The Minnesota Timberwolves finally got a win over the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night in Game 4, with Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards coming to life. With their stars finally playing well at the same time, there was some optimism that Minnesota might be able to threaten the Mavs in the series, considering they were so close in the first three games even with their stars struggles.
With the series shifting back to Minneapolis, Game 5 presented an opportunity for the Wolves to really make things interesting in the series. That hope lasted less than a quarter of game time, as Luka Doncic outscored the Wolves by himself in the first quarter and by halftime, the Mavs led by 29 (with Luka and Kyrie Irving outscoring Dallas by themselves, 44-40).
Charles Barkley had been among those that bought into the Wolves getting Game 5, calling for a blowout win and a raucous Target Center. Instead, with a stunned crowd behind him, Barkley noted he was shocked by how flat Minnesota came out, and later said he was “embarrassed” for the Timberwolves fans because of how terribly the team played in the first 24 minutes.
“The Wolves were content not to get swept.”
Ernie & Chuck react to a lopsided first half in Game 5 pic.twitter.com/heryxIBHt8
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 31, 2024
“That was embarrassing. I’m embarrassed for these Minnesota fans. … I’m at a loss for words how bad Minnesota looked that first half.”
Chuck on Minnesota’s first-half performance pic.twitter.com/Camrtr0NNV
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 31, 2024
It was truly shocking to see how flat they came out, and he and Shaq felt the Wolves were satisfied by simply not getting swept. Dallas, to their credit, recognized the danger in giving Minnesota hope of becoming the first team to ever come back from down 0-3, and immediately took control of Game 5 and silenced the crowd. Doncic and Kyrie were sensational in the first half and their defense was crisp in movement and rotations, but the Wolves also looked totally overwhelmed by the moment and never responded to that first punch from the Mavs.