MINNEAPOLIS — On the penultimate day of December, just over 20 minutes before the start of the race, the target center was almost full. A lot of the time, the Minnesota Timberwolves' season is over by this time, and the team, which often gets lost in the wilderness, usually uses games like this to promote their Saturday night opponents rather than the home team on this basketball court.
In those days, when the news broke before the game that a star like LeBron James might not be playing, there was a panic in the stadium because the only real reason to watch the game was in suspense.
On Saturday, James was listed as suspicious due to illness. Of course, with James missing the Los Angeles Lakers game last week, fans will surely be disappointed when they spend a lot of money to get the chance to see him on his 39th birthday. But that's not all.
Roger McBey, a longtime season ticket holder, summed up the emotions of the spectator who saw the team become one of the best in the NBA as he walked to his courtside seat. He laughed when he learned that James was indeed going to play, not because of the novelty of watching him play, but because it would be a test for the Timberwolves.
We should want to fight the best, right?McBey said, a smile in his eye.
Anthony Edwards couldn't agree more. Edwards grew up watching James play and was even represented by James' Krach Sports** company when he started his NBA career. He later switched to WME to become **, but James' respect as the ultimate litmus test remains.
I was ready two days ago when I realized he was going to play," Edwards says. "He didn't play in the last game and I'm angry about that. You want to fight him because I know he's almost over. I don't know how many years he still has, so I'm looking forward to every showdown with him. ”
The Timberwolves have players with playoff experience and are contenders in the West. For the entire team, reaching the top of the West this season is unfamiliar.
After a frantic, chaotic game, the Timberwolves showed they had what it took to outwit Anthony Davis with a strong performance to prevent James from claiming a birthday win in their comeback. They also look like there's a lot to learn about what it means to play under substantial pressure.
The game was filled with playoff power from the start. Most of the spectators stood up during the pregame warm-up between the two teams and didn't sit down until Rudy Gobert dunked less than five minutes into the game, the Timberwolves' first goal. The environment is intoxicating, with energy filling the air, which rarely happens at this time.
The Timberwolves (24-7) have long been on the back burner in this market, giving way to the Vikings, Twins and Bison. The Vikings have lost more than Wolves this winter, the Bison have fired their coach and the Twins are cutting salaries after losing to Houston.
Edwards, Gobert and Wolves filled the void. They have been the No. 1 seed in the West since Nov. 19. In their 34 seasons of history, they have held the top spot on their own for a total of just 10 days.
Fans quickly joined. All 15 home games have been sold out with Wolves winning them 14-1 in those games. This past season, Lakers fans would take center stage, splashing purple and gold everywhere, cheering on James or Kobe Bryant and poising their nostrils at troubled Wolves fans.
But in the two games the Lakers have played in Minnesota this season, there has been a noticeable reduction of Lakers' adherents on the court. It's a stadium that belongs to the Timberwolves and is becoming a town that belongs to the Timberwolves.
Oh my gosh, they're fantastic," Edwards said of the fans. "Tonight is a big moment. They gave us energy. ”
Sometimes, maybe it's a little too much. The Lakers took note of the Wolves' record and the buzzing atmosphere, with James and Davis bringing a playoff-like tension early in the game. With less than five minutes played, they were leading 17-6. Davis finished with 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists on 8-of-9 shooting in the first quarter, and coach Davin Ham's new defense-oriented starting lineup forced opponents to make five turnovers, which the Lakers converted into nine points.
At times, this can be a little too big for a Wolves team that often makes mistakes. They had 12 turnovers in the first half, which stifled an incredible shooting half in which they hit 58 percent of their shots, 44 percent of their three-pointers and all 10 free throws. One problem for this team this season is that there are too many turnovers, with head coach Chris Finch assuming that players like Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns, both of whom are looking down on the situation from a league-leading position for the first time, may be learning how to handle success.
When you win a game but you may not perform well, you have to stay focused," Finch said. "Everybody is trying to spread their wings and fly a little bit without realizing that these things are very good for us. We have to do these things over and over again to make it boring. We have to make it boring and not try to do something out of the ordinary. ”
This game is anything but boring. Downs had a nightmare night, scoring just nine points, committing five turnovers and committing five fouls. But he was able to grab five of his nine rebounds in the fourth quarter and hit two key free throws with 1:46 left in the game. Naz Reid came off the bench and scored 21 points.
Edwards made three turnovers on 10-of-23 shooting and committed his third foul late in the second quarter. He waved down Finch's substitution, forcing Nickeil Alexander-Walker off the pitch. It wasn't a good performance and after the game, Edwards apologized to the team.
That's my fault. Never want to do that to Finch," Edwards said. "Dude, he's a great coach. We talked about it. He knows I love him, and he loves me. He told me at half-time. We've already talked about it. ”
Edwards said he didn't even think about his foul and wanted to stay in the game, fight for the last shot of the first half and try to help build a Wolves lead. Finch said after the game that the issue had been resolved and he declined to comment further.
His reasoning was that he didn't want me to commit a fourth foul or something," Edwards said. "He was right. So that's my fault, sure, but I definitely want to fight. ”
He made up for it with three blocks, a relentless assault on the basket (which resulted in 11 free throws) and a red-hot fourth quarter in which he scored 31 points, including two important three-pointers and a hard-to-defend jumper, after shaking Davis, the best defender in the world, down.
His consistent performance in playing these matches is impressive," Finch said. "The next stage of his growth, everybody always asks me. You have to play at a high level every night. He's certainly doing it. We know he loved the moment. ”
His teammate, fellow fourth-year teammate Jaden McDaniels, fouled out of the game but received a technical foul with 31 seconds left in the game due to a referee decision. After Mike Conley's three-pointer, the Wolves took a seven-point lead with 36 seconds left and should have ended the game. But McDaniels fouled James, and then, was whistled for a technical foul. It became a four-pointer for the Lakers, pushing the score to 107-104 and creating a tense ending.
He's been in good emotional control throughout the season, but that's clearly an unforgivable mistake," Finch said.
Conley scored eight points in the fourth quarter and hit two key 3-pointers. But his final shot missed, and James wanted to tie the game with a counter-attacking 3-pointer. However, the referee ruled that his ankle had stepped over the sideline, and the review found no conclusive evidence to overturn the decision. It was an unbelievable decision.
People at the referee center can't be seen in Seacox, New Jersey. The Timberwolves held on in a thrilling game. After looking suppressed by Davis in the first quarter, Gobert gradually adjusted to limit his effect. Davis scored just 12 points in the second half and shot five times from the field. He had 33 points and 17 rebounds, but the Timberwolves won by six points in the 39 minutes he played. Gobert had 13 points and 13 rebounds and was plus/minus 19 in the last 38 minutes of the game.
Conley had 15 points and seven assists. Russell, who scored five points in 20 minutes and was -19 efficient, left the game with a hip injury.
It's not easy, and it's not always pretty. But that's exactly what this team that has just joined the party needs to go through to prepare for the future.
We used different players at different points in the game tonight and they were able to come in and feel the atmosphere, feel the physicality and the importance of each moment," Conley said. 'We were able to find a way to win tonight through a lot of adversity and let the players experience that and that's good for the future. ”