3 Fateful reasons why the Minnesota Timberwolves fell short of the NBA Finals
By Ryan McCrary
2. Karl-Anthony Towns struggled offensively
Karl-Anthony Towns was playing very well during the first two rounds of this year’s playoffs, averaging around 19 points, nine rebounds, and three assists per game on 63.3% true shooting while shooting 44 from three vs. the Phoenix Suns and Denver Nuggets.
Unfortunately, he fell apart vs. the Mavericks, averaging around 20 points, eight rebounds, and two assists per game on 49.6% true shooting. He struggled mightily, largely because he was incapable of hitting threes, shooting just 24.2% from behind the arc on just over seven attempts per contest. Despite being one of the best three-point-shooting big men ever, Towns couldn’t hit a three to save his life in the Western Conference Finals.
His inability to hit threes created major problems for the Timberwolves as it meant their starting lineup had way too many players who provided little floor spacing, which is a major issue to have in the playoffs. The Timberwolves also struggled on defense with Towns on the floor and they were way less efficient on this end of the court than they were during the regular season.
All of this is why the Timberwolves had a total point differential of -16 when Towns was on the floor. To be fair, he was pretty good in games four and five, but he played quite poorly in the first three games of the series, which hurt the Timberwolves chances of beating the Mavericks.