NBA Western Conference G2 Preview: New Section MVP Impact 2-0 Edwards Strives to Get One Back

At 8:30 a.m. Beijing time on May 23, the NBA Western Conference Finals will continue, and the Thunder will play the Timberwolves again at home to start the second game of the series. In the first game of the Western Conference finals, the Thunder defeated the Timberwolves 114-88, and now they are playing again, will Edwards pull one back or will the new MVP Alexander lead the team 2-0?

In the first game of the Western Conference finals, the Thunder's defense escalated significantly in the second half, turning a large number of opponents' mistakes into offensive scores. The Timberwolves struggled on the perimeter offense, with Randle erupting in the first half but a dumb second half.

Alexander, who was named the MVP of the regular season for the first time, scored 31 points in the opening game of the Western Conference finals, including 20 points in the second half. He is the third MVP winner in Thunder history, joining Durant (2013-14) and Westbrook (2016-17).

Thunder coach Dagneault used a 10-man rotation in the first game, which is an expansion from the second round against the Nuggets.

"Most of the players in our squad can take on more tasks, including Alexander. Even though he's done enough, he can do more," said Daigneault, "and the way he plays gives the rest of the players a breather and allows them to play more smoothly...... For the sake of the team as a whole, everyone on the team sacrifices some of their potential as individual players. ”

Kenrich Williams played just 20 minutes in the series against the Nuggets (all garbage time for the Thunder's big win), but in the opening game of the Western Conference finals, he played 10 minutes, finished with eight points and three rebounds on 3-of-3 shooting, and completed several important defenses.

"Incredible stability, professionalism, mental toughness, all those qualities," Daigneault said of Kenway, "and I firmly believe it breathes energy into the team. He's working hard every day to keep himself in shape and to be able to give that performance when he's on the pitch is a huge energy boost for us. ”

Edwards scored 18 points in the opening game, but only made 5 of 13 shots in the game. In the 38 playoff games of his career so far, there has only been one less shot.

"I definitely need to shoot more," Edwards said, "just need to run more off the ball." I think that's the answer. Because when the ball is in hand, the opponent will only keep the ball in the middle of the pack and stay in the passing route. We'll find a solution. ”

The Timberwolves also lost their first game against the Warriors in the second round, and then bounced back to win four games in a row to eliminate their opponents. "We've got to find a rhythm in this series," Timberwolves coach Finch said, "and each series is a little bit different in terms of how the opponent defends you, etc. I think we started the game trying to play the way we were used to it, and it obviously didn't work...... We had to find a different pace of play. ”

List of injuries and illnesses

Timberwolves: All players are available

Thunder: Topic is out

ESPN predicts the win rate: Timberwolves 28.4%, Thunder 71.6%