Timberwolves, betting underdogs against Suns, prep for game 1
MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Timberwolves are hosting the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
Despite that and a great regular season, they are the betting underdogs against the Phoenix Sun.
The three-seed and home court is a new feeling. After all, it has been 20 years. It's not like last season when the Wolves were in the play-in round.
"You know last year, when you're in the play-in game it's literally like try to survive and advance, like NCAA tournament style. So, you know, you don't have the same amount of like preparation whether it be mental or physical," said Wolves coach Chris Finch.
It's almost a week until game one; precious time to get right after ending with a dud.
"Prepare ourselves for ourselves. Prepare ourselves to be the best Timberwolves team that we can be," said center Rudy Gobert. "A lot of the details that I think we need to work on to be able to maximize our potential and be able to get what we wanna get."
The next opponent is the same as the last one. The Suns — with stars like Durant, Booker and Beal — provide a plethora of problems.
"We have to make adjustments, obviously. Things that we need to do gameplan-wise or matchup-wise against them," said point guard Mike Conley Jr. "Because they're a team full of great players, team full of guys who've done it at a high level. And you know, it's going to be fun, it's going to be a fun playoff race."
The Wolves went 0-3 against Phoenix. The mission now: win four out of seven.
"If there was ever a time for this team to earn its shot and right at a parade here or to get to the second round, it's only right that it would be against a team that we found the most difficult for ourselves this year," said power forward Karl-Anthony Towns.
The Wolves and the Sun face off in game one this Saturday at Target Center in Minneapolis.