Jaden McDaniels was asked how it felt to dispatch the Warriors in five games in the Western Conference semifinals on Wednesday.
Straight faced, the wing replied, “it felt like the rest of them.”
That was the Timberwolves’ fourth playoff series victory over the last 13 months. They have become old hat, by now. Plus, there was nothing remarkable about the series win over the Warriors. Minnesota caught an unwanted break with Steph Curry going down with a hamstring injury in Game 1, and took full advantage by winning the next four games in dominant fashion.
“Just a business-like approach. Really liked that,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “We were the better team. We felt we were the better team. We just had to go out and play like it every night. I thought we’d accomplish that. Those are things that we’ve drawn upon from our previous experiences, for sure.”
Now, onward.
This stage — the Western Conference finals, which will open with Game 1 on Tuesday in Oklahoma City or Denver — is the one on which Minnesota saw its season end at the hands of Dallas a year ago. Finch and the coaching staff have challenged players to recount their feelings after that defeat, being denied on the doorstep of the NBA Finals, and recall what they need to do differently.
“Try to tap into that now, individually, to put themselves in the right frame of mind for what it’s going to take to keep taking these steps,” Finch said.
While getting back to the conference finals in consecutive seasons for the first time in franchise history is a feat, it was never Minnesota’s goal.
“It’s to make it to the finals,” McDaniels said. “I feel like it’ll feel different if we advance to the finals. … I think we’re super confident. We’re all together, being a good team, and we just ready for whoever we play next already. We just got to stay the course.”
Anthony Edwards said “there is no satisfaction” in where Minnesota is at the moment, noting the Wolves “haven’t did anything yet.” Minnesota seemed to feel a sense of relief and accomplishment after its wild Game 7 win over Denver a year ago. Perhaps that made it difficult to reset for the West finals just a couple days later.
Now, Minnesota is armed with time — there are six days between Game 5 against the Warriors and Game 1 of the conference finals — and experience. Plus, the result against Golden State was so expected after Curry went down, that there was no real emotional high from which to come down.
“It feels good to get to that step, but the stomach is not full. Not at all. It’s just one step,” Rudy Gobert said. “Last year, it felt different because it was a Game 7, and we were down I don’t know how many at half, and we came back and won. Obviously, the adrenaline was different but this year it’s kind of like, we say it, we sat down early in the season, we say we’re going to get back right where we left last year. We want to achieve our goal. Now, we are halfway there. We know it’s not going to get easier at all. We focus on that.”
Gobert noted that, in his mind, last year’s West finals came down to approach.
“It’s not about talent. It’s not about us wanting to win or not. We want to win. But, it’s about staying level-headed,” he said. “After a win like we had last year against Denver in Game 7, I felt like you get the whole world praising you. All the sudden, you went from being the underdog to being the favorite. We weren’t mature enough to handle that yet. We were aware of it. This year, we’re mature enough. I feel like we understand where we’re at. That’s the lesson. It’s about us and our approach. It’s not about who we face. It’s about mindset, our work our attention to details. When our level of urgency is right, we know we can play with anyone.”
Keep the focus on the task at hand, until there’s truly a reason to party.
There’s really nothing to celebrate yet,” McDaniels said. “We still got two more rounds, winning eight more games, I want to say, so you just got to stay confident, keep being humble and just be ready to play.”
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