Your Minnesota Timberwolves have a 3-0 series lead for the first time in franchise history!!

Final: Minnesota Timberwolves 129 Phoenix Suns 109
Stats:
Minnesota:
Starters:
J. McDaniels 5 pts 1-4 FG 0-1 3PT 3-4 FT 4 REB 1 AST 1 STL
R. Gobert 19 pts 6-8 FG 7-8 FT 14 REB 1 AST 1 STL
K. Towns 18 pts 7-16 FG 3-5 3PT 1-2 FG 13 REB 2 AST
M. Conley 15 pts 6-11 FG 3-7 3PT 4 REB 7 AST 1 STL
A. Edwards 36 pts 12-23 FG 1-5 3PT 11-11 FT 9 REB 5 AST 2 STL
Bench:
K. Anderson 2 pts 1-1 FG 3 REB 2 AST 8 min
N. Reid 13 pts 5-10 FG 2-5 3PT 1-2 FT 1 REB 2 AST
M. Morris 2 pts 1-4 FG 0-1 3PT 1 AST 9 min
N. Alexander-Walker 16 pts 4-10 FG 4-10 3PT 4-4 FT 2 REB 5 AST

Game Summary:
Minnesota controlled this game from start to finish, and never trailed in the game. It certainly seems like the Wolves confidence is increasing with every game. Minnesota had trouble pushing the lead higher in the first two quarters, struggling a bit from beyond the arc but striving in the paint. In fact, they already had 30+ points in the paint by halftime. It wasn't exactly the best first half for the Wolves, but they managed to have a 6 point lead at half also despite the disparity of free throws for the Suns, nearly doubling their total.
However, what is becoming a pattern - is the resurgent 3rd quarter for Minnesota. The Wolves roared out to as much of as a 22 point lead in the 3rd frame and at one point were on a 20-6 run. This included 4 threes in a row from Nickeil Alexander-Walker and another from Naz Reid, for a while the Wolves just couldn't miss! In the 4th quarter that continued for 6 minutes, but as foul troubles started to mount again the Wolves slowed down a bit. Fortunately for Minnesota, they had their answer: defense. When they forced Phoenix to have someone other then Durant, Booker, or Beal shoot, they got rebounds. They even forced a couple misses from the big 3. It got tight for a bit- but Minnesota powered through for a 15 point victory!
Minnesota now leads the series 3-0, for the first time in franchise history! Their 2-0 lead was only their second ever such lead, the other being the 2-0 lead over Sacramento back in 2004. 

Injury Report
Kyle Anderson returned to floor in Game 3 and played modest minutes. He looked fine out there, so I would expect him to be available from here on out unless he reinjures or picks up a new injury.
Karl-Anthony Towns appeared to get a stinger in the 3rd quarter, fortunately it didn't look too serious at the time and he re-entered moments later.

Up Next
Game 4 is now up next! It will take place again in Phoenix on Sunday at 8:30 PM CT and can be seen on TNT or Bally Sports North. I have heard previously, if the series were to need a game 5 in Minneapolis it would be at either 8:30 PM or 9 PM on Tuesday.

#WolvesBack

This is a true statement: the Minnesota Timberwolves have a 2-0 series lead over the Phoenix Suns!

Statistics:
Minnesota:
Starters:
J. McDaniels 25 pts 10-17 FG 2-4 3PT 3-4 FT 8 REB 3 AST 1 STL
R. Gobert 18 pts 6-8 FG 6-7 FT 9 REB 2 AST 3 STL 1 BLK
K. Towns 12 pts 3-7 FG 1-4 3PT 5-5 FT 8 REB 1 AST 1 STL
M. Conley 18 pts 7-13 FG 3-6 3PT 1-1 FT 4 REB 2 STL
A. Edwards 15 pts 3-12 FG 2-6 3PT 7-8 FT 5 REB 8 AST 3 STL 1 BLK
Bench:
TJ Warren 0 pts 0-0 FG 1 REB 2 min
L. Garza 0 pts 0-0 FG 2 min
N. Reid 5 pts 1-5 FG 0-3 3PT 3-4 FT 2 REB 
M. Morris 2 pts 1-4 FG 0-3 3PT 11 min
J. McLaughlin 0 pts 0-1 FG 0-1 3PT 2 min
N. Alexander-Walker 10 pts 4-10 FG 1-4 3PT 1-1 FT 2 REB 5 AST 1 STL
W. Moore Jr 0 pts 0-1 FG 0-1 3PT 2 min

Game Summary:
Minnesota came out of the gates swinging for the fences as they say. Wolves opened the game on an 8-0 run before Phoenix took a timeout. Things got dicey from there. While the Wolves still led at the end of the opening frame, they had gone ice cold from the field and were only shooting a measly 32% from the field and 18% from 3. Fortunately for them, the Suns were somehow shooting the ball even worse. 
In the 2nd quarter, things continued to stay cold for Minnesota and they gave up the lead. They managed to only be down 1 at the halftime break.
Something seemed to change a little bit in the 3rd quarter, as the Wolves dominant defense became smothering and the offense started to find its footing a little bit and Minnesota went into the final frame with a 7 point lead.
In the 4th quarter, Minnesota started with a 10-0 run that broke the game open and was fairly smooth sailing to the end. The Wolves would go on to win by 12 behind Jaden McDaniels' game-high and career playoff high 25 points!

Injury Report
Kyle Anderson was available for tonight's win over Phoenix, but Chris Finch elected to sit him. I would expect Kyle to play at some point in Games 3 and 4.

Up Next
Now the series shifts to Phoenix. Wolves and Suns are back in action on Friday for Game 3 at 9:30 PM CT.

#WolvesBack

Anthony Edwards led Minnesota to a tone-setting game 1 victory over the Phoenix Suns!

Stats
Minnesota:
Starters:
J. McDaniels 9 pts 3-7 FG 0-2 3PT 3-3 FT 6 REB 2 BLK
R. Gobert 14 pts 4-6 FG 6-7 FT 16 REB 2 AST
K. Towns 19 pts 5-9 FG 1-2 3PT 8-8 FT 7 REB 4 AST 1 STL
M. Conley 4 pts 2-12 FG 0-3 3PT 3 REB 7 AST
A. Edwards 33 pts 14-24 FG 4-8 3PT 1-2 FT 9 REB 6 AST 2 STL
Bench:
TJ Warren 0 pts 0-0 FG 3 min
K. Anderson 2 pts 1-2 FG 5 min
L. Garza 5 pts 2-2 FG 1-1 3PT 1 REB 3 min
N. Reid 12 pts 4-10 FG 2-6 3PT 2-2 FT 2 REB 2 AST 1 STL
M. Morris 2 pts 1-3 FG 0-1 3PT 3 REB 3 AST 
J. McLaughlin 2 pts 1-1 FG 1 REB 3 min
N. Alexander-Walker 18 pts 7-12 FG 4-9 3PT 4 REB 2 AST 4 STL
W. Moore Jr 0 pts 0-0 FG 3 min

Game Summary:
Coming into this game, plenty of folks were lining up to give the Wolves no chance in this series even though they are the upper seed. They did have some ammo given that Phoenix beat Minnesota all three times in the regular season. There was no glimpse of those matchups this afternoon.
From the get-go it seemed the Wolves were more then up to the task that had alluded them all season. Minnesota went blow for blow with the Suns for the entire first quarter. In the second quarter, they started to open a little lead over the team from the desert. The Wolves led by 10 at halftime after a late run by Phoenix.
The second half was a different story altogether, Minnesota came out with even more fire then they did in the first quarter - roaring out to a 15 point lead and never really looking back. While several starters got into foul trouble in the first half, only Mike Conley would have that issue in the second half. Anthony Edwards was his usual self in the second half, dropping 18 of his 33 points in the 3rd frame. The 4th quarter was even better for Minnesota. The Wolves ended up outscoring the Suns 59-44 in the final two quarters to seal the series-opening win for only the third time in franchise history!
If Minnesota can get this kind of game from Edwards consistently in the postseason, and this kind of intensity on defense from McDaniels, Gobert, and KAT - they will be very difficult to beat!

Injury Report
While Minnesota did not list anyone on the injury report before the game, they would add one during halftime. Kyle Anderson would not return in the second half with a right hip pointer. There is no word yet if he will be available for Game 2.

Up Next
We now head over to Game 2 on Tuesday with 1-0 series lead for Minnesota. Tipoff is at 6:30 PM CT on TNT and Bally Sports North.

​#WolvesBack

Ok, so now that the regular season has come to a close, I figured I should sit down and analyze this team in second half of the year. 

Expectations
When I last checked in on here with the Wolves, they were at the top of the West with 34 games left. While it didn't exactly go as I would have hoped, they were somewhat able to hold serve. My expectation at the beginning of the season was that Minnesota would crack no higher then a 5 seed and no lower then a 9 seed in the postseason. I am happy to say I was wrong in a good way! While the Wolves were able to hold the 1 seed for the majority of the season, they faltered in the final couple weeks along with the other two teams vying for the spot heating up. 

Preview vs. Suns
Minnesota lost all three games they played against the Suns this season, 2 on the road and 1 at home. The Wolves looked the worst in those three games, being limited to under 100 points in 2 out of 3 and losing by 20+ in two games (with the third being a 10 point loss due to a late game push by the bench). If Minnesota wants to win their first series since 2003-04, they will need to find a way to give more effort on both ends and limit Phoenix's role players. No sense in trying to focus on Durant and Booker since they will get their points regardless of what you throw at them. Its do-able for the Wolves, they just need to focus for the whole game. A struggling few minutes could derail a game.

Series Schedule against Suns:
Game 1: in Minneapolis 4/20 @ 2:30 PM CT on ESPN
Game 2: in Minneapolis 4/23 @ 6:30 PM CT on TNT
Game 3: in Phoenix 4/26 @ 9:30 PM CT on ESPN
Game 4: in Phoenix 4/28 @ 8:30 PM CT on TNT
Game 5*: in Minneapolis 4/30 Time and Network TBD
Game 6*: in Phoenix 5/2 Time and Network TBD
Game 7*: in Minneapolis 5/4 Time and Network TBD
* - if necessary
All first round games will also be simulcast on Bally Sports North

Let's go Wolves!!!

So, I have to admit that I try not to be superstitious but when I started writing season previews for the Wild and Wolves, I published the Wild one and they started out terrible. Obviously the Wolves took off, so I was somewhat concerned if I posted about them that they would suddenly lose their muster. However, given they have gone through a slump already this year, I am going to write a update anyway!

My Expections Before the Season
While I don't have documentation for it, I had expected the Wolves to finish between seeds 5 and 9 in the Western Conference with a record around 48-36. Minnesota returned almost the same roster as last season, however the hope was that they could keep the starting 5 together for the majority of the season. I personally wanted to see what this group could do when they are healthy for a decent chunk of time, as we never got that last season.

Beginning of Season to Now
The Wolves started the season with a loss to Toronto. However, since then they have hardly looked back and currently sit atop the Western Conference as the number 1 seed! This is the first time Minnesota has had the 1 seed for any length of time since the 2003-04 season, which was the lone year the franchise made it past the first round of the playoffs and lost to the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals. However, this season, the Wolves held the 1 seed from November 18, 2023 all the way to January 27, 2024. This is the longest the franchise has held the top seed ever, and the only time they held the top seed in the regular season was for 3 days in the aforementioned 2003-04 season at the end of the season. In that time period, Minnesota has consistently remained at the top of the league in scoring defense, top 3 in field goal percentage allowed, and is in the top 10 in 3 point percentage allowed and blocks per game. This makes the Wolves one of the NBA's top 5 defenses this season. For a team that just two seasons ago was around 15 or 16 in the NBA, and really was even worse then that the season before, this is spectacular! While the Wolves' offense has taken a hit this year in the scoring category, they are 2nd in the league in 3 point percentage, and 7th in field goal percentage.
My point is: this isn't some wild fluke. Minnesota is at the top of the West for a reason. They have a 19-10 record against teams that currently have a record of .500 or above, and have a 15-4 record against teams under .500 at this point in the season. That last stat is even more important considering last season was a major struggle against bad teams. Minnesota is also 5-3 in one score games this season, not a bad stat.

Rest of the Season
The Wolves have a bright future. While they have entered a mid-season slump over the last two weeks, they just recently capped that with a big win over the Thunder who remain only a game behind Minnesota, and a 30+ point win over the Mavs at home. 
With the standings as they are right now, Minnesota will play a total of 17 games against teams .500 and above throughout the remainder of the season. There are 34 games remaining, so that would be about half of the remaining games. That also means, Minnesota needs to take care of business against the other half of those teams that they should most definitely be able to beat. If the Wolves can sustain the success they had most of the season so far, I feel fairly confident they can end up as a top 3 seed come playoff time. However, things could change if they lose focus.

All I know though, is they can be damn fun to watch! Its quite a time to be a fan of the Minnesota Timberwolves. And those of us that have watched them for many years, decades even, deserve times like this. I hope folks remember these days, and hold on to them, no matter what happens if the Wolves make the postseason. Cause if the past has taught us anything, next season could very easily slip back into the mid to bottom tier of the West.

The Wolves take on the Orlando Magic tonight at Target Center, have a great night everyone!

​#RaisedByWolves

Its been long enough for me to process what this season was. So lets take a look at how this season went and what it means for this franchise going forward.

My Predictions from early on
I wasn't completely correct, or very close. I had predicted the Wolves would finish the season 56-24 and a 4 seed in the Western Conference. Neither of these were very close. Weirdly enough, that 4 seed was still achievable until 3 weeks to go in the season. I also predicted Minnesota would finish 2nd in the division behind Denver, that was correct. It is Minnesota's highest division finish since 2004. 

Season Recap
Minnesota started the season with some bumps in the road, but largely average. They were exactly 5-5 after the first 10 games of the season and it didn't seem the twin towers experiment was going very well, Towns and Gobert weren't the best duo. However, it started going the right way on November 13th. The Wolves would win their next 5 games, including three against the likes of Cleveland, Philadelphia, and Miami who would wind up being playoff teams. 
Unfortunately, disaster struck during that last win against Indiana when Karl-Anthony Towns left the game with a right calf injury. This was initially told to be a 6-8 week injury, it ended up spiraling into a 4 month injury. So now the Wolves, who sat at the time 10-8, had to play for several months without one of their best players and biggest contributors. Between this time and the new year, the Wolves would struggle quite a bit. They were quite streaky, losing 3 straight games after losing Towns. Then they won 3 out of their next 4, lose the next 3 after that, win 3 after that. To make matters worse, they then hit a 6 game losing skid through Christmas right into the new year. But after the new year began, things started to change. Edwards and company started to learn how to play and win with each other. While Ant is definitely still too young to completely carry a team for a long stretch of time, he did his best to keep Minnesota afloat. The Wolves went 11-5 in the month of January to propel them back into the playoff conversation. After that, the team kind of coasted into the All-Star break. But just at the beginning of February, Wolves president Tim Connelly traded ever-struggling PG D'Angelo Russell to the Lakers in a three team trade, in exchange for aging veteran PG Mike Conley Jr and young G Nickeil Alexander-Walker. This reunited Rudy Gobert with his point guard from his days in Utah. 
After the All-Star break, the Wolves didn't really rebound how many were hoping they could. Part of this could be due to the March 17th loss in Chicago, that saw Anthony Edwards leave the game midway through the 1st quarter with what appeared to be a bad ankle sprain. Only a few days later though, Karl-Anthony Towns returned from his 4 month long absence to lead the Wolves to a win over the Hawks at home. Minnesota would win a couple more in that stretch, including a win at the Warriors in Anthony Edwards' surprising return to the lineup.  Things would go downhill though after a win in Sacramento, when the Wolves lost 3 straight must-win games to stay out of the play-in tournament. However, they would save things in the last 3 games that they won to ensure a play-in tournament berth. 
The play-in tournament didn't go great though. Minnesota came out swinging in LA against the Lakers. But an awful 10 minute shooting drought at the end of the game gave the Lakers the win and the 7 seed in the playoffs. The Wolves would end up dismantling the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second play-in game at home to clinch the 8 seed.

Playoffs Review
Minnesota locked into a series with top-seeded Denver Nuggets, or tried to anyway. Game 1 was a complete disaster for the Wolves from start to finish, which was a blowout in Denver's favor. Fortunately, that would be the worst game of the series for Minnesota. They competed with the Nuggets for the rest of the series, finally finding a win at home in game 4 to avoid a sweep. Even game 5 in Denver was closer then others, with the Wolves just coming up short of forcing a game 6 in Minnesota.

My Overall Opinion
This Wolves team is a lot different then I thought they would be this year. The season was very underwhelming, partly due to Towns' extended absence. Because of that absence I don't think I can confidently say one way or another whether Minnesota's all-big lineup works or not. Something else I didn't mention in the season summary, is that the Wolves lost two other big contributors late in the year. Towards the end of March, Minnesota lost bench stalwart and fan favorite Naz Reid to a broken wrist. Reid was essential in helping the Wolves stay afloat since the new year began, and was very obviously the best bench player in the league for the last 3 months of the season. He played seamlessly with Rudy Gobert, which started to give fans hope that the all-big lineup has a chance to work in Minnesota. Then in the last game of the season against New Orleans, lots of things went wrong for the Wolves. Rudy Gobert and Taurean Prince got into a scuffle on the bench that wound up sending Gobert home and suspended for the play-in game against the Lakers. Then, just before halftime, Jaden McDaniels took his frustration out on a tunnel wall in Target Center. This resulted in a fractured hand that took him out of commission until at least the 2nd round of the playoffs, which the Wolves would never reach. McDaniels made a very serious third year jump in his career, and is largely regarded as the fiercest defender in the NBA today by his peers. Even Jaden's shooting was starting to come around, as he shot in the high 30% range on average. These two players would have made a huge impact in the play-in games and in the playoffs. One could imagine they would have helped Minnesota to maybe a 7 seed berth.

Future
This team has a lot to figure out amongst themselves this summer. I don't think anybody big on the team will get traded. Although the Wolves may have to let go of a couple prized possessions to continue to next season. Next season will be big indicator of where the team will go in the distant future, as the hope would be to see the majority of games with KAT and Gobert playing together. It could very well decide if the Wolves move on from this lineup and get rid of either player or both. 
Given how the playoffs have played out, I feel better about the Wolves appearance this year. The West was a complete mess, with the 7th seeded Lakers making it to the conference finals to face Denver. Both teams Minnesota faced wound up making a deep run, I think that says something to the Wolves' resolve. Besides, the Nuggets wound up sweeping a team this postseason and it wasn't Minnesota. Next season could be very fun, and it will interesting to see where this team goes.

Until next time Wolves fans,

​#RaisedByWolves

A sad ending to a decent season is most likely coming.

I am not going to state the stats for both games, just gonna move on.

Game Summary:
Minnesota had better games in 2 and 3 then they did in Game 1. But they just weren't quite enough. In Game 2, the Wolves looked awful in the first half, but scored 42 points in the 3rd quarter to reduce the deficit to double digits. However, they fell short in the 4th quarter to lose the game.
In Game 3, Minnesota had a good fight, but just got out shot by the Nuggets for the final 10 minutes. Anthony Edwards tried his best to will the Wolves to a win, but it just wasn't enough. 

What I have learned from these games is that Minnesota seems to be too broken to carve out a competitive series against the top seeded Nuggets. Now, contrary to popular belief, this isn't the end of the world. I never felt the Wolves needed to win this series or be competitive to keep their moderate success alive over the last two seasons. Is it a step down from last postseason? Sure, but that could have been expected given that the team traded away 3 key pieces and added a game changing piece in trades. They also lost their star big man for 52 games, and lost their All-NBA defender and potential 6th man due to injury right before the regular season ended. This is a significantly hindered Wolves team trying to claw their way to a playoff win. I really hope they win Game 4 to give the fans at Target Center something for their money and emotion. It kind of is an embarrassment to get swept, so losing in 5 isn't so bad. I will touch on this more in a season review later, but the Wolves don't necessarily change trajectory after one failed playoff run.

Lets hope they find some success in Game 4 to bring this thing to a Game 5 in Denver!

​#RaisedByWolves

Yeah, had a bad feeling this would happen.

Final: Minnesota Timberwolves 80 Denver Nuggets 109

Minnesota:
Starters:
R. Gobert 8 pts, 3-5 FG, 2-4 FT, 13 REB, 2 BLK
K. Towns 11 pts, 5-15 FG, 1-7 3PT, 0-2 FT, 10 REB, 2 AST
M. Conley 8 pts, 3-5 FG, 2-3 3PT, 4 REB, 3 AST
N. Alexander-Walker 7 pts, 2-6 FG, 2-4 3PT, 1-2 FT, 1 REB, 1 BLK
A. Edwards 18 pts, 6-15 FG, 1-4 3PT, 5-6 FT, 2 REB, 5 AST, 2 STL, 1 BLK
Bench:
T. Prince 0 pts, 0-4 FG
N. Knight 2 pts, 1-4 FG, 0-2 3PT, 1 REB
J. Minott 0 pts, 0-1 FG, 2 STL
K. Anderson 11 pts, 5-11 FG, 1-3 3PT, 1 REB, 3 AST, 2 STL
A. Rivers 3 pts, 1-2 FG, 1-2 3PT, 3 REB
J. Nowell 12 pts, 4-10 FG, 3-6 3PT, 1-2 FG, 1 REB, 2 AST

Game Summary:
I'm gonna make this quick. There wasn't much good to say about this game. I think you all would be shocked to see that the Wolves only trailed by 3 after the first quarter. And even at halftime it was 12 points. But in the second half, the Wolves continued to miss shots frequently and turn the ball over. This by all metrics was the Wolves worst game of the season. One heck of a time to have this. 
I will admit, I didn't think Minnesota would play too terribly well in this series. The cards just aren't in hand this year, the Wolves are missing their top defender and their best bench player in a series that requires defense and depth. So I wouldn't expect much out of this series, hopefully they aren't all 29 point blowouts.

Up Next
The Wolves will get a day off like the rest of the NBA playoff teams and play Game 2 in Denver on Wednesday at 9 PM CT. 

​#RaisedByWolves

The 8th seeded Minnesota Timberwolves will take on the top seeded Denver Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs.

How They Got Here
Alright so, lets discuss the paths both teams took to get to this point. The Minnesota Timberwolves finished the regular season 42-40, and they lost the 7 seed play in game to the LA Lakers in overtime. Then they routed the Oklahoma City Thunder to clinch the 8 seed. Around that process, the Wolves had a tumultuous finish to the season. With around 3-4 weeks left in the season, Anthony Edwards turned his ankle in a game in Chicago. Not long after that, Karl-Anthony Towns returned from his 52 game absence due to a right calf injury. The next game, Edwards returned from his injury. So basically, KAT is just now getting to 100%, and Ant is still getting there. He seems to have a taken a setback during the Lakers play-in game when he took a hard fall on his shooting shoulder. So we really aren't sure where his true status is. Its the playoffs so of course he will play with what he has currently. 
The Denver Nuggets clinched their playoff spot way back in the middle of March. They clinched the Northwest division title a little earlier then that. The Nuggets have rested their players on and off for the last 3-4 weeks, so expect them to be well rested and ready for a playoff run. 

Regular Season Series
The Wolves and Nuggets played 4 times in the regular season. The last game was on February 7th, so it wasn't exactly recently. To give an overview of the 4 game series, the teams split them. Both teams had a close win, and a blowout win. Now, none of the games were played between both teams at full strength. In the first 3 games, the Nuggets didn't play either Jamal Murray and/or Nikola Jokic. In the 4th game, the Nuggets were full strength, however the Wolves were missing KAT and Gobert in that game. Nevertheless, both teams won their games at home and struggled on the road. The Nuggets scored the most points in a game, with 146 in a rout of Minnesota back in Denver. The best defensive effort was played by the Wolves when they routed the Nuggets in Minnesota in game 3. So, honestly, the regular season series doesn't tell us much about how this series will go. Onto something else.

What both teams are good at
Minnesota does have quite a few strengths. The Wolves have very talented shooters, and even better defensive players. In fact, I would put Minnesota's defense up against the best of the NBA. Typically, when the defense is playing well, it produces their excellent offense. When Minnesota's best players (KAT, Anthony Edwards, and Rudy Gobert) are playing well, this team wins and fairly easily too. That will be a huge key to this series for Minnesota.
On Denver's end, they have the triple-double king in Nikola Jokic who you can always count on to be consistent and make an effect on the game. He also tends to get the better of KAT too. The Nuggets also have Jamal Murray, who is an excellent guard who plays great defense and hits plenty of shots as well. However, this team doesn't live and die by these two players. Denver also has Aaron Gordon, who has managed to inject a little life back into his career while in Denver, who has been a volume shooter and playmaker for the Nuggets this season. They also have Michael Porter Jr, who was very key in their win over Minnesota in game 4 of the regular season series. Another key piece for them is up and coming point guard Bones Hyland. While he was rumored to be on the trade block a couple months ago, he is quite the player for Denver.

X-Factors
Minnesota's X-Factor is two fold I believe. The first one has to be how Nickeil Alexander-Walker will defend Jamal Murray if allowed to start. If he can manage any kind of lockdown mentality on Murray, like he did to SGA in the play-in win, this could be key to any Minnesota victory in the postseason. The second factor, is how will KAT and Gobert play together in the playoffs. In the play-in win over OKC, the two were vital to the team's success and worked extremely well together. They even managed to pull off an alley-oop dunk to one another, something that is rarely seen in the NBA and may have been KAT's first time being on the passing end of a showtime dunk. If these too big men can hang with Jokic for a full 4 quarters, things could get very interesting in this series.
On Denver's side, I think they have one x-factor. It isn't really a specific player, but mainly their defense. While Denver hasn't really had a terrible game defensively when all their guys are player, if they can't manage to slow down Minnesota's top scorers, then they will be in a for a tough battle to move on to the second round. However, if the Nuggets manage to shutdown KAT in any sense of the word, Minnesota doesn't have much of an answer with Anthony Edwards not at 100%. While Mike Conley, Rudy Gobert, and Kyle Anderson play great in a play-in victory over an exhausted Thunder team, its not as likely to work for a best of 7 series. 

Grudge Matches
This really doesn't have much to do with the play in the series at all, but I wanted to highlight how linked these two franchises are in recent memory. Minnesota PoBO Tim Connelly was hired away from Denver last summer to take the position with the Wolves, so he has plenty of knowledge about the Nuggets best players and particularly their flaws. On the other hand, Denver has Ryan Saunders and Rick Adelman on their coaching staff. Saunders is Wolves legend Flip Saunders' son and coached the Wolves a couple years back. So he would have insight on how to stop KAT. Adelman doesn't really have a recent insight into the Wolves but coached the team almost 10 years ago now. 

My Prediction
I am going to predict the Nuggets beat the Wolves in 6 games. I just don't think that Minnesota has the health to even last a full 7 games but I think they will put up a respectable fight against one of the best teams in the league. 

This should be a fun series nevertheless, bring on the playoffs!!

#WolvesBack #RaisedByWolves

The Minnesota Timberwolves dominated an exhausted and inconsistent Oklahoma City Thunder team to clinch their second straight playoff berth. 

Final: Oklahoma City Thunder 95 Minnesota Timberwolves 120
Statcap:
Minnesota:
Starters:
R. Gobert 21 pts, 6-11 FG, 9-14 FT, 10 REB, 2 AST
K. Towns 28 pts, 11-16 FG, 1-4 3PT, 5-5 FT, 11 REB, 3 AST
M. Conley 14 pts, 4-6 FG, 2-4 3PT, 4-4 FT, 3 REB, 3 AST, 3 STL, 1 BLK
N. Alexander-Walker 12 pts, 5-10 FG, 2-7 3PT, 4 REB, 6 AST, 3 STL, 2 BLK
A. Edwards 19 pts, 8-19 FG, 3-8 3PT, 10 REB, 6 AST, 2 STL, 1 BLK
Bench:
T. Prince 6 pts, 2-8 FG, 2-5 3PT, 4 AST, 1 STL
K. Anderson 11 pts, 4-9 FG, 2-3 3PT, 6 REB, 4 AST, 1 BLK
N. Knight 0 pts, 0-0 FG, 2 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL
J. Minott 7 pts, 2-2 FG, 1-1 3PT, 2-2 FT
J. McLaughlin 0 pts, 0-1 FG, 1 REB, 1 STL
A. Rivers 2 pts, 1-1 FG
W. Moore Jr 0 pts, 0-0 FG

Game Summary:
After the bad night that was the game against the Lakers, the Wolves came out and dominated in front of an amazing home crowd! The first quarter was a little rocky, Minnesota only led by 1 after the opening period. In the second quarter, the Wolves started to pull a little lead. KAT began to take over the game and had 15 points at halftime. Anthony Edwards had a refreshing 11 points, even though you could tell he can't be 100%. 
In the 2nd half, the Wolves pretty much dominated in every sense of the word. There were several dunks, alley-oops. The amazing display was highlighted in the early 4th quarter when Mike Conley recovered a rebound and threw a baseball pass to Karl-Anthony Towns who lobbed the ball to Rudy Gobert for a dunk! It was an awesome sequence, and got Target Center on their feet! It just seemed to be the Wolves night. With 3 and a half minutes remaining, both teams emptied their benches and Wolves fans started celebrating with "We want Denver" chants! 
It was a historic evening for Minnesota, as this is the first time the franchise has secured consecutive playoff berths since Garnett's era from 1997-2004. What a time to be a Timberwolves fan!

Up Next
Minnesota will now move on to the playoffs where they will play top seeded Denver in the first round. Its a standard best of 7 series, and it begins on Sunday at 9:30 PM in Denver. I will be posting a series preview sometime on Saturday or Sunday.

Wolves Back!! #RaisedByWolves