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Starting of the Conference Finals with a Mike Breen double bang? Life can't get much better than this.

Today’s Lineup

Full-Court Coverage

Award Announcements

All-Defensive Teams

1st Team: Bam Adebayo (MIA), Anthony Davis (LAL), Rudy Gobert (MIN), Herb Jones (NOP), Victor Wembanyama (SAS)

2nd Team: Alex Caruso (CHI), Jrue Holiday (BOS), Jaden McDaniels (MIN), Jalen Suggs (ORL), Derrick White (BOS)

Congrats to the top clampers of 2023-24! Despite the NBA’s surging offensive output, it’s nice to see that so many players around the league still take “defense wins championships” to heart.

A couple of things we noticed. 1) The lack of positionless requirements made a huge difference in voting, with four of the five first-team players being bigs. Could we see an all-center lineup next year? 2) Wemby is making history yet again. He’s the first rookie ever to make the All-Defensive first team. 👽

Western Conference Finals: Keys to the Series 🔑

A 3 vs 5 seed matchup in the Conference Finals might seem like a battle between plucky underdogs on paper, yet it feels like anything but. Let’s talk about the important matchups that could decide who gets the Finals berth out West.

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How will the Wolves handle Luka and Kyrie?

A huge reason the Wolves got the win in round 2 was their stifling defense on Jamal Murray. With Jaden McDaniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker pressing him at every opportunity, Murray had perhaps the worst playoff series of his career just a couple weeks after hitting two game-winners against LA.

But, Minnesota won’t have the same luxury going up against a Luka-Kyrie backcourt. It’ll be interesting to see whether they decide to continue their intense press when facing two superstar guards or go back to a less intense approach.

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Can Minnesota’s role players step up?

They didn’t end up getting the W in game seven, but one thing the Nuggets did right was force the ball out of Anthony Edward’s hands at every opportunity. If Dallas decides to follow this same blueprint, the rest of the Wolves roster will have to step up on offense.

The main name to watch here is of course Karl Anthony-Towns. KAT had some huge moments throughout the Denver series, but he’ll need to take it up yet another notch and consistently punish the Mavs guarding him one-on-one to take pressure off Ant.

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Who will control the paint?

Despite all the star power on display, this series might just boil down to which team can control the middle of the court. A huge part of the Maverick's game six and seven dubs over OKC was their +30 advantage on the glass, led by some monster performances from Derek Lively.

But, this Timberwolves team is a whole different beast when it comes to interior presence compared to the Thunder. KAT, Rudy Gobert, and Naz Reid, don’t just have the size to battle with the Mavs bigs down low, but also the defensive chops to break up the myriad of lobs thrown by Luka and Kyrie. Deadline acquisitions Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington will be crucial if Dallas wants to maintain the edge around the basket.

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Three in the Key

Signing Off

Time to bounce y’all! This week, let's all try and bring the same positivity we bring to basketball to the rest of our lives. Sometime all you need is a change of mindset to turn things around.

Talk soon,

-Spencer Poole