Lynx Legend Sylvia Fowles’ No. 34 went into the rafters at Target Center last night.
I wrote about a wonderful celebration of a truly special, one-of-a-kind human being — Sweet Syl — whom I will remember for everything fans didn’t see.
For
@canishoopus
:
Naz Reid
• Jelly layup going left to go up 85-80 at 5:02
• Offensive rebound, makes both FTs to go up 87-82 with 4:10 left
• Blocks Jokić turnaround J
• Put-back dunk at 3:27 to go up 89-82
• Assists on Ant 3 to go up 92-82 with 3:07 left
Now THAT is a 6MOTY
Rudy Gobert isn’t on social media during the playoffs, but I showed him this video and he was really touched.
Had a huge smile on his face when he heard the MVP chants coming from his native France.
The Minnesota Timberwolves are officially the NBA's highest scoring team for the 2021-22 season.
It's the first time in franchise history the Wolves have done that
Friday night. Target Center. 8:30 tip.
Rudy Gobert gets his fourth DPOY trophy.
Naz Reid gets his first 6MOY trophy.
Wolves up 2-0 on the defending champs.
Hard not to have chills thinking about what that environment will be like.
"Bite bite is old as fuck and he was getting down hill, laying the ball up. So shout out to Bite Bite. He's comin' in here with these clown pants on. ... That's my OG, that's my PG, he played great tonight."
- Anthony Edwards on Mike Conley
Just two days after his season came to an end, Karl-Anthony Towns is here at Target Center supporting the Minnesota Lynx in their first home preseason game.
Speaks volumes about KAT
Cool moment here during a timeout.
@patbev21
noticed a kid walking by wearing his jersey. Pat Bev stopped the kid, got a sharpie, made sure to sign it, then dapped him up and shared some words with him.
The young fan walked away w/ a huge smile you could see through the mask 🙌🏻
Anthony Edwards credited the coaching staff for putting together a video edit of the team's best plays from Games 1 and 2 to put belief in everyone's minds before this game.
He said the energy shifted after that
"I've been through the worst, so the sky is never falling for me."
- Anthony Edwards, on why he maintains positivity despite the Wolves falling down 3-0
He added that he's got nothing else to do but be positive, and there's no use in being negative.
Mike Conley said he's been playing Call of Duty with Anthony Edwards the past couple days to "switch up the mojo" of the series.
On his Call of Duty skills:
"I'm low-key better than anyone on the team."
Gobert's partner is expecting their first child and she is due this month.
“I would do anything I can to be there,” Gobert told
@NBASarah
in March. “I don’t think there’s any debate to have. Coach Finch and every guy in this locker room, that’s what I love about them, we have a
You think Andrew Wiggins could’ve done even 50% of what D’Angelo Russell did tonight?
That’s why Minnesota went and got Russell. Just when everything looked to be slipping away, D-Lo kept everyone composed, together, and made excellent decisions and huge shots.
🧊.
"Bite bite is old as fuck and he was getting down hill, laying the ball up. So shout out to Bite Bite. He's comin' in here with these clown pants on. ... That's my OG, that's my PG, he played great tonight."
- Anthony Edwards on Mike Conley
A recap of Tim Connelly's 2023 so far:
- Traded D'Angelo Russell for Mike Conley, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and SRPs
- Signed Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels to five-year extensions
- Re-signed Naz Reid, NAW
- Brought in Shake Milton, Troy Brown Jr.
- Traded up with SRPs from
Minnesota Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels has agreed to a five-year, $136M contract extension, his agents Nima Namakian of
@InnovateSports
and Bill Duffy of
@WME_Sports
tell me and
@JonKrawczynski
.
D'Angelo Russell accounted for 31 of the Timberwolves' 35 points in the fourth quarter.
• 23 points
• 6/7 2PT | 2/5 3PT | 5/5 FT
• 3 assists for 8 points
• 0 turnovers
• Played every second of the fourth
• Secured his team a *massive* win in adverse circumstances
🧊🧊🧊🧊
Ant just interrupted Rudy's postgame interview on the floor to start a "RU-DY, RU-DY, RU-DY" chant that got real loud.
Just an incredible leader for this team at 21 years old
Monte Morris in the seven games played since joining the Timberwolves:
• 21 assists
• 1 turnover
His 21-1 assist-to-turnover ratio is tied for the best mark in the NBA in that stretch.
"All this should be done privately. The only reason we're here is because we've been attacked, and this is a childhood dream for Marc and I.
"And our lawyers tell us that we have an ironclad agreement and we'll never relent. We will fight for our dream. We will fight for the
On today's show we are joined by Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore. With
@KyleTheige
, we talk all things Wolves ownership.
Lore: "I think Glen (Taylor) just decided, as he said, that this team is worth a lot more than when he did the deal, and he no longer wants to abide by the
I will remember this night for the rest of my life.
Hard not to get chills thinking back to sitting in Target Center, surrounded by a sea of Naz Reid towels in the air.
Full answer from KAT:
“One of the things I’m most happy about is the man to my right. To see the love that Naz Reid has gotten from this city, to see the love he’s gotten from the NBA, the media, the votes to everything. The Sixth Man of the Year was an honor that was rightfully
When asked what he's most proud of this season, Karl-Anthony Towns takes time to shout out Naz Reid (sitting next to KAT on the podium) and everything he brought to the Wolves, acknowledging how far Naz has come since the two grew up in Jersey.
He closed with shouting out
“I’m wearing this to the game tonight. I’ll be like Muhammad Ali comin’ out.”
- Anthony Edwards, while wearing a custom Versace robe 😂😭
(via c_hines33 / IG)
Alex Rodriguez apologizes to the fanbase and the players, and then chimes in on how incredible Target Center has been this season:
"We're gonna have 41 sellouts, and we've had the greatest, greatest atmosphere. And, by the way, I played at Yankee Stadium. This is the best
Rudy Gobert’s fine for flashing money signs at Scott Foster was twice as much as the fine for Kelly Oubre Jr., well, going after just about every member of the officials’ families
Postgame I asked Mike Conley about Ant's "Bite Bite" nickname for him...
"I swear he made it up on the spot. I've never heard him call me that before. Ever."
"Is the nickname gonna stick?"
"Yeah, I'm a little worried. I don't want it to at all [laughing] but it is what it is."
Dorka Juhász said Azzi Fudd's grandparents were at Target Center tonight and that she could hear them in the crowd, just like she did at UCONN.
Dorka said it meant a lot to have that support system in a new place with new teammates.
Minnesota has for years been searching for long-term stability.
After...
✅ Drafting Ant at
#1
to pair w/ KAT
✅ Signing an elite coach
✅ Strong internal growth
✅ Playoff trip
✅ New ownership staging a coup for a division rival's No. 1 exec
It's here.
Here come the Wolves.
How will Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez's presence around/involvement with the team change?
LORE:
"[Taylor] has shut us out from conversations with any of the employees of the team, with Tim Connelly, with the players. He's said we couldn't go into the suite, we couldn't walk in
Crowd sees that the Nuggets isolate Nikola Jokić on Rudy Gobert on the block and immediately breaks out in a "RU-DY RU-DY RU-DY" chant.
Gobert responds by deflecting a second entry pass, leading to Ant FTs on the other end.
Pretty cool way to support Gobert after Game 5
Chris Finch pregame said he spoke with KAT yesterday.
"I just told him, 'the past is unrelated to the future. Trust your talent. Stay confident. We have every confidence in you. Shots will fall.'
Jaden went through a massive slump in the Denver series and then helped us finish
Anthony Edwards scored or assisted on 42 of the Wolves' 61 points in the 2H.
He scored 25 points on 10/15 FG, had the dunk of the year, six assists, and did not turn the ball over in the 2H, often getting doubled/tripled on the perimeter.
Insane.
Some news…
When the Timberwolves’ 2023-24 playoff run comes to an end, whether it be after the first round or their first trip down Nicollet Mall, so will my time as Editor-In-Chief of
@canishoopus
.
After four years and over 530 bylines at my favorite Wolves and Lynx site,
Watching Brea Beal play defense is a treat. One of my favorite parts of Friday's game was to follow Beal on a given defensive possession. Her awareness is great.
Beal's screen navigation is incredible - a key area the Lynx need to improve upon from last year in a major way.
*James Wiseman refuses to speak to the Wolves in any capacity and says he won’t play for them*
“Yeah it just meant more against the team that passed on me”
Anthony Edwards started guarding Jaren Jackson Jr. midway through the 3Q when JJJ was sitting on 27 points.
Ant guarded JJJ for rest of the game and held him to 6 points, while scoring 19 of his own. Minnesota won those minutes by 15.
The Wolves would not be here without trading Rubio for Prince and a second.
What a fantastic move that has turned out to be for Minnesota. Prince has been one of the 4-5 most important Wolves for the last two months
The Timberwolves are going to be dangerous as hell in the first round if they can get to the No. 6 or No. 5 seed, especially if they make a buyer move at the deadline.
Wolves can beat one of Utah, Denver, Dallas, or Memphis in a series if they stay healthy and have balance.
Pretty crazy to re-visit the deal for Mike Conley.
Tim Connelly turned D-Lo and a 2028 2RP into:
- Conley
- Nickeil Alexander-Walker
- 2024 2RP (LF* of MEM/WAS, so
#34
overall via MEM if draft was today)
- 2025 2RP (UTAH)
- Leonard Miller
An insane deal
I will never understand why anyone complains about or tries to roast a team for playing hard and caring about getting a W, especially in March.
Extremely weird behavior that has become a recurring theme from fans of good teams not used to losing to the Wolves. Chin up.
The Timberwolves played 5-on-8 for the final 10 minutes without their best player and won on the road in Philly on the second night of a back-to-back.
Most impressive win I’ve seen from the Wolves in a long, long time.
The King of Minneapolis is at it again.
33 points, 14 rebounds, 6 assists for Anthony Edwards, who is serenaded with MVP chants as the clock winds down.
Meanwhile, Jimmy Butler took PTO in the fourth and a big ol’ L
I texted Dane asking about signing Monroe for the rest of the year during the second quarter.
Told me “let’s not get carried away”
Dane, during the fourth:
I hope Anthony Edwards knows how many people’s days he brightens just by being himself.
His effervescence, humor, ability to not take things too seriously, and genuine joy lift the spirits of so many on a daily basis.
I hope that’s a big part of his league-wide perception, too.
Anthony Edwards has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 17-1 in the last two games 👀👀
• 9-0 at Milwaukee on Thursday
• 8-1 at Los Angeles tonight
The flashes are becoming more consistent, especially on the drive and in the mid-post. Huge reason the Wolves have won the last two
Wolves' 2023 free agent class so far:
• Nickeil Alexander-Walker
• Troy Brown Jr.
• Shake Milton
All are either 6-foot-5 or 6-foot-6 with 6-foot-9 or wider wingspans, handling abilities, can guard multiple positions, and can shoot it from 3.
A lot to like on the margins.