Timberwolves avoid a sweep in Dallas, so now what? + Bronny James NBA Draft update

DALLAS, TX - MAY 28: Anthony Edwards #5 high fives Karl-Anthony Towns #32 of the Minnesota Timberwolves after the game against the Denver Nuggets during Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals of the 2024 NBA Playoffs on May 28, 2024 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2024 NBAE (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images)
By Zach Harper and Shams Charania
May 29, 2024

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The Wolves just saved us from nine days of no NBA playoff games. We need the league to rig things to give us at least a Game 6. I don’t trust us with time on our hands.

No Sweep For You!

Wolves avoid being swept. Now what?

I will never allow myself to believe an NBA team can come back from being down 3-0 in a playoff series. The Pacers recently became the 155th team to go down 3-0 in a series before becoming the 155th team to lose in such a scenario. Of those 155 teams, only 11 teams have ever forced a Game 6. Even fewer teams (four) have ever forced a Game 7, with last year’s Celtics being the most recent. So, when the Wolves beat the Mavericks 105-100 last night to put Dallas’ brooms away, no part of me thought, “Maybe this is the time.”

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Through four games, the formula for this year’s Western Conference finals has been pretty much the same. Defense has been mostly stellar before we get down to crunchtime in the fourth quarter and see who executes the best. In the first three games, that last variable was Dallas’ strength. The Mavericks have ripped the Wolves’ hearts out in many ways, and everybody has pointed and laughed at Minnesota by result (scroll down for more about this).

But Game 4 was different. The Wolves held a five-point lead with five minutes left, which they maintained to notch their first win of the series. Most of that is because Anthony Edwards took a breath and remained calm. He showed poise and a stillness to his decision-making. With Minnesota up by six in the final minute, Luka Dončić was fouled on a made 3-pointer but missed the free throw, so the Wolves sealed the win.

The Wolves’ biggest performance didn’t come from Edwards, though, despite his team-high 29 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists (six turnovers too). Edwards scored or assisted on seven of their final 10 points as well, but Karl-Anthony Towns finally answering the bell made the difference for Minnesota. Funny enough, the internet has clowned him for a long time, but an article went semi-viral on Twitter yesterday. It talks about how corny Towns is as a person and a player. I won’t link to it because it was poorly done and not worthy of the attention. But maybe the internet suddenly defending Towns created some kind of cosmic gumbo to energize him for a big night.

Towns fouled out in 30 minutes, but not before dropping 25 points on 9-of-13 overall shooting and hitting 4 of 5 from deep. KAT scored 10 points apiece in the third and fourth quarter, respectively. His buckets were even bigger, considering elimination was hounding the Wolves. Now, Minnesota gets to try to do what only seven percent of NBA teams have done in this situation: force a Game 6.

The Latest From Shams

The Athletic has live coverage of the 2024 NBA Draft.

Updates on Bronny James, Pascal Siakam

I’m told Bronny James has over 10 workout invites during the predraft process, but league sources say he’s only planning to visit for workouts with a couple of teams, including the Lakers and the Suns.

James’ father, LeBron, plays for the Lakers and has a player option this offseason, while the Suns have the No. 22 overall pick in June’s draft. The younger James is under consideration there, I’m told. Teams see him as a defensive-minded guard able to handle the ball and hit open shots.

Bronny’s representation, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, confirmed today that James will stay in the draft ahead of Wednesday’s NCAA withdrawal deadline, a decision The Athletic reported two weeks ago was expected.

Elsewhere, Pascal Siakam was a key piece of the Pacers’ Eastern Conference finals run, and retaining the two-time All-Star is a priority for Indiana. I’m told there’s mutual interest between the Pacers and Siakam in getting a deal done this offseason, and the Pacers understand it’ll take a max-level-type contract to keep the forward, who will be an unrestricted free agent. Indiana sent three first-round picks to Toronto to acquire the 30-year-old during the season.

Eastern Conference Finals Hangover

Are the Celtics ready to win NBA Finals?

The Eastern Conference finals were weird. That’s not because the Boston Celtics advanced through the East, nor is it weird they swept the Indiana Pacers, who missed their best player for two-plus games. But we had three really close games that were essentially all one-possession contests (Game 1 was decided by five points in overtime), and you could talk yourself into the idea of those games going either way. Boston was tested and pushed, though maybe never threatened. So, what do we take away from that series for both franchises? I’m so glad I asked!

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What did we learn about the Celtics? Boston still has crunchtime issues on offense, but good lord that clutch defense is like quicksand inside of the octagon: the more you struggle to get out of it, the more your offense sinks, and you can’t get away from it. That cage is locked up, so you’re just stuck in there. The Celtics allowed two points in the final 2:38 of Game 3. They held Indiana scoreless for the final 3:31 of Game 4. In crunchtime, that defense absolutely crunches you.

The Celtics getting Kristaps Porziņģis back will help some of that clutch offense stuff because he’s such a weapon on both ends. Boston must figure out more than just hoping its jump shots go in. For now, though, they may not let you score in the clutch either.

What did we learn about the Pacers? Indiana is a tornado of absolute chaos, and it’s extremely exciting. Not having Tyrese Haliburton for Games 3 and 4 was tough, but the Pacers learned a lot about Andrew Nembhard and T.J. McConnell. Perhaps that affects how they approach the offseason. Maybe they didn’t love Myles Turner being targeted so much, especially when he had an off scoring night. But Indiana’s supporting cast is good. Everybody just needs to learn a little defense.

Award Debate

Should the NBA change how awards are done?

Far be it from me to get baited into TV fodder and clippable, shareable moments on shows for social media. However, I’ve been quite annoyed this past week with the Rudy Gobert debate. First of all, you have to know the two sides of discussing whether Gobert should have four Defensive Player of the Year awards and hundreds of millions of dollars.

  • Pro-Gobert: Typically fans of the team he’s on or the analytics community in general. They will not allow you to be critical of Gobert’s postseason defense. Also, anything that happens against Gobert in the postseason is almost always someone else’s fault.
  • Anti-Gobert: They don’t like his bad hands. They don’t like that he gets scored on in the playoffs. The way he plays is bad, and the aesthetics of his game are goofy. He has no basketball skill at all.

It’s crazy how both sides have been wrong roasting/defending him. Yesterday, Kendrick Perkins said on a TV show that he’s retiring from voting for individual awards because of Gobert winning this season’s DPOY. I don’t want to attack this clip, just examine why this prevailing thought seems so flawed in general. It’s not a Perkins thing. I’ve seen and heard this sentiment so many times when it comes to validating awards.

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Honors like DPOY are regular-season awards, so that regular season is the only thing that should apply to them. The playoffs – good or bad – shouldn’t grant room for revisionist history. I’ve heard voters in the past say they wouldn’t vote for a guy in the future until he does something meaningful in the playoffs. That’s crazy to me, and it should be crazy to anybody reading or considering this.

However, I don’t mind the idea of the NBA changing awards to include the playoffs. If we’re going to focus so much on the playoffs, shouldn’t they be lumped into award voting at some point? Should we wait until the champion is crowned before voting for awards? Should we bring back that stiff Golden Globes style award show the NBA tried once? While the league is fine tinkering with different tournaments and rule changes, I doubt we ever see awards pushed to include the playoffs, but that could at least end revisionist history on a lot of this.

What’s that? I didn’t hear you the first time. You said, “We’d just find new ways to throw revisionist history into the conversations to argue this stuff?” As you were, then … pretend I’ve said nothing.

READ MORE: Tony Jones on Gobert defending Dončić’s game-winner in Game 3 all wrong.

Bounce Passes

Read Jim Trotter on the immense legacy Bill Walton left behind.

The Wolves have harsh lessons to learn before being true contenders.

Jeff Teague tells a hilarious story of C.J. Miles and Paul George. (WARNING: Language)

(Top photo: Jesse D. Garrabrant  / Getty Images )

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