Protection can be high of thoughts for each the Minnesota Timberwolves and Phoenix Suns when the groups tip off Friday evening in Minneapolis.
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Minnesota will return to the court docket after a three-day break. The Timberwolves spent a few of that point in observe classes watching movie of latest defensive breakdowns.
“The film doesn’t lie,” Timberwolves guard Mike Conley stated. “When you look at the film and you look at every single guy making mental mistakes, not just mentally, but the effort that we’re putting forth in one game compared to another game, you can’t have that drastic change like that.”
Phoenix additionally desires to tighten up its protection after permitting 132 factors in a loss in opposition to the Boston Celtics on Wednesday evening. The loss adopted a four-game win streak for the Suns, and coach Mike Budenholzer stated he had seen big-picture progress regardless of Wednesday’s struggles.
“I think we should be able to fall back on the progress we’ve been making,” Budenholzer stated. “, we got punched. … We’ve got to find a way to be better, get ready.
“The beauty of the NBA is that we have got an opportunity to go defend on Friday. We have to do higher defensively Friday.”
Both teams are eager for a win to try to improve their playoff positioning. The Timberwolves would like to climb back into one of the top six spots in the Western Conference and avoid a play-in scenario, and the Suns are trying to hold onto a play-in spot as other clubs look to knock them out.
Anthony Edwards leads Minnesota with 27.3 points per game on 44.1 percent shooting from the field, including 39.5 percent shooting from 3-point range. Julius Randle is averaging 18.6 points, and Naz Reid ranks third with 14.7 points per game.
Kevin Durant leads the Suns with 26.9 points per game on 53 percent shooting, including 43 percent from beyond the arc. Devin Booker and Bradley Beal round out the top three scorers.
Beal has been ruled out for Friday’s contest because of a left hamstring strain. It will be the sixth game in a row that he has missed.
Budenholzer said he would continue to look for his big men, Nick Richards and Oso Ighodaro, to help guard the perimeter when needed. Richards had 10 points on 5-for-7 shooting in his most recent game but seemed to struggle with getting out toward the 3-point line to disrupt shots.
“We will most likely follow Nick and Oso and play these two bigs for the 48 minutes,” Budenholzer said. “In some methods, it is a good take a look at or alternative for Nick to get higher scrambling and discovering shooters.
“The way the league is built now, there’s going to be nights where Nick is going to have to find 3-point shooters, Nick is going to have to get rotations. I think he got better as the game went .”
This would be the fourth and remaining matchup of the common season between the groups. The Timberwolves have gained every of the primary three video games, together with a 116-98 victory within the newest assembly March 2 in Phoenix.
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