Timberwolves Truly In Some Serious Trouble Now

Bird actually said that during the 1987 NBA Finals, when his Boston Celtics had just lost a heartbreaker against Magic Johnson and the Los Angeles Lakers. LA took a 3-1 series lead. And Bird was right. The Lakers went on to win the series in six games.

Today’s Timberwolves, however, may not even get that far after dropping a toughie of a 128-126 home decision to the Thunder in the Western Conference finals. Oklahoma City now leads the series, 3-1, and is headed back home.

Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle are two major reasons the Wolves made it this far after entering the playoffs with the West’s No. 6 seed. Sadly, neither were able to deliver one game after Minnesota beat the Thunder by 42.

Edwards took just two shots in the first half. Randle made just one for the entire game. The Timberwolves will rarely win when that’s the case, and despite all that, they nearly pulled it off, anyway.

But nearly isn’t good enough. Not at this time of year.

Now, they’re headed to a gym where they have not looked good in two series tries. The Thunder have had plenty to do with that — and aside from a Game 3 meltdown, there’s no reason to think they will lose three straight. They are just too fast, too deep, too smart and too together.

The Wolves, as determined as they are, just don’t seem to match up. Not when it matters most.

So it will be a real shocker if Larry Bird is wrong here. Oh, it’s happened. Teams have overcome 3-1 deficits. It just doesn’t feel like these Timberwolves are up to that tall task.