to continue to lean into this not only as a means of scoring, but also to get Nurkić in foul trouble. Among players who played at least 1,000 minutes per game this season, Nurkić committed more fouls (254) than anyone in the league. His 3.3 fouls per game mark tied for second-most with a slew of players, including Towns.

Nurkić is an excellent rebounder (11.0 per game, ninth in the league) and Phoenix struggles profusely to close out stops with boards when he is off the floor. Opponents’ offensive rebound rate drops by 7.2% (99th percentile) when he is on the floor, per Cleaning the Glass, so hitting the boards hard and putting consistent pressure on him to not only defend the rim but also keep Gobert and Towns off the glass will be imperative.

The Timberwolves also need to keep the Suns off the glass in their own right. Phoenix out-rebounded Minnesota on the offensive glass 13-12 matched the Wolves’ 21 second chance points in the most recent matchup. But the Wolves won the first two matchups 28-10 and 11-4, respectively, so focusing their energy there on offense will be important.

While Phoenix is the league’s most efficient transition offense (1.229 PPP, per Synergy), they don’t often look to push, as just 15.9% of their possessions are transition opportunities. Minnesota will need to out-rebound Phoenix on the offensive boards while also scoring more second chance points than the Suns score in transition to offset some of their half-court offensive deficiencies.

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Mike Conley vs. Grayson Allen

Both Conley (11.4 PPG, 44.2 3PT%) and Allen (13.5 PPG, 46.1% 3PT) have been the fourth scoring options for their respective starting lineups, and fill integral roles as players that can put defenses in a bind with their 3-point shooting and could swing this series if they score consistently. They will also likely guard each other after the Timberwolves’ failed Towns-on-Allen experiment.

Allen at 6-foot-4 and 200 pounds is significantly bigger than the 6-foot, 175-pound Conley, but 61% of his shots come from beyond the arc and just 25% of them come at the rim. To Allen’s credit, he scored seven points on floaters (including an and-1) in Sunday’s win after going six games in a row without scoring on them. The more the Wolves can force Allen to continually play below the 3-point line and against his scoring tendencies will be something to watch.

The former Duke star has been a Wolves killer this year, averaging 19.0 points on 55.9/62.5/90.0 shooting splits. Allen is 10/16 from the 3-point line, which makes Conley running him off the line is crucial. They also have very similar substitution patterns, so don’t be surprised if Conley mirrors Allen’s minutes somewhat closely. Expect one of Conley, Jordan McLaughlin or Monte Morris to be on the floor in that chaser role during Allen’s minutes.

Each player is his respective team’s most lethal 3-point shooter by percentage, so the more 3-point shots they can get up, the better his team will be. The Suns face a similar challenge the Wolves do in that they are a very efficient shooting team (38.2% 3PT, fifth in the NBA), but take the sixth-fewest attempts (32.6). Whichever player can fill it up more consistently in games during which any combination of the three primary scorers are struggling to score very well may extend their team’s season into May. Among high volume jump shooters, Allen (1.354 points per jump shot) and Conley (1.281) are the two most efficient in the entire league, per Synergy.

The Wolves are 27-8 (63-win pace) when Conley scores at least 12 points, while the Suns are 10-4 (55-win pace) when Allen scores at least 15 points, so keep an eye on that race.

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Bench Scoring

This is probably the area in which the Wolves have the single-greatest advantage in this series. The Suns are dead last in bench scoring this season at 26.6 PPG, while the Timberwolves rank 21st at 32.3 PPG.

The Suns are going to play seven guys, with Royce O’Neale and Drew Eubanks the two bench players; perhaps we’ll get a rare Bol Bol, Thaddeus Young or Josh Okogie sighting, but that would likely only take place as a result of foul trouble. And Young and Okogie are pretty much defensive specialists at this point, as Wolves fans know.

Soon-to-be Sixth Man of the Year Naz Reid is more than capable of outscoring the Suns bench by himself, but has really struggled against Phoenix this season, averaging 10.3 points on 11/28 shooting (39.2%) overall — 7/16 (43.8%) on 2s and 4/12 (33%) on 3s — and has single-game plus-minus marks of -5, -19, and -17. Both O’Neale and Eubanks have done a good job on Reid inside, so he may look to get up more 3-point looks in this series, especially if the Suns sell out to defend Gobert and Towns on the roll.

Alexander-Walker and Morris will need to be willing scorers as well, especially if they run pick-and-roll. Phoenix allows 0.932 PPP to opposing pick-and-roll ball-handlers this season (seventh-most in the NBA, per Synergy), so activating NAW at the rim and Morris in the mid-range, respectively, will be crucial to give the Timberwolves’ offense an extra five-to-10 points per game.

A subplot to monitor here whether Finch plays Morris or McLaughlin as his second point guard. Morris was the odd man out in the regular season finale, as he didn’t play until the fourth quarter. McLaughlin barely played, himself, logging just eight minutes split between the start of the second and fourth quarters. Anderson may firmly be in the rotation initially for his defense on Durant and short-roll playmaking in “small” lineups with Towns at the 5, but how many minutes Finch allots to Slow-Mo vs. Morris/McLaughlin will be interesting to keep an eye on, especially if the Wolves struggle with spacing and subsequently scoring in the half-court.

X-Factors

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Minnesota: Jaden McDaniels

McDaniels is hailed as a tremendous defender, which he has certainly earned through his first four seasons in the NBA; but he is also a pretty talented offensive player. However, the problem is that his confidence, and thus his offensive impact, has waxed and waned throughout his career. Given this inconsistency, teams often try to hide their worst defender on McDaniels. This will happen in this series as a result of the Suns loading up with two and sometimes three defenders on the ball and in the gaps to defend Edwards. McDaniels is going to get open looks and needs to knock them down; he shot just 34.7% on catch-and-shoot 3s this season after shooting 38.7% a season ago.

The Suns, like they did in each of the first three games, will likely start Booker on McDaniels, as the former Kentucky star has guarded the Wolves swingman for 37.1% of McDaniels’ time on the floor, per NBA.com. While the four-time All-Star has improved defensively, he is four inches shorter than McDaniels, who has a high release point. Jordan Goodwin (16.6%, no longer on the team), Durant (11.3%), Grayson Allen (9.1%), Eric Gordon (6.3%) and Beal (4.7%) follow Booker as McDaniels’ most frequent defenders. Outside of Durant, who only really guarded McDaniels when Towns was out, they’re all guards.

That is important, because Jaden is 6-foot-10 and has a high release point, and generally has an easier time 1) getting to his spots and rising up over guards in the mid-range and from beyond the arc, and 2) finishing driving through them and finishing at the rim. McDaniels shoots 51.7% from the floor and 37.8% from deep while holding a 12.0% free throw rate against guards, but those numbers dip to 48.6%, 28.7%, and 9.3%, respectively, against forwards.

McDaniels both staying out of foul trouble and maintaining his defensive level while also punishing the Suns’ guards offensively could swing this series for the Wolves, but it is a big ask given his shooting inconsistency this season. Timberwolves fans should certainly hoping that seeing exclusively guards in front of him will help bring more aggression out of him.

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Phoenix: Royce O’Neale

O’Neale is the most important Sun in this series because of his ability to unlock what is arguably the most potent five-out lineup in the Western Conference. There is going to be a point in the series where Nurkić inevitably gets in foul trouble (or really struggles to defend Gobert or Towns) and Vogel will want to go small, so he opts for O’Neale instead of Drew Eubanks. How well O’Neale holds up defending whichever of the Timberwolves’ three bigs is on the floor will be pivotal.

Minnesota was without Reid (and McDaniels) after the Sixth Man of the Year frontrunner broke his left wrist against the Suns last March, and that really showed in the playoffs. He has been an exceptional third scorer on nights Edwards or Towns struggle, and has pretty consistently dominated poor defenders over the course of his time in the Wolves’ rotation the past couple of years. If O’Neale can keep Reid in check like he has the first three times he’s played Reid (including his time with the Brooklyn Nets), the Timberwolves could be in trouble. Reid has scored just five points on 2/7 shooting and 1/4 from beyond the arc in 37.2 possessions with O’Neale as his primary defender this season, per NBA.com. The same applies for Towns, although Durant would likely be his matchup in that case.

And then on the offensive end, if O’Neale can knock down 3-pointers at a high clip, play make on the short roll in the middle of the floor, and throw smart extra passes to open up for his teammates 3-point looks and opportunities to attack close-outs, he is going to be a problem that Minnesota will have to solve.

Key Question That Will Decide the Series

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Which version of Karl-Anthony Towns do the Wolves get?

It feels as though most people are skeptical of Towns’ ability to be additive rather than subtractive to the Wolves’ chances of winning this series, which is both 1) crazy to think about considering he was an All-Star this season and 2) a damning indictment of his on-court Q score. His struggles in games of significance are well-documented. Towns is a max player has has a “good game” rate of about 50% in postseason games, which you’d surely like to be better for a player of his stature.

Towns — who played well below 100% in the playoffs against the Denver Nuggets last season as a result of never really regaining leg strength or explosion after missing four months with a calf strain — told me after his return against the Atlanta Hawks that he feels much better physically this time around. This season, he was able to do considerable leg strength training during his rehab, which he couldn’t do much of last season given how fickle a calf strain recovery is. Despite that, he figured out how to be effective as a scorer against the Nuggets, stringing three very efficient scoring performances together in Games 4, 5 and 6 while also cutting down on his turnovers.

The hope is that he’ll be able to do that from the jump in this series with better health and a full week of practice to prepare for a playoff opponent — something he hasn’t had the past couple of seasons. That preparation surely has focused around how Towns will be used offensively. KAT’s positioning on the floor will likely depend upon how Phoenix guards Edwards in the pick-and-roll with Gobert.

If they show two or three on the ball like they have in the last two matchups, it may make more sense to have Towns set screens up top so that Edwards can quickly find him and KAT can make plays on the short roll either as a scorer or a facilitator. Asking Nurkić (or Durant as a low-man defender) to sit in the paint and defend both Towns on the drive and Gobert in the dunker spot will be a tough ask.

But if they defend Edwards with one up top and use a second defender to tag Gobert on the roll and take away his lob dunks, spacing Towns to the corner as a shooting threat will be imperative. Reid did a phenomenal job of this while Towns was injured, even improving upon KAT’s 5.3 3-point attempts per game, getting up closer to seven a night and knocking them down at a 44% clip. But since he returned, just two of KAT’s 19 total shots attempts have come from the corner. He made both of them, including the go-ahead 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter against the Hawks off an Edwards feed on the drive.

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Plays like this are exactly why fans and analysts alike have been calling for Towns to spend more of his time with the starting unit as a floor spacer in the corner. It is extremely difficult to defend an Edwards/Gobert pick-and-roll with just two defenders, and the most common third defender to use in help is the opposite corner low-man. Positioning Towns in the opposite corner is going to put defenses in a bind. If a defender flies at Towns like Garrison Mathews does there, he could pretty easily have had a dunk if he wanted, too. Those are the kinds of drives that everyone wants to see. Simple, open drives where he can attack the rim without fear of driving into a crowd, hooking a defender, or ramming over an opponent looking to take a charge.

Beyond his positioning and shot mix, how quickly Towns makes decisions with the ball is going to decide whether or not he is additive or subtractive to the team’s offense, especially with the starting unit.

While KAT didn’t make shots in his first game back (understandable and not really problematic since they were good looks!), he really made an evidently conscious effort to either shoot, pass, or drive quickly; you could see the wheels spinning in his mind in real time. As a result, he dished out eight assists — his second-most in a game this season — to just three turnovers. We’ll take an 8-3 assist-to-turnover ratio all day long. Perhaps more importantly, five of those eight dimes were to either Gobert or Reid. That big-to-big passing element of the Wolves’ offense has been pretty non-existent since Towns went down and it helped create easy baskets while Edwards was struggling to make an impact.

But against the Suns, he either abandoned this mentality or wasn’t disciplined enough to keep it front of mind. Towns committed more turnovers (5) than made shots (3) and assists (2), often holding the ball for far too long and zapping any offensive rhythm or flow in the half-court. Not to mention he wasn’t aggressive enough as a shooter, taking just eight shots and four from beyond the arc, which will need to increase if he is going to be an effective player for the Wolves.

Simply put, 3-point shots and low-block post-ups need to take up — at minimum — three quarters of his offensive usage.

KAT’s drives are important for keeping defenses honest at times, but too often feed inefficient play (slow decision-making, offensive fouls, turnovers, and missed shots at the rim that lead to Towns on the ground and transition run-outs for opponents), while his 3-point attempts and low-block post-ups often happen quickly and result in Towns taking shots in areas from where he is not only efficient, but an elite scorer.

Among players who post-up and shoot as frequently as Towns does (2.7 times per game), he ranks sixth in 1.071 points scored per post-up and has the fourth-best field goal percentage (57.3%), per Synergy. Not to mention that among the 99 players who have taken as many 3-pointers as Towns has (327), his 41.6% 3-point percentage is 10th-best in the NBA.

Towns turns it over (either bad pass or losing the ball) on 10.4% of his drives, the worst mark of the 67 players who drive it as much as KAT does. The only player who passes less than Towns (on just 19.6% of his drives) is Jaren Jackson Jr. — and we all remember how much we preferred him driving vs. doing anything else in that Memphis series a couple years back. Yes, Towns does score 7.5 points per game on the drive, just north of a third of his total scoring output. But he is an otherworldly jump shooter, whose 1.160 points per jump shot mark ranks 16th of the 102 players who have taken as many as Towns has (390) this season.

(For reference, Stephen Curry is 14th at 1.164. Fun fact, Mike Conley (1.281) is second, while Naz Reid (1.234) is fifth.)

The former No. 1 overall pick earned his unicorn status not by driving into the lane and flinging crazy passes to teammates like Nikola Jokić or dunking over defenders with the incredible athleticism of Giannis Antetokounmpo. He earned it by bombing away from 3 as a spot-up and pick-and-pop threat that unlocked a unique amount of space for a dynamic handler like Edwards to enjoy. It was only in the 2021-22 season that Towns found the right balance of floor spacing and posting up mixed with playmaking and athletic finishes on the drive; but it has been a thing of the past since then.

Towns focusing on what made him great needs to be at the forefront of his mind as he enters a series that very well could decide his fate as a member of the Timberwolves’ future core.

If he struggles to consistently find his playoff sea legs early in the series for a third season in a row and the Wolves fall to the Suns, it’s difficult to justify building around an Edwards/Towns/Gobert core, and Towns is likely the odd man out before his supermax extension kicks in this summer.

But if the four-time All-Star brings his A-game and find success against whatever the Suns defense throws at him like he did in the first matchup this season, he can flip the script on the Suns. Phoenix faces massive projected financial and team-building penalties if they choose to run back this roster with very few avenues for improving other than trading one of its three stars.

And if Towns himself becomes the one to apply pressure instead of face it? Well, that would be a beautiful irony, wouldn’t it.

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Prediction

I have the Wolves winning the series in 7.

The Suns’ offense is obviously as explosive as any in the league and will win them at least one game by simply overwhelming Minnesota’s defense with exceptional ball-movement and shotmaking out of the pick-and-roll, but Phoenix’s defensive turnaround deserves a ton of credit, too. The Timberwolves have struggled to score against switching defenses, as they get bogged down, stop moving the ball, and turn the ball over too much, partly as a result of Finch’s reluctance to call plays and get things more organized in the half-court. Whether that last point changes or not in the playoffs, we’ll find out.

But Minnesota is much deeper than Phoenix and can play more multiple than the Suns can, especially defensively. The Timberwolves boast a historically elite defense with four truly world class defenders in Gobert, McDaniels, Alexander-Walker and Edwards. Beyond them, Anderson is a switchable, 6-foot-9 forward with a 7-foot-3 wingspan that can check Durant in small-ball lineups, and Reid has taken a major leap defending 3s and 4s on the wing. Minnesota also has two of the top-seven defenders in terms of points per isolation allowed, according to Synergy (min. 50 isos defended), in Anderson (0.703, fifth) and Gobert (0.728, seventh), who has been incredible when switched out onto the perimeter all season, regardless of whether he defends guards, wings, or bigs.

And if you were to rank the 15 best players in the series, you could make a great argument for the Wolves having nine of them (Edwards, Gobert, Towns, Reid, McDaniels, Conley, Alexander-Walker, Morris, Anderson).

Phoenix is a pretty difficult team to play in a one-game setting, but their shooting numbers should stabilize over a seven-game series, and Minnesota has more cards to play when the series becomes a chess match. The Wolves can comfortably play big with two of Gobert, Towns and Reid, go small with Towns or Reid at the 5, play drop, switch everything, blitz, play a high wall coverage, or zone.

I envision Edwards and Towns will conjuring up just barely enough offense for the Wolves defense to outlast the Suns’ offense in 7 in what should be a fun back-and-forth matchup.