OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) 鈥� The Minnesota Timberwolves must solve Oklahoma City鈥檚 鈥楢AU鈥� defense to avoid a 2-0 deficit in the Western Conference finals.
Minnesota鈥檚 Anthony Edwards used the term to describe Oklahoma City's young, aggressive unit after the Thunder held the Timberwolves to 34.9% shooting in on Tuesday.
鈥淚 mean, it鈥檚 hard to process because it was different every time,鈥� Edwards said after Game 1. 鈥淗eavy in the gaps, sometimes trap the ball screens sometimes don鈥檛. Sometimes just run and jump. It鈥檚 kind of similar to like AAU. They remind me of like an AAU defensive team. Just run and jump. Fly around. It鈥檚 pretty good.鈥�
Edwards said the first key for him is to be more aggressive. He didn鈥檛 like that he scored 18 points on just 13 shots in a Game 1 loss, well below his normal output. He said his adjustment for Game 2 on Thursday night will be a simple one.
鈥淧lay without the ball a little more, get a little more cardio in,鈥� Edwards said. 鈥淪hould be good.鈥�
Minnesota coach Chris Finch said there鈥檚 plenty of ways for the Timberwolves to improve. They made just 15 of 51 3-pointers in the opener and committed 17 turnovers.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got to pick up our decision-making,鈥� Finch said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e definitely got to play with more force. We鈥檝e got to play with more pass-pass combinations. We got to go somewhere a little bit quicker.鈥�
Oklahoma City leads the league in defensive rating by a large margin in the playoffs. The Thunder lead all playoff teams with 10.8 steals per game and an opponent field-goal percentage of .407 in the postseason.
Lu Dort and Alex Caruso are two of the league鈥檚 best on-ball defenders. Caruso is versatile enough to defend guards or a big like Denver's Nikola Jokic, as he did last series.
Jalen Williams and Shai Gilgeous Alexander are quick and strong and are good in passing lanes 鈥� Williams had five steals in Game 1. Cason Wallace is an exceptional athlete. That allows the Thunder to keep fresh bodies on an opponent鈥檚 best players.
In the paint, Chet Holmgren has been one of the league鈥檚 top rim protectors and Isaiah Hartenstein has been one of its top rebounders.
The result can be overwhelming. Several Minnesota players struggled with their shooting on Tuesday. Mike Conley made 2 of 8 shots, Donte DiVincenzo made 3 of 14 and Nickeil Walker-Alexander made 3 of 11.
Edwards said it was more about the Timberwolves than the Thunder.
鈥淭hey got great looks, just couldn鈥檛 make them,鈥� Edwards said. 鈥淎 lot of them went in and out. And that鈥檚 going to help us. That鈥檚 going to help me and Ju (Julius Randle) because they usually make those shots. So we鈥檙e not really worried about them making shots. We鈥檒l be all right.鈥�
Thunder coach Mark Daigneault expects the Timberwolves to adjust.
鈥淭his is a really, really good team that鈥檚 got great resolve,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hese are great players. They have a great coach, tactically. So they鈥檙e going to have the next pitch that we鈥檙e going have to hit. We are aware of that, so we have to get to work.鈥�
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AP NBA:
Cliff Brunt, The Associated Press
