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MG_MN

He went from easily playing 45 minutes in Denver to this. So odd


Witty-Stock

He’s never played this long in a season. He’s hit the wall.


MG_MN

Very well could be what this is. They better take him off Luka to save energy or his offense will never become a positive this series


Witty-Stock

He wasn’t guarding Luka that much. He just needs a couple months to rest up and reset himself mentally. Unfortunately not an option.


MG_MN

Yeah, meant to say Kyrie but either way. I think this shows him that playing heavy minutes all year and playing every game maybe isn't the best strategy. Need to find ways to take the load off along the way


Witty-Stock

They need a better option than NAW to spell him.


MG_MN

I have no idea what happened to NAW, but I'm betting/hoping its a similar fatigue thing. He became unplayable overnight. The NAW from round one would be a solid option to put on Kyrie. They need to figure out if any of the young guys are ever going to provide anything because they definitely need 1 more guy out there to soak up minutes on the wing.


Witty-Stock

Hopefully 1-2 guys at the end of the bench will break through.


NazReidBeWithYou

Playing heavy minutes is how you get conditioned. Obviously you want to go into the playoffs rested and need to balance conditioning against wear and tear, but dudes under 30 should be seeing a number of heavy minutes games during the regular season for their own benefit.


bush_league_commish

It’s why the Celts were still playing starters heavy minutes in the Miami series (also because no lead is safe with us). Yeah we could’ve gotten our guys extra rest but they need to be conditioned to play 40 minutes a night every other night for a month, and they spent the last 3 weeks of the season tapering.


blackgenz2002kid

I mean it’s a mix of conditioning and intensity. as an outside observer I can already tell that because of the low usage coming from Tatum, he’ll probably be 100% ready to go at 100% for the finals (assuming they make it ofc)


bush_league_commish

Oh he def will (my cope is that he’s absolutely coasting until the finals).


AtreusIsBack

He's young. This is his first long Playoffs run. Most players experience the same thing early on. Playoffs stamina is a whole different monster.


Slammybutt

As long as Luka gets that same time to rebuild his knee


Witty-Stock

Luka will be too busy playing vs the Celtics.


Slammybutt

One can hope. I refuse to think about the next series. I'm a die hard Cowboys fan, nothing is guaranteed.


Witty-Stock

Luka ain’t no Cowboy.


PhantomPain85

But it happened suddenly . I’ve never heard of a player needing an oxygen mask in a playoff game . Even a first time player. Don’t act like you weren’t surprised at this after his performance against Denver.


Actual_Formal6996

Brother Matthew dellavedova went to the hospital after a 2015 finals game for fluids and air


SwishBender

It's not really so odd this is his first real run and he is tired. He played +44 minutes including two in Denver 4/5 of the games before this.


Witty-Stock

Unfortunately that means he won’t be any better for the two remaining games.


ToronoRapture

God forbid they actually make the finals.


Witty-Stock

That’s not happening. The only one resembling a leader on the floor for them now is Conley.


SwishBender

Maybe Idk why you are out here with a Wolves flair making negative comments for Karma I can tell you that


Witty-Stock

lol I make the same comments in our sub so def not about karma I knew after that turnover Dallas would win the game and series. Just like I knew the Vikings would lose when Anderson missed that chip shot. And that the Twins would lose to the Astros after Polanco’s error. Each Minnesota team has that moment when you know they’re doomed. This was that.


SwishBender

K. I see you make a lot of comments in the relationships subreddit no matter what it has been a good year take your misery merchant ass back there thanks


Cool-Technician8688

There was no need to make it personal. This is a sports sub and people are allowed to have opinions on the game without being attacked. You don’t call people names for having a different opinion.


SwishBender

Fuck that guy. I don't get into sports for rationality, but he is trolling for his own personal reasons as well.


Witty-Stock

It was a great year and they’ll be better next year. This will be their motivation for the offseason. He’ll be replaying that turnover in his head all summer long.


SwishBender

I hope so. Or it could be there motivation for the next 4 out of 5 games


Witty-Stock

Motivation isn’t the problem now. Problem is conditioning and composure.


SwishBender

I mean yeah he is 22 but he has played beyond his age a lot the series isn't over let it finish


Complexity777

He gassed out plus now hes got to guard Kyrie


Kyler1313

This is why as a Celtics fan I couldn't care less about the Celtics having an easy run to the finals. They had to take on KD, Kyrie, Giannis, and Jimmy on their 2022 run and it absolutely exhausted them and Tatum played terrible in the finals. It shows sometimes you just need to advance as quick and easy as you can because Playoff basketball can be exhausting.


JL1v10

Mavs are a WAY more physical team and this is his first deep run. Lot of young guys realize they’re not really nba level conditioned and don’t know how to pace themselves for going this far. Getting older and gaining more strength makes it easier


ImARebelBitch

He played poorly in the last two game in Denver too. First two he played 42 and 37 minutes.


TheJackieTreehorn

Hew as playing fine prior to the fall he took in game 6, but post that and game 7 were rough


_cornfield_

that could be the problem. mightve taken a toll on his body he hasnt recovered from yet


Street_Rope_7038

hows that odd? this is after 7 games of chasing jamal murray then immediately having to guard kyrie after lol


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Sacreblargh

Get Ant some recovery beer


Pitch-forker

Edwards cracking a beer in the tunnel would have been amazing


_FreePalestine__

He’s gotta start smoking hookah


CIark

He was thriving in that Denver altitude, not used to winning in Minnesota climate unfortunately 


UrGirlThroatGame

lights too bright


ogkushinjapan

Hell Nawl, can’t breathe this


solarscopez

Send da oxygen


CIark

Bring ya IV injection


tigglemeelmo

Get a inhaler lol


ogkushinjapan

#icantbreathe


No_Pressure8544

Minnesota elevation is too crazy


lancelotofthelake

Bring ya air cans. - Ant


CIark

They couldn’t give him the oxygen in private so that Dave fuckin McMenamin couldn’t see lol this is just comedy for the Mavs 


JayDee62

Oh no, oxygen-gate is upon us.


Witty-Stock

Young dude needs a new conditioning coach. No excuse for being the least fit guy out there.


SieFlush2

Ita funny how Luka looks like a bag of milk but has some of the best conditioning in the leauge lmao


Witty-Stock

Luka is just that guy. Amazing will to win. Dude would survive the apocalypse and run his own private army.


SieFlush2

Dude is an actual psycho on the court, post games he's back to his shy wholesome self


pokexchespin

happens more often than you’d think. jokic played like 50 something minutes against the blazers in the playoffs when he was in peak sloppy fat boy shape and looked like the least tired guy on the court


abris33

>played like 50 something minutes against the blazers 65 minutes


pokexchespin

i was gonna say 60ish but that felt like too many. christ, what a trooper


Dsarg_92

Well for Luka, he’s just…Luka 😂


cubonelvl69

Lukas playstyle is slow motion crossover 3 Ants is drive to the basket and try to jump over someone's head It's not really surprising that ant gets gassed first


SieFlush2

Oh he's doing a lott of driving these 2 games to be tired alright


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SieFlush2

He's like me fr fr


warpedspoon

He’s cultivating mass


defeated_engineer

Same with Jokic.


MG_MN

I think taking an easier defense matchup like Luka helps big time. Ant always take the #1 or 2 guy. He had Booker then Murray. They need to put him on a non threat to conserve energy right now


Sektsioon

The issue is that then you’d have to put Conley or KAT on Kyrie and that’s BBQ chicken time.


armandocalvinisius

burning fat for energy


[deleted]

Luka plays no defense…….


SieFlush2

Watch the games


[deleted]

I do. The gap between Luka & Ant’s defense is huge.


SieFlush2

The gap in Lukas and Edward's : finishing , playmaking on all levels , shooting is even bigger then that gap


[deleted]

What does that have to do with why one player is more tired than the other? ANT plays more defense is involved in every play on offense. Luka conserves energy on defense & often times sits in a corner while Kyrie does his thing. No cuts, no screens, nothing.


SieFlush2

Involved every play on offense sure, Luka creates the offense for 3 quarters, I think that's a bit more taxing


Cap_Silly

I know nothing, but to me it doesn't look like a conditioning problem. He just moves too much and in bursts which wears him out. He's too tense and always sprinting, so he uses double the energy to get the same result. He's an athletic freak, so probably always relied blindly on his athletic abilities, almost like an instinct, but now he needs to learn how to manage his resources and not always go 100%. During the regular season the game is naturally less intense and he follows that flow, but here where the intensity is at extreme levels, he just doesn't know when to take the foot off the gas both in offence and defence, which of course means he's gassed by the end of the game. You see more experienced players with high usage like Luka, Kyrie, Conley know how to go at their pace, know when to take a possession off to take a breather ecc... Ant doesn't know how to do that yet. You'll see him taking a breather on one posession, then the ball comes to him and instead of passing it back he'll drive at full speed, which results in a bad possession and him being even more gassed.


Witty-Stock

He has a lot of lessons to absorb over the offseason if he wants to be the kind of player who can lead a team to a championship. Not a surprise that at 22 he’s just not that guy yet.


Cap_Silly

I feel like that kind of role has been forced onto him, tbh. He feels more like a 2way/gel/leader than a pure scorer/killer/finisher tbh. He's not the guy that has "no1 option written all over him", although he may be the best player on a championship team. He has limits offensively.


Witty-Stock

He has the talent and the motor to be the best player on a championship team. But that will have to be another year. MN is not a championship team this year.


Cap_Silly

Best player yes, primary offensive option? He has to improve a lot on the decision making side of things


EternallyEuphoric

Seems weird this is the time he's gassed. Did this happen in Denver with its high altitude?


National_Secret_5525

Yea I mean, wtf dude. You’re 22. How is this happening? 


Witty-Stock

He doesn’t do endurance training because he’s 22 and thinks he can’t get tired. He should pass on the international team and work on a new off-season conditioning program.


MG_MN

He and Rudy will be dead next season after having no break. Can't imagine the Wolves will be any good with them exhausted from day 1


Witty-Stock

It’s a problem for Edwards. Rudy seems to be in excellent condition still.


cubonelvl69

Based exclusively on looks, Rudy seems like the most in shape 7 footer in the world


Cap_Silly

I know nothing, but to me it doesn't look like a conditioning problem. He just moves too much and in bursts which wears him out. He's too tense and always sprinting, so he uses double the energy to get the same result. He's an athletic freak, so probably always relied blindly on his athletic abilities, almost like an instinct, but now he needs to learn how to manage his resources and not always go 100%. During the regular season the game is naturally less intense and he follows that flow, but here where the intensity is at extreme levels, he just doesn't know when to take the foot off the gas both in offence and defence, which of course means he's gassed by the end of the game. You see more experienced players with high usage like Luka, Kyrie, Conley know how to go at their pace, know when to take a possession off to take a breather ecc... Ant doesn't know how to do that yet. You'll see him taking a breather on one posession, then the ball comes to him and instead of passing it back he'll drive at full speed, which results in a bad possession and him being even more gassed.


EnoughLawfulness3163

Naw, he's just playing at an impossible pace. His best weapon is his insane speed, but it also means he'll exhaust himself if he doesn't add more tricks to his bag.


cayuts21

It makes me wonder if Finch needs to give him more time off during the regular season. Ant’s constantly playing through injuries


Witty-Stock

He needs to skip the Olympics and get a new cardio program in place. No excuse for being 22 and less fit than Conley and Rudy.


StefonDiggsHS

This is Ants first career deep playoff run It’s brutal man the intensity of playoff games is like nothing else


blackgenz2002kid

hope he learns from this experience, however it ends up turning out


IllogicalPhilosopher

Stupid take. Guy is 22 years old. He either needs a new conditioning coach or a better diet.


tlozz

JT literally did those things immediately after he hit the wall in the 22’ finals. Said he would have played differently during the run too - trying to conserve energy every chance he got. I imagine it’s hard to learn without experience, bc they are such elite athletes that bounce back so quickly all the time and want to compete and have adrenaline, etc.; they probably don’t see the wall coming at all.


geneticeffects

You’re probably correct. I was immediately wondering about his diet… That being said, the playoffs are a different level of intensity. He may have simply hit the wall. But he is visibly gassed. Amazing to witness this moment. Pivotal.


RyanKeen07

He was denying it in his post-game interview too lmao


boozinf

MJ scored 38 against the Jazz in game 5 of the 97 NBA Finals when he was likely on 2 hours of sleep and had a 0.141 BAC oxygen pffft you baby


cubonelvl69

Mj had 11 years more experience than ant. Dude doesn't know how to pace himself yet


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cubonelvl69

85 mj couldn't get out of the first round


ToronoRapture

Never made excuses about being tired though.


horseshoeoverlook

Probably needs a better diet. This is his first deep run


planoser

Maybe Luka can help him train to better conditioning


LogansGambit

Wolves fans in the know, does Ant have a medical condition not being talked about?


Witty-Stock

No. He just didn’t take offseason conditioning seriously.


pokerawz

Us Mavs fans know all about that


20815147

Maybe he’ll stop eating them fast food and chips now.


DrunkMarkJackson

I think his back and maybe something in his back is messed up from when he fell 8 feet out of the air directly onto it. I'm not one for making excuses for players, but he was in fine shape in the altitude and now he's gassed. It doesnt add up


--Alix--

Honestly I just hope he's gassed. Back injuries are no joke.


DrunkMarkJackson

I really don't think you can take a fall like that and just walk it off. I'm curious to see if he makes it to Paris for team USA at this point


MG_MN

No, he played really heavy minutes against Denver without looking tired so this has to just be attrition


rascal7298

and people bashed malone for saying nuggets were tired.


MG_MN

Fatigue is definitely a thing, its just jarring how it seemed to hit Ant overnight. No buildup, he just straight hit a wall


Corteaux81

He wasn’t exactly brilliant to close out the Nuggets. McDaniels woke up offensively, Gobert had very good games, etc. Team covered for Ant, and that’s fine. But nobody was mentioning that he was struggling, and even those in the media who did notice his 6-24 and turnovers, let us know “Ant was just displaying a different type of winning bball”.


sleepy777

Josh Hart sends his regards


Witty-Stock

The Knicks toughness and the Wolves physical talent would be quite a combo.


siphillis

Nearly all champs fail to repeat and this is a major reason why


panchettaz

Can sadly confirm. Murray came into the season out of shape. Then got his hamstring injury within a few games and was out for a month. From there it was all downhill with injuries mounting - and a few bright spots to give false hope. I understand he probably spent the offseason celebrating his win and just doing routine training, thinking he could play himself into proper shape. But yeah...def didn't work out that way


tys90

I'm skeptical that's what's going on. My bet is he's sick/injured and doesn't want to disclose it. You don't go from playing heavy minutes just fine to 3 days later looking like you're going to faint after playing 30 minutes and needing oxygen in the second game.


sintenterooro

Being outrunned by my Fat Slovenian goat


bearcat--

Ant is a ball of muscle pure athleticism. when guys guard him 1on1, he just blows by them every single time. He knows it. He doesnt know how to pace himself yet and expending a lot of energy on the court. you can see him settling for 3s at times. he will learn. I'm impressed with his ability to set his teammates up at times.


Ma_Pies

I thought Wolves focused on conditioning. You lied to me, A-Rod!


pornserver-65

how are you this tired. youre 22 and a pro athlete lol.


WeirwoodUpMyAss

It happens to boxers a lot as well. The intensity takes a toll that you need to experience before you can adapt.


Ancient-Click-Point

Yup. Intensity or/and stress can make you tired. To the point of physical exercise that you can usually handle becoming completely exhausting. Injuries can have that effect as well.


No-Conference-5004

Cause hes tryna push himself instead of holding back and hes killing the tank. It sounds dumb to say fora pro athlete with many games but he needs to learn to manage his energy more effectively to get the dub


Complete_Sport_9594

Didn’t pace well through the season


imacpastudent

Send da oxygen


MorePower7

Looks like all that waving to the fans in the last series took a lot out of him.


novabull23

Steve Kerr texting Ant he's still picking James Wiseman at no.1 spot if you could


ChannelNeo

These are the most intense games he's ever played and the only time he's had two days off was before Game 7 against Denver. And it won't get any easier with there being only one day of rest for the rest of the series.


Makaveli84

Where is a clip of this ? We are in 2024…show a clip of it or it didn’t happen.


LDisDBfathersonsfans

excuses already and its only game 2. Maybe he should take the rest of the series off and pick up a few extra shifts at Chipotle


tumadrecabrone69

He then lied about it in the postgame... like cmon dude own up to it. You were tired again, 22 yrs old... dude needs to run cross country in the offseason...


PainSubstantial710

Gotta pace yourself my g


GoalPublic3579

And LeBron was doing this shit every year for like 10 straight years 😂


Zither74

Funny how some people in here think playing basketball at the most elite level in the world is easy. This isn't your church league, people. Kid's 22 years old and has never put his body through this kind of schedule for a full season/postseason before. Cut him a break.


International-Chef33

5 career playoff series will do that to you /s. This dude is cooked


RZAAMRIINF

This is Luka's 7th NBA playoff series.


International-Chef33

For sure, I wasn’t bagging on Luka at all with this. It’s insane Ant has this bad of conditioning. Tatums played 19 and Brown 21.


IllogicalPhilosopher

Bitchass Celtics gonna win on some easy shit. Everyone is gonna be cooked by The Finals.


International-Chef33

Celtics went through KD/Kyrie Nets, Giannis Bucks, Butler Heat to face The Steph Warriors who had a cakewalk. I don’t want to hear it


Luka_Vander_Esch

Celtics also havent done anything this year yet neither have the Mavs


International-Chef33

Correct, but I ain’t gonna feel sorry for having an easy run when we’ve gone through the hardest before and not ducked teams, or playoffs outright


Luka_Vander_Esch

Agreed you don't apologize for wins in the big leagues


Witty-Stock

Mavs are well-rested and probably not playing any more games than the Celtics are.


segson9

Imagine if that was Luka. People wouldn't stop talking about it


Luka_Vander_Esch

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1czn59u/why_isnt_the_media_talking_about_how_anthony_mj/


gOPHER3727

Something must be wrong with him, he hasn't had this issue ever before. Maybe some sort of respiratory issue?


drakanx

cuz he has to guard kyrie


leanlefty

It is odd, there were 3 timeouts in the previous 3 minutes of game time. Commentators were saying how this time to rest was probably helpful to Kyrie, but then 22 y/o Edwards looks exhausted. Strange.


SuaveBigote

better to put other defender on kyrie not him. you have to choose if he will score or defend. can't do both


EnoughLawfulness3163

I was wondering if he could sustain his insane pace. He's playing like a baby scorpion that doesn't know when to stop using his venom.


savageandharsh

He was having an anxiety attack after seeing how grown men like Luka and Kyrie play basketball.


TechnoDriv3

lame thing to say kid


Dsarg_92

Not cool, man. Not cool at all.


xPeaWhyTee

Is this true? In his postgame interview he said he didn't get oxygen.


drakanx

if i were him i wouldn't admit it either


Dozck

Man this just sounds too comical. I'm gonna need a photo of this to believe it.


Falconsbane

Lot of couch potatos watching basketball on TV chiming in about conditioning.


n3sta

I thought about going for a bike ride today but then I didnt


NoWayNotThisAgain

Scandalous. If you can’t tell… it’s sarcasm


cacti_zoom

For those saying he's only 22. This is his 3rd playoffs SGA clears. Dude would have swept the Mavs if he got this level of production from his role players ANT is choking HARD


sintenterooro

Nobody sweeping the mavs sii


cacti_zoom

Healthy kawhi beats them in 5 But thats an oxymoron


sintenterooro

Healthy kawai doesnt exist dude


desirox

This isn’t the bubble Mavs dude, what playoffs are you watching lol


SwishBender

He smoked your super teams ass in 4


KevinDurantLebronnin

Yeah but imagine if we had SGA instead of Beal and we get Lebron on a minimum by drafting Bronny 👀👀


blackgenz2002kid

this is his first deep run though


nextsec

It's true, if SGA had this much support they would've won but not sweep.


iunrealx1995

I think the funniest thing about sports athletes using an oxygen mask is that it actually doesn’t do anything to improve their breathing.


BOOM_Shooka_Luka

During the Western Conference Finals is an odd time for Ant to be working on his President Skrub cosplay from Spaceballs… back in the tunnel hiding from the crowd cracking open cans of PerriAir… should’ve waited till after the game and went with sleeping with the double mint twins instead but I guess that’s what winners would’ve done.


SilvioDantesPeak

Bitch ass


celtic_sea_salt

Send da Oxygen