11-Year NBA Veteran's Harsh Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving Message to Timberwolves

Why are the Timberwolves struggling against the Mavericks?

Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

The Minnesota Timberwolves swept Devin Booker and Kevin Durant in the first round. They defeated the defending champions in the biggest Game 7 comeback in NBA history. Yet despite that all, they're on the verge of getting swept against a 5th-seeded Mavericks team. Why?

It's tough to pinpoint exactly why the Timberwolves are struggling against the Dallas Mavericks, but 3x NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas has his own reason. He thinks Minnesota's great team defense is actually holding the team back against the superior individual offense of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.

"The reason these two [Kyrie Irving & Luka Doncic] are killing you is because you respect your defense too much... Cut your pride out, goddamn it," Arenas said on The Gil's Arena Show. "They are who they are for a reason. That means every night, 1 on 1, there's not 29 team's defenders that can guard them 1-on-1. I don't give a f**k what your team defense says, because I know individually not one of them made the All-Team defense at the guard position. They're guards."

“The reason these two [Kyrie Irving & Luka Doncic] are killing you is because you respect your defense too much…Cut your pride out, got d*mn it!”

Gil on the Wolves 1-on-1 defense against Dallas pic.twitter.com/hlHfrFTlFC

— Gilbert Arenas (@GilsArenaShow) May 27, 2024

There are a plethora of reasons that one could pinpoint when it comes to the Minnesota Timberwolves being down 0-3 against the Dallas Mavericks. However, the team was a couple of critical turnovers away from being up 2-1. The biggest issue is that Minnesota just didn't execute in the clutch multiple times, and that'll trump any other problem.

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