Nets fall to Timberwolves, playoff race tightens with three games remaining
Nets forward Royce O'Neale and guard Spencer Dinwiddie react to referee Zach Zarba late in the fourth quarter against the Minnesota Timberwolves in an NBA basketball game at Barclays Center on Tuesday, April 4, 2023. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
No one said it was going to be easy.
But, then again, what exactly has been easy for the Nets this season?
With a chance to clinch a playoff berth, the Nets dropped a 107-102 decision to the Timberwolves in front of a sellout crowd of 17,893 at Barclays Center Tuesday night.
The loss snapped the Nets’ three-game winning streak. The Nets have three games remaining in the regular season, beginning with Wednesday’s game in Detroit.
The Nets (43-36) entered the game needing to beat the Timberwolves and needing Miami to lose in Detroit in order to clinch both a playoff berth and the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference. However, the Heat beat the Pistons, 118-105. And the Nets' hold on the sixth seed has been trimmed to one game.
“It [stinks] because we’re fighting for the sixth seed,” Spencer Dinwiddie said.
Trailing 98-95 with three minutes left after Karl-Anthony Towns’ 17-footer, Dinwiddie knocked down a three to tie the score. Minnesota regained the lead on Towns’ jump hook moments before Dinwiddie made a basket and was fouled. But the guard missed the go-ahead free throw.
“They made a couple more shots and got to the free-throw line in the end,” said Dinwiddie who had a game-high 30 points. “And we didn’t.”
On the ensuing possession, Towns (22 points and 14 rebounds) made two free throws to give the Timberwolves a 102-100 lead. Following the free throws, Dorian Finney-Smith (14 points and 10 rebounds) had his layup attempt blocked by Mike Conley, and Anthony Edwards (23 points) stretched Minnesota’s lead to four with two free throws.
Dinwiddie cut the deficit to 104-102 with 14 seconds remaining, but Conley (18 points) converted a free throw to stretch the lead to three. Dinwiddie missed a three in front of the Minnesota bench and Edwards’ two free throws with 2.5 seconds left put the game out of reach.
“I probably could have drove it,” Dinwiddie said of the final shot. “Probably hunted the three a little too much.”
He wasn’t alone. The Nets took 35 three-pointers and made 13. Part of that is the team’s offensive philosophy. But against the Timberwolves, it was a reasonable approach since they had Towns and Rudy Gobert for the second of two regular season games between the teams. In the first matchup, the Nets left the Target Center with a 124-123 overtime win on Mar. 10 in Minnesota, and Towns did not play in the game because of a tailbone contusion.
During his pregame news conference, Jacques Vaughn said that Towns’ versatility made him unique.
“His ability to impact the game, obviously as a guy who can make shots at the end of the game, throughout the course of the game, can take advantage of postups with smaller players and can take bigger guys out to shoot the basketball,” Vaughn said. “So definitely a different look especially with him and Rudy [Gobert] in there together; what that looks like on both ends of the floor.”
The results were mixed. The Nets struggled to contain Gobert (12 points and 12 rebounds) and Towns as Minnesota outscored the Nets 58-46 in the paint, and had an 11-9 advantage in second-chance points.
The Nets had a 23-6 advantage in fast-break points. Towns being limited to 15 first-half minutes because of foul trouble was also beneficial for the Nets, who led 54-51 at halftime.
