For the first time in franchise history, the Minnesota Timberwolves have earned two consecutive berths in the Western Conference Finals. They sealed their return trip with a Game 5 win over the Warriors on Wednesday night at Target Center.
To get back to this point took patience and perseverance and mental fortitude from the Wolves. A blockbuster trade just before training camp broke up the core of last year's team, sending Karl-Anthony Towns to the Knicks for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo. There were ups and downs throughout much of the regular season as this new group worked to gel. It wasn't always easy.
But they've put it all together and peaked at the right time, taking down the Lakers and Warriors in five games apiece as the No. 6 seed in the West. After the game, Rudy Gobert was asked if the path they took to reach the WCF this year brings more satisfaction than maybe there was a year ago, when the Wolves had won 56 regular season games and were the No. 3 seed.
Sitting to Gobert's right, Anthony Edwards interjected and answered for him.
"There is no satisfaction," Edwards said. "We just got here. We haven't done anything yet. So (Rudy's) not satisfied."
"That's exactly how it feels," Gobert said. "It feels good to get to that step, but it's — stomach is not full, not at all. It's just one step."
That's the correct mindset to have. If the Wolves spent a bit of time after Wednesday's game feeling proud to have taken this step, that would be understandable. But by Thursday, the focus has to shift towards the next round, whether that's against Oklahoma City or Denver. No matter which team advances out of that series (the Thunder, up 3-2, are heavy favorites), the Wolves will have to play a lot better than they did in this second-round series. The margin for error that they had against a Steph Curry-less Golden State team won't be there anymore.
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Gobert noted that the feeling is different this time than it was last year, given the circumstances of how their second-round series was won.
"Last year felt different because it was a Game 7, we were down I don't know how many at half and we came back and won, so obviously the adrenaline was different," he said. "This year, we said early in the season we gotta get back right where we left last year and we want to achieve our goal. And now we are halfway there. So we know that it's not gonna get easier at all, and we're focused on that."
After the miraculous comeback to beat the Nuggets in Game 7 last year, the Wolves looked like a team destined for the NBA Finals. Then Luka Doncic and the Mavericks came out and sent them home in five games. The Wolves who played in that series can try to take what they learned in last year's WCF and use it to be better this time around.
"I think for us, it's our approach," Gobert said. "It's not about talent, it's not about us wanting to win or not. We want to win. It's about staying levelheaded. After a win like we had last year against Denver, Game 7, I felt like when you've got the whole world praising you and all of a sudden you went from being an underdog to being the favorite, I think in a way we weren't mature enough to handle that yet.
"I feel like this year, we're mature enough. I feel like we understand where we're at. So in a way, that's the lesson. In our preparation, in our approach, it's about us, it's not about who we face. It's about our mindset. And when our mindset and our work and our attention to detail, our level of urgency is right, we know we can play with anyone."