The final quarter is 64 points! Easily advanced 4-1 in the first round, and will become the Thunder s biggest opponent? The Western Conference pattern is about to change drastically

This year's NBA playoffs are good, but there are inevitably some regrets. After all, as fans, I definitely hope that those super traffic teams can go further and compete for the championship. However, these popular teams have almost all been eliminated early this year, and the more stars they have, the sooner they have been eliminated. Those who stopped in the regular season were the Mavericks who joined hands with Irving and Davis, the Suns led by Durant, Booker and Bill, and the 76ers who cooperated with the three giants George, Embiid and Maxi. By the first round of the playoffs, the Lakers and Clippers, the two Los Angeles champions went home to fish together. James was still too far from his fifth championship, and Harden never could touch his first championship in his career. The only traffic team Warriors who stood firm to the second round were also facing the brink of being eliminated and were completely crushed by the Timberwolves in the series.

NBA Western Conference has changed. Unexpectedly, the two most competitive teams in the West in the playoffs are the Timberwolves and the Thunder. The Thunder are not surprising. After all, they have been ranked first in the Western Conference for two consecutive years. During the regular season this season, they have a good dominance, with a good record of 68 wins and averaging more than 12 points per game. They all thought that the young Thunder would be defeated in the playoffs, but this year's playoffs they performed well, sweeping the dark horse Grizzlies in the first round and suppressing the Devil Nuggets in the second round, unlike an inexperienced team. It is a bit surprising that the Timberwolves can rise in the playoffs this year, because their overall regular season is average, almost entering the playoffs by sticking to the position and buzzer. The winning rate is 8.5 percentage points lower than last season, and their defensive influence has declined seriously.

The Timberwolves ranked first in the league in defensive efficiency, fell to sixth in the league this season, gradually leaving the top level. This is a big reason because of the offseason deal, they suddenly sent off inside star Towns and split the double tower lineup. Although Towns is an offensive center, his tonnage is here. When he is on the court with Gobert at the same time, the penalty area has a significant deterrence. Last season, Towns once ranked in the top five in the league, tied with Gobert. Now that Towns left, the Timberwolves' double tower system collapsed, and the dominance of the penalty area was weakened. Gobert also needs to undertake more dirty and tiring work, which led to his own personal data also decline. Last season, Gobert averaged 14 points and 13 rebounds per game, but this season it dropped to 12 points and 11 rebounds.

The Timberwolves' trade from Towns has always been unpopular. On the one hand, Randall's play compatibility is very strict on the team. The offensive end is mainly singles, and it requires a lot of ball rights. When the touch is not good, it is a disaster level and the defensive end is a little weak. On the other hand, before this season, Randall ushered in a cliff-like decline every time in the playoffs, averaging 18 points and 12 rebounds in the 21 playoffs. The key is his shooting percentage of 29.8% and his three-point shooting percentage of 33.3%. In the 23-year playoffs, he averaged 16 points and 8 rebounds, shooting 37.4% from the field and 25.8% from three-point shooting. Once a high-intensity tough battle like the playoffs becomes a soft persimmon, so no one is optimistic that Randall can help the Timberwolves break through the upper limit.

Unexpectedly, Randall completed a gorgeous transformation in the playoffs this year, with a significant improvement in efficiency, and averaged 23.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game, and a shooting percentage of 48.3%. The Timberwolves often rely on Randall's independent offense to open up the situation. Randall's awakening is also an important reason why they can have a smooth playoff. In the first two rounds of the playoffs, although the Timberwolves were not the top of the league in all their data, they basically had the initiative on the court. For example, the gentleman swept the Lakers 4-1 in the first round and easily advanced, with almost no pressure, and could crush the Warriors again in the second round. In fact, there is one data in the league this year's playoffs, that is, the net win points in the final quarter; in the first eight playoffs, the Timberwolves won all the points in the final quarter, and the total net win points totaled +64 points, firmly ranked first in the league, and the Knicks, ranked second, only +39 points.

Entertainment conservation and maintaining such dominance can only show that the Timberwolves' style of playing is tough, everyone has a big heart, and their key ball ability is very strong, which has nothing to do with their star Edwards. Since the beginning of this year, Edwards has continued to evolve and become one of the most super-selling new generation stars in the league. He is already very leader-like and exudes confidence all the time. He is not as crazy as Morant and does things everywhere. After scoring 30 points with the Warriors in the last game, Edwards, who was not 24 years old, has scored 30+ points in the playoffs 13 times, second only to Doncic, Durant, Kobe and James. Here is a bold prediction. Edwards is likely to become the NBA's future league appearance. He has both athletic ability and super shooting. His three-point output this season is actually the first in the league, surpassing Curry. Based on the Timberwolves' playoff performance, they will inevitably become the Thunder's biggest opponents in the championship this year. What do you think?