The Minnesota Timberwolves had their 89th off day of the season on Wednesday. Suffice it to say it was the one they loved and wanted probably the most.
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The Timberwolves will look to construct on a chaotic victory on Thursday evening once they proceed a five-game highway journey by taking over the Brooklyn Nets in New York for the primary conflict of the season between the 2 groups.
Minnesota overcame a monster efficiency by the Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic and emerged victorious in one of many wildest video games of the common season on Tuesday, with Nickeil Alexander-Walker draining two free throws with one-tenth of a second left within the second time beyond regulation to raise Minnesota to a 140-139 win.
The dramatic win by the Timberwolves could resonate effectively past the viral pleasure it generated.
Minnesota appeared as if it might be on the unsuitable finish of an prompt basic within the waning seconds of the ultimate time beyond regulation. After Jokic who additionally had 10 rebounds and 10 assists scored the ultimate two of his career-high 61 factors by sinking a pair of free throws to place the Nuggets up 139-138, Russell Westbrook stole a cross by Anthony Edwards however squandered an opportunity to ice the sport by lacking a layup.
Alexander-Walker collected the rebound to start a frantic sequence that ended with Westbrook fouling Alexander-Walker as he missed a 3-pointer on the buzzer. Nonetheless, officers added a tenth of a second to the clock, permitting Alexander-Walker to hit the primary two photographs earlier than purposely lacking the third.
“That might have been the best game of my life that I’ve been a part of,” Edwards mentioned.
The win lifted the Timberwolves right into a tie for the sixth and remaining assured playoff spot within the Western Convention alongside the Memphis Grizzlies. Minnesota and Memphis are a half-game behind the Golden State Warriors and a half-game forward of the Los Angeles Clippers.
“We’re like cardiac kids,” mentioned Timberwolves guard Mike Conley, who pressured Westbrook on the rim on his unsuccessful layup try. “We got a little bit of that in us, but we operate in a weird way. We operate well in chaos, it seems like.”
There is not a lot drama surrounding the Nets, who’ve seemingly telegraphed their lottery-bound intentions by gathering 13 draft picks within the trades that shipped Mikal Bridges, Dennis Schroder and Dorian Finney-Smith three of their high eight scorers through the 2023-24 marketing campaign in a sequence of offers Brooklyn pulled off between final June and December.
However the Nets continued displaying their pesky nature on Monday, once they pieced collectively their first profitable streak of March by overcoming a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to upset the Dallas Mavericks 113-109.
Brooklyn is simply 13-31 since Jan. 1 however has recorded wins over the playoff-bound Milwaukee Bucks, Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers whereas additionally beating the Mavericks and Atlanta Hawks, every of whom are vying for play-in spots.
“It’s the end of the season and we’re still showing grit, still showing that we want to play and want to win,” Nets ahead Jalen Wilson mentioned.
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