Hoops Tonight - Steph Curry & Warriors lose to Timberwolves, Embiid skips Jokic matchup

super easy. You can jump into the action at any time during the game with live betting and I love building those same game parlays and fanduels now live in Ohio, so use promo code Jason T and download the FanDuel app today to start making every moment more twenty one plus In select states, FanDuel is offering online sports way during in Kansas under an agreement with Kansas Star Casino LLC.

Gambling problem called one eight hundred Gambler or visit FanDuel dot com slash RG In Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Tennessee, and Virginia call one eight hundred next step or text next step to five three three four two. In Arizona dial one eight eight eight seven eight nine seven seven seven seven seven, or visit CCPG dot org slash chat. In Connecticut dial one eight hundred nine with it. In Indiana, dial one eight hundred five two two forty seven hundred,

or visit KS gamblinghelp dot com. In Kansas dial one eight seven seven seven seven zero stop. In La call one eight hundred three two seven five zero five zero, or visit www dot M A h E. LP l I NE dot org. Slash problem Gambling visit www dot MD gambling help dot org. In Maryland, dial one eight seven seven eight Hope n Y. Or text Hope n Y to four six seven three six nine in New York. Dial one eight hundred five two two forty seven hundred in Wyoming, or visit www dot one eight hundred gambler

dot net in West Virginia. All right, welcome to Hoops Tonight, presented by Fan Duel here at the volume. Happy Monday, everybody. I hope all of you guys had an outstanding weekend. We are live on and don't forget if you're watching on YouTube or listening on the podcast feed, that's the very first place that you guys can get these shows really quick. Show today, we're just gonna be hitting that crazy game between the Warriors in Minnesota Timberwolves last night.

I want to spend a good amount of time talking about the Minnesota Timberwolves because they are red hot right now and they have a really really interesting defensive combination that I think spells danger for the rest of the league if they can add some pieces this offseason, and I want to talk a little bit about how that fits into this particular postseason run. And then, last, but

not least, we have the news this morning. We were supposed to go later tonight but Joel Embid, despite playing in a back to back this weekend, is going to skip the MVP showdown with Nicola Yokus tonight, which I think is really bizarre and I have some thoughts about and honestly, I'm a little bit disappointed in Joel Embiid for skipping that game. You guys know the drill. Before we get started, subscribe to the Volumes YouTube channels. You don't miss any more of our videos. Follow me on

Twitter at underscore Jason lt. So you guys don't miss any show announcements. And for whatever reason, you guys miss one of these shows and you can't get back over to YouTube definished, don't forget. You can find them wherever you get your podcasts under Hoops tonight. Lastly, before we get started, you guys have heard me talk about game Time,

the fastest scoring ticketing app in the United States. If you're trying to get out to one of the final four games, or to an NBA playoff game, to a Major League Baseball game, the new fast major league games with a pitch count, an NHL game, or a concert or comedy show, Gametime has amazing last minute deals on tickets to all of these. So if you're trying to go out and see your team make a playoff run in the upcoming two month grind of the NBA Playoffs,

game Time has you covered. If your favorite artist has come into town and you need to get out and see them perform live, game Time has you covered. They've taken amazing care of me the past. I know they're going to take great care of you guys. You're gonna get a good seat, You're gonna know exactly what you're getting yourself into. You're gonna get a good deal. I highly encourage you guys. Check it out. So, no matter where you live, get out and have some fun this week.

Download the game Time app and to your email and redeem code Hoops for twenty dollars off your first purchase. Terms apply again. And to your email and code Hoops. That's h Oops for twenty dollars off download game time today, last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. All right, let's talk some basketball. So this was a wild finish in this Wolves Warriors game. The Wolves took a nine point lead or so there in the middle of the fourth quarter.

And as there's been a theme throughout this entire season, the Warriors, despite all of their personnel limitations and all of the things that have gone wrong, they've shown a great deal of fight. And I swear I don't have the numbers in front of me, but maybe one of you guys are crazy enough to do the digging. But I swear they've come back from eight nine point leads in the fourth quarter at least a dozen times this year.

It's just a very very recurring theme for them. They take on a hectic nature defensively and pushing in transition, and Stephen Clay and Jordan Pool would all just kind of find a way to make enough shots and somehow, some way they always end up in these close games at the end. And you know what's interesting is they've been better as of late. Steph has just in the last week closed out two games with outstanding execution down

the stretch. But it's been kind of a theme throughout this season that they've had some uncharacteristic execution mistakes, and you saw some of those mistakes come to the surface in this particular game. I want to focus on the end of the game here to start, and then we'll go into the middle portions of the game because I do think that the matchup problems that Minnesota presents to a lot of teams are super interesting and makes them

super interesting as a play in threat this year. So first of all, the Warriors, Jordan Poole ends up knocking down a corner three at ninety six ninety four with just over a minute left to give the Warriors the lead, right, and Jordan does a little dance in front of the Wolves bench runs back on defense. Gobert has this deep seal underneath the basket and Minnesota enters it to him. Draymond just kind of pulls him underneath the basket and

fouls him. Rudy misses the first and makes the second, So it's ninety six ninety five, but there's only twenty nine seconds on the game clock or whatever, so they dribble up the floor, and they're kind of in this weird spot where like, you probably should foul if you're Minnesota, but hey, maybe if you get a stop, you'll have three or four seconds to get down and get another shot.

Minnesota opts not to foul, and I think Steph Curry kind of saw that coming because when he got it dribbled into the lane there, he got up to the foul line. You were expecting him maybe to just hold onto the ball or dribble it out and wait for someone to foul him. But it became clear that Minnesota

was holding on. So Steph makes that hook pass back out to Draymond, and I would imagine he's circling back out to try to get it back, but Draymond throws a quick swing pass to Clay Thompson and Kyle Anderson. We're gonna spend a lot of time talking about today. When we start diving into the Wolves just sticks one

of his super long arms out deflects the ball. We end up in a chaotic transition possession where Karl Anthony Towns, who had a nightmare night shooting the basketball, but about two or three possessions earlier at the top of the key on a quick screening action against Raymond. Green got a decent look from the top of the key and made it so he had just made a lead changing three about a minute prior, and he steps confidently into that three at the top of the key and knocked

it down. And just like that, you go from in a position where if you hold onto the basketball you have a chance to win too suddenly you're now coming, You're now trailing in the final seconds of the game. Is just a ridiculous turn of events, and you know on the very next play you have an opportunity to

tie the game or to take the lead. And Jordan Pool's dribbling through the top of the key and Steph is trying to shake Jade McDaniels like he's been trying to shake him all night long, and he fakes a backcut in Jordan Poole throws it out of bounds, and so here's the thing. A lot of people were blaming Jordan Poole. Jordan Pool made a huge three in the left corner that ended up being what was there what should have been the game winning shot if you possessions prior.

Draymond obviously did great work defensively throughout the game for the most part. Right, and Steph Curry, you had a rough shooting night in this one, which is to be expected with Minnesota's perimeter defense. But the reality is is all three guys I thought were directly involved. Draymond obviously has to be more careful with the basketball. When you're playing against length, you have to use pass fakes. You cannot just throw the basketball around because there's arms everywhere.

You've got to throw a pass fake in one direction to get the defender to lunge before you make those swing passes on the perimeter, Otherwise you're running into some danger there. And on the backcut play, I saw a lot of people blaming Jordan Pool, but and I do. Here's the thing. I blame Jordan Pool and Steph Curry equally for that exchange. Here's why Jordan Pool shouldn't have thrown the pass, no question why, because Steff wasn't open.

That's why you don't throw the pass. But on the staff side of things, one of the most consistent messages I've heard from basketball coaches since I was a little kid, all the way through high school and through college, was never ever fake a backcut unless it's part of the

play because of that specific play right there. Whenever you fake a backcut or even make it look like you're about to back cut, they usually don't open up until and they're usually only open for the briefest of seconds between the perimeter defender and whoever's in rim protection, right, So there's a very small window there, and a lot of times you're passing someone open, you're throwing as the offensive players even with the defensive player and he's catching

up to the basketball right. So like there's a very brief window there, and you should never fake a backcut unless it's part of a play on the perimeter. V cuts, they're not backcuts. You're walking into your defender and you're kind of giving them a shove and you're breaking open. There's no reason to necessarily fake a backcut cut all the way through or don't cut it all unless it's a part of the play. Not Stef's fault for the turnover. Jordan Poole shouldn't throw in the pass, but Jordan threw

it because he thought Steph was cutting. That's a consistent miscommunication. You'll see unfaked backcut. So here's the reality. Of the situation, despite all of the personnel limitations, despite playing well enough to beat the Wolves last night and to have a lead going into the final possession, you had three execution mistakes. Draymond Green throwing the bad pass, Steph Curry fake in a backcut, Jordan Poole throwing the ball out of bounds.

That's enough to lose you a game. And unfortunately that's been a recurring theme this year, although they've been better in the recent weeks. And again, just like I've been telling Laker fans, like, yeah, it sucks that you've played well enough to beat the Mavericks, and it sucks that you were up three or four with you know, thirty five seconds left with a chance to win the game, but in two mistakes from Anthony Davis cost you. But

the reality is it doesn't change anything in the standings. Yeah, in the locker room, you might be like, we play well enough to beat the Mavericks tonight. In the locker room, you might be like, we played well enough to beat the Wolves tonight, But that doesn't mean anything in the standings. It still just counts as a loss. And unfortunately, they were in a really good position to avoid the play

in tournament, and now that's not as clear cut. Now they're going to have to play near perfect basketball down the stretch of the season to get out of that seven seed and to lock down that six seeds. So it's a really unfortunate loss and a painful one that the Warriors are gonna have to overcome. But I wanted to spend some time talking about the Minnesota Timberwolves. This has been one of my favorite teams that I've covered

throughout this season. You know, this show, we kind of focus on the top teams in the league, right, so we're going to see a lot of Bucks, Celtics, Sixers, a lot of Nuggets, a lot of Lakers, Clippers, Warriors that you know, you guys know, that's what we do. We cover the teams that I think have a real chance to win the championship. But when it comes to the lower echelon teams, I focus on teams that I genuinely like, that I think are going to be really

interesting and impactful teams in the future of the NBA. Right. That's why I've talked a lot of Nicks, That's why I've talked a lot of Minnesota Timberwolves. That's why I've talked a lot of Oklahoma City thunder right. That's those are the teams that I've been focusing on as I look at the next era of NBA basketball, And I've talked a lot about how this interesting tandem of Jaden McDaniels and Anthony Edwards as perimeter defenders is a super

interesting compliment to Rudy Gobert. And you know, I think you can actually couple Kyle Anderson in there. Now. It's complicated because I talked a lot about Minnesota's future and them needing to upgrade that Mike Conley position and upgrade that Kyle Anderson position from the Mike Conley position more from a size and athleticism a piece, but on the Kyle Anderson piece, it's more offensive. They need more skill at that specific position because they get trapped into these

half court sets. And a big part of how the Warriors got back into this game is they got a ton of stops down the stretch because you just have too many non shooting threats. Jade McDaniels has had some success lately. He's had a couple twenty point games in the last week. He's doing a lot of work coming off of a dribble handoff some curls to get into the lane, and he's got a really nice little ten foot turnaround jump shot that he can make there in

the lane. And he's finding a ways to score, and he's knocking down his corner threes and he's doing all those things. But the reality is is in a slowdown half court environment against an elite defense, he's a blow average offensive player. Same for Kyle Anderson, same for Rudy Gobert, and so there's some limitations with what you can do offensively. There's too much on the plate of guys like Mike Connolly and Anthony Edwards and trying to fit Carl Towns

into all of this as well. They need to upgrade some stuff there. But defensively, there's this insane foundation any lineup that includes Anthony Edwards, Kyle Anderson, Jaden McDaniels and Rudy Gobert. This year for the Timberwolves, in one thousand, one hundred and eleven possessions, is outscoring teams by eleven points per one hundre possessions, which is outstanding, And most importantly in the half court, they're holding teams to ninety

point nine points per one hundred possessions. As a point of reference, I told you guys that the Boston Celtics from last year in the postseason were the best half court defense I've seen in this era, and they held teams in the playoffs last year to eighty eight points per one hundred possessions in the half court. That's in a more physical environment, with more pressure, with a tougher whistle. So what Minnesota is doing defensively with that group is

extremely impressive. But it's just kind of interesting. It's gonna be interesting to see how they make this all work right because Carltown's brings that perimeter shooting and that offensive skill and that's vitally important, as you saw down the

stretch of that game. But it's going to be interesting to see how they kind of piece together all of these lineups, because I really like Kyle Anderson as this big, long forward that just gets a ton of deflections and can work downhill against smaller perimeter players and make little nifty hook shots and bank shots and stuff in the lane. But you've got to kind of find a way to piece together a functional line up there. You're gonna need a lot of offensive skill out of that power forward

position because of go bear right. So putting Kyle Anderson there limits you in your in your offensive skill. But if you slot guys up and you play Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels at the two, with Kyle Anderson at the three, with Carl Towns and Rudy Gobert, now you're too big, not quick enough with your feet, and you have nowhere near enough offensive skill. So it's gonna be interesting to

see how they pair this all up. And that's why when I talk about the Wolves in their future, I keep looking at the odd man out as Carl Towns, because I think if you can get just a really really skilled two way player in that two guard spot and then you get Jaden McDaniels to take offensive leaps over the years, I think Kyle anderson makes sense at that forward position, but Carl Town's the two bigs thing. You're too slow with your feet, you can't run around

in rotation. I just don't like how that all works. And when you plug him in there, you give up too much defensively. So they're gonna have some decisions to make in the future. But there's a really interesting core concept there which is outstanding perimeter defenders, and den He Edwards who's more of like a bulldog point of attack

guarding other guards. And then Jade McDaniels, who's like this lanky wing who can has a ton of positional versatility defensively with a ridiculous rim protector behind them, and Rudy Gobert. That all works. They're just gonna have to figure out how to piece it together with the right combination of offensive skill and defensive versatility at that two guard spot

and at that four position. It's gonna be interesting to see what they do over the years, and they are a legit threat if they there's a good chance they get that seven seed or the sixth seed, And for the Lakers' sake, they better hope they get the sixth seed because that is a really tough matchup for them because we know how the Lakers struggle with ball pressure guards. Right.

Whoever ends up whoever ends up having to face Minnesota though, if they if it ends up being in a play in game, especially if you have to go to Minnesota, it's gonna be that's gonna be an extremely difficult game to win because of what they can do defensively the way that translates to big games and then playing in

front of their home crowd. For the sake of the Lakers and the Warriors, they better hope that that group gets into the six seeds so they don't have to see him in the playing all right, So one last note before we move on. One of the things you saw in this game is just the reality of Golden State's personnel limitations. The only reason they had a chance to come back into this game was the fact that once again Minnesota can't score in the half court when

things really really slowed down. But they got destroyed once again. In all the physicality areas of the game. They were outrebounded by the Wolves forty nine to thirty seven. They were there was a twelve to six gap in second chance points, which was literally the difference in the game. The Wolves scored twenty points in transition, they turned the Warriors over sixteen times and turned those turnovers into twenty four points. All of that athleticism was on display throughout

the game. And like that's even with Gary Payton back, who I thought played a pretty solid game for his first game back, and you could see how he just kind of works in that Warrior system, which makes them a lot better. But I mean, here's the thing. Without Andrew Wiggins, They're just gonna have a really hard time. I'm beating good teams, that's just a fact. And even when they've beaten good teams of late, it's been chaotic

last minute comebacks. They were down big in the fourth quarter to the Sixers, they found a way to come back and win. They were down big, they were down huge late to the Milwaukee Bucks. They found a way to come back and win. Without Andrew Wiggins. It's just

so difficult. Steph has to be so good, Clay has to be so good, Jordan Pool has to be so good, and so at the end of the day, when we're evaluating this team before the playoffs, we're gonna have to look at that Andrew Wiggins piece and see if that removes a championship ceiling from them. It's gonna be I'm not gonna make a call on it until we get to middle April in terms of a prediction, but it definitely is a concern, and I would imagine that most

Warriors fans would agree with me. All right, before we call it a day, I just wanted to vent for a couple of minutes about this Joel Embiid thing. So Joel Embid does this interview for the Athletic today where I believe it was with the Athletic if I remember correctly, where he basically vents about the inconsistency of the MVP criteria, awards criteria, just in general, venting about him not getting

the respect that he deserves in this particular debate. And then on the same day he announces that or the team announces that he's not going to play tonight in a game in Denver against the Nuggets, with an opportunity to really put a final stamp on his MVP case, and in a vacuum, I wouldn't think too much of it, Like if it was clear that he was banged up, if they were, you know, locked into any sort of seeding position, I would understand if they were like, hey,

no reason really to go after this thing. But when you look at the situation, he just played it back to back. He just played in Golden State and Phoenix now and James Harden didn't play in those games, so those were low probability to win games without James Harden, and he still played in them. James Harden is playing tonight in Denver. At least it's been reported that he's on track to return tonight in Denver. So here's why

I'm confused. You were going into that game. You were a game back of Boston in the lost column I remember correctly, and Boston had the tiebreaker, so you were effectively two games back of Boston, and so you're gonna be the three seed. That was just gonna happen. Boston's playing like crazy because there's still i think within vaguely within striking distance in Milwaukee and they have a chance to play them on Thursday. So you weren't going to

pass Boston. And they were low probability games anyway because they were in Phoenix and in Golden State. So why in the world. The one thing he had to fight for down the stretch of the season was show us you're better than Yokich, Go get the MVP award, and I know he wants it. So it was really really bizarre to see all of that build up to this game and for him, and again maybe it was the medical staff that's that stepped in, but I don't buy that.

When he just played back to back if this was an injury management situation, why would he play two nights in a row. And it just is genuinely confusing. And again like maybe maybe he looks at it like, Okay, it's elevation and it's going to be a really tough game to win. If we lose the game, then suddenly Yoki becomes gets that stamp of approval on his MVP case.

But like, as a competitor, I don't understand that thought process, like yeah, yeah, yeah, you stand to lose a lot by going into Denver and losing, but you also stand to gain all the glory by going into Denver and winning.

And that's what sports is all about. And I mean, I'm not gonna get into it today, but there's this kind of the my Like I was talking with a friend about this this morning actually, but one of the things that I've seen just with the way that basketball players are brought up now that in the AU culture is a lot of times people are prioritizings like oh I just gotta get to that max contract. Oh I just got to get to this particular financial goal or

this particular personal goal. And I respect the importance of that, like gotta go get your money man, like you gotta take care of your family. I get that, But the flip side of it is like, where's that raw competitive energy? You know? Like, I don't know about you, guys, but I'm on the list of people who's such a fan of the game of basketball that I would play it for free, like if I could. I'm not an NBA player, but if I if I could play for the Lakers for free, I would do it. That's how much I

love the game, you know. And like, as a competitor, I think that it bothers me sometimes when I see guys losing sight of those battles and what they mean, like going to Denver and beat Yokich and you know what, maybe you lose, but maybe you go for thirty seven, thirteen and eight and you go down swinging and the world respects you more for it. And it just backing out entirely, I thought was a confusing decision. And who knows, maybe he played in this back to back and he

messed up his calf. But like, as a competitor, I would have understood it more if he said, Hey, guys, not playing tonight in Phoenix. I want I want to kick Yokich's ass on Monday. That's what matters to me. That's what we can get to hear down the stretch. I can send a message in that game let me sit out against the Suns. I just I just was confused by the thought process. Last thing I'll say about it. I have been very impressed by Joel Embiad's fight throughout

this last few months. So like, I hate to color the entire situation by one decision, but like the Joe l Embiid that I've been watching for the last couple of months would have wanted to play in this game, and so that's why it's confusing to me. All Right, guys, that is all I have for today. We are taking Tuesday and Wednesday off, but we're going twice on Thursday.

So Thursday morning we'll be going at covering Tuesday and Wednesday night's games, and then on Thursday night we're breaking down that showdown live on AMP after the final buzzer of Celtics Bucks. As always, I appreciate you, guys, and I'll see you on Thursday morning. The volume