The Wolves held shootaround on Tuesday prior to Game 2 against the Rockets in Houston.
One thing the Wolves learned in Game 1 is the intensity of playoff basketball.
That’s something that Andrew Wiggins said was apparent right away.
“You know how the game’s going to be played, called, the physicality of it,” Wiggins said after shootaround.
Wiggins is a player who came out of the gates hot in Game 1, scoring eight of the team’s first 10 points. He finished the game with a team-high 18 points. One challenge Wiggins, and the rest of the team has in this series is slowing down James Harden. Harden finished with 44 points in Game 1. One player can’t stop Harden, but it’s a team effort to try to slow him down.
“Body position, you know. And a guy like that, you have to make him work for his points,” Wolves coach Tom Thibodeau said. “He’s going to be capable of big nights. He made shots. Some other guys didn’t make shots. They’re a great team, so it’s a lot more than just James Harden.”
The Wolves are down 1-0 and although they had an opportunity to take Game 1, that has no bearing on tonight.
“We’re ready,” Taj Gibson said. “We understand that we kind of let one go. But we’re a young team. We’re still learning. But guys are ready. We had a good two days of practice. Go out there and play hard and good things will happen.”
The Wolves and Rockets tipoff tonight at 8:30 p.m. CT on Fox Sports North, TNT and 102.9 Buz’n FM.