NBA West Finals G2 Preview: New Science MVP hits 2-0, Edwards strives to win back

At 8:30 am on May 23, the NBA Western Conference Finals will continue, and the Thunder will play against the Timberwolves at home to start the second game of the series. In the first match of the Western Conference Finals, the Thunder defeated the Timberwolves 114-88. Now they are fighting again. Is Edwards winning a game or is it that the new MVP Alexander leads the team to lead 2-0? In the first match of the Western Conference Finals, the Thunder's defense was significantly upgraded in the second half, turning the opponent's large number of mistakes into offensive scoring. The Timberwolves struggled to attack from the outside. Randle broke out in the first half but was silent in the second half.

Alexander, who was elected as the regular season MVP for the first time, scored 31 points in the first match of the Western Conference Finals, of which 20 points were the only second half. He is the third MVP winner in the history of the Thunder, with the first two being Durant (2013-14) and Westbrook (2016-17).

Thunder coach Dagenut launched a 10-man rotation lineup in the first game, which is an expansion compared to the rotation in the second round against the Nuggets.

"Most of our team's players can take on more tasks, including Alexander. Although he has done enough, he can do more," said Dagnott. "His gameplay allows other players to breathe and let everyone play more smoothly... For the overall benefit of the team, everyone in the team sacrifices some of their potential caps as individual players."

Kenridge Williams played only 20 minutes in the series against the Nuggets (all garbage time for the Thunder), but in the opening match of the Western Conference Finals, he played 10 minutes, scored 3 of 3 of 3 points and 3 rebounds, and completed several important defenses.

"Incredible stability, professionalism, psychological toughness, all these traits," Dagnott commented on Kenway, "I firmly believe that this injects vitality into the team. He works hard every day to keep himself in shape and can contribute such performance after he plays. This is a huge energy increase for us."

Edwards scored 18 points in the first game, but only 13 shots in the game and hit 5 goals. In the 38 playoff games so far in my career, there have been fewer attempts than this one.

"I definitely need more shots," Edwards said. "It just needs to run more without the ball. I think that's the answer. Because when the ball is in hand, the opponent will only double-team and guard the pass route. We will find a solution."

The Timberwolves also lost their first game against the Warriors in the second round, and then rebounded strongly to win four consecutive games to eliminate their opponents. "We have to find the rhythm in this series," said Timberwolves coach Finch. "Every round of series is slightly different in terms of how the opponent defends you, etc. I think we tried to use the usual style of play at the beginning, which obviously doesn't work... We have to find a different rhythm of the game."

Injury List

Timberwolves: All players can play

Thunder: Topic is missing

ESPN predicted winning rate: Timberwolves 28.4%, Thunder 71.6%