NBA PLAY-IN TOURNAMENT: TIMBERWOLVES vs CLIPPERS

April 12, 2022

Norm Powell

Postgame Press Conference

Timberwolves 109, Clippers 104

Q. Norm, a lot has been talked about the last few weeks, you have been adding pieces about how much time you have to gel, get in rhythm. Did you feel like you had enough time when the offense was bogging down?

NORM POWELL: I mean, I thought we were fine. I think we generated a lot of good looks throughout the course of the game. Missed some wide-open ones down the stretch. I think it's more so a communication on defense, me being more aggressive in the small-ball lineup when I'm catching the ball in the middle of the floor. I got to make the defense make a decision. That's like the bigger thing.

I mean, chemistry and stuff is fine. We got guys into their spots where they wanted. Yeah, I think that's fine. Just a few miscommunications on defense allowed them to get a couple wide-open threes that really gave them the momentum in the fourth.

Q. You mentioned you wanting yourself to be more aggressive. Was it anything Minnesota was doing?

NORM POWELL: It wasn't anything Minnesota was doing. I mean, I looked at some of the clips, yeah, when we do the small-ball pick'n rolls with me and P.G., I'm in the middle of the floor. I just got to be more decisive, attack the paint, make those guys commit to their rotation, make them play out of that. That's the biggest thing. Yeah, just being more aggressive.

Nine shots for a guy they look to to generate offense and things is not enough. Just got to be more aggressive in my reads and making plays out of it.

Q. When you look at the way the game flow was, do you feel that was a factor in terms of not being able to get into a flow especially offensively?

NORM POWELL: For the team or myself?

Q. Both. Especially for yourself being that you're coming into this environment. There's a lot of starts and stops.

NORM POWELL: Yeah, I mean, it's kind of part of the game. You just got to go with the flow of how things are called, how things are going.

I mean, not going to talk too much about the foul calls. Don't want to get fined. But you just try to adjust through the course of how the refs are calling it, what's going on.

Yeah, just tried to read the game and see how I can be effective. I think that's one of the biggest things for me is just being more aggressive, attacking. That's what we need me to do so...

I think that's the biggest takeaway for me individually. Team-wise, defense, being more and more tied together, communicating in the different coverages especially because we're switching a lot of the on-ball actions. I think that's the biggest thing going forward.

Q. Did it feel like a playoff game? Is it weird?

NORM POWELL: Definitely felt like a playoff atmosphere. Fans did a great job all game rooting them on. Whenever the momentum was in our favor, they didn't stop all night. Those guys kept playing, young team, aggressive. Kind of unconscious what's going on. Shots going in, shots not going in, they played the same way for the full 48. That's a credit to them. They kept fighting, clawing, scratching, being physical.

But it's not weird. I mean, it's post-season basketball. You got another chance on Friday. Just regroup, learn from this. Each one of us can get better in what we have to do on the floor. Come back out and it's win or go home. We got to leave it all out there.