Wolves Regular Season Concludes with very season-typical game

Wow, well that was a bumpy week and a half.

The Minnesota Timberwolves finished up their 2022-23 Regular Season on Sunday, with a win over the New Orleans Pelicans. 
So, the last time we touched base on the Wolves, they were riding high after a huge 99-96 win over the Golden State Warriors to climb to 6th place in the Western Conference. They had 7 games left in the season.

Lets just say, basically everything that could go wrong, went wrong. It started out on a high note, with another big win over the Sacramento Kings the next night. After that, it went downhill. Minnesota then played a lackluster loss in Phoenix to the Suns, 107-100. After that, the Wolves then played the streaking LA Lakers at home. They lost after leading by 10 at halftime, 123-111. If that wasn't bad enough, then they lost to the tanking Portland Trail Blazers. It was a rough time.
Fortunately for Minnesota, they would win their remaining three games. First they beat the Nets in Brooklyn, and the Spurs in Austin. Those were big wins and the San Antonio win was the most points scored for Minnesota in a game in franchise history, topping their previous record of 150 earlier this year against the Chicago Bulls. The last game though, against the Pelicans at home, would be the most consequential for the Wolves future thus far. Minnesota went into the game with lots to play for. If the Wolves won and the Lakers lost, Minnesota would secure the 7 seed. If the Lakers lose, Minnesota would secure the 8 seed. If the Wolves lost, they would secure the 9 seed. During the game, the Wolves played very bad in the first half. It came to a boiling point just under a minute left in the 2nd quarter, and Rudy Gobert and Kyle Anderson got into a scuffle during a timeout. Going into halftime, the tensions were high and Jaden McDaniels was seen punching a wall in the tunnel in frustration. While in the locker room, another argument unfolded between teammates which resulted in Rudy Gobert being asked to go home. Jaden McDaniels also was x-rayed and it revealed that he fractured his wrist punching the wall. The vibes weren't very high at this point. But Minnesota came out of the tunnel swinging at the Pelicans, not their teammates. It proved to work, as the Wolves won 113-108. Gobert apologized on social media and to his teammates, and will most likely appear in Wolves postseason games. Jaden McDaniels' timetable is TBD at the time of this writing, but I would not expect him to play this postseason.

So after that cluster of 10 days, the Wolves land as the number 8 seed in the West after the Lakers won on Sunday as well. I will hold off on doing a full season review until the Wolves finish their postseason run. 

I will be doing post-game coverage of every postseason Wolves game, including the play-in games. Minnesota will now look forward to their first play-in tournament game this year on Tuesday at 9 PM. The Wolves will take on the 7th place Lakers in Los Angeles on TNT. If the Wolves were to win the game, they advance to the playoffs as the West's 7th seed. If they lose, they will host the result of the 9th place New Orleans Pelicans/10th place Oklahoma City Thunder for the right to play the top seeded Denver Nuggets in the playoffs.

This season has been a roller-coaster thus far, and I expect the play-in tournament to be no different!

​#RaisedByWolves