The Minnesota Timberwolves lost three times to the Phoenix Suns in the regular season, including the season finale. Now, they meet in the first round of the NBA playoffs.
The Timberwolves (56-26) finished with the higher seed, and came in at No. 3 after placing just one behind each the West-leading Oklahoma City Thunder and defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets.
The Suns (49-33) enter the playoffs as a No. 6 seed, while featuring the likes of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal. Losing to them is no cause for shame.
But forget what happened yesterday, Wolves star guard Anthony Edwards suggested. A new day is upon us.
Edwards told NBA reporters that the idea heading into the playoffs is to “figure out a way to beat Phoenix, because we ain’t been able to do it. So that’s the mindset.”
Then Edwards was asked if he thinks Minnesota can be Phoenix when it matters most.
“Hell yeah. Hell yeah,” he said, via NBA reporter Dane Moore. “They won three games in the regular season, regular season over with now. We got the postseason, so we’ll be ready to go.”
Meanwhile, center Rudy Gobert added that the Timberwolves will indeed need to be at the top of their game.
“Regardless of who we play, nothing’s going to be given to us,” Gobert said, via Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. “That’s the beauty of it. That’s why we want to be where we want to be. We want to win a championship. It’s going to be hard. That’s great. Let’s get to it.”
While Minnesota owns the higher seed and home-court advantage, a lot of NBA insiders seem to be leaning toward Phoenix. It is the Suns, after all, who have experience in winning at this time of year, with Durant having played in three Finals and Booker in another.
But as Edwards suggested, a new day in the NBA is dawning, the Timberwolves have looked as if they will very much be near the top when that day arrives.
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