What a time to be a Minnesota sports fan. The Minnesota Timberwolves knocked off the defending NBA Champion Denver Nuggets in a wild Game 7 on Sunday night 98-90 on Kevin Garnett’s birthday, 20 years after his team won a Game 7 at Target Center against Sacramento to reach the Western Conference Finals.
That same night, the inaugural Walter Cup Finals opened with Boston defeating Minnesota 4-3 in Game 1. The best-of-five series is heading to Xcel Energy Center for Game 3 Friday. If necessary Games 4 and Game 5 would be Sunday in St. Paul and May 29 on Wednesday, respectively.
Minnesota outshot Boston by 11 shots and scored first with Michela Cava scoring just over 4:30 into the game. Boston tied it up with a goal from former Susanna Tapani who was traded from Minnesota in January. A wild five-goal second period ended with Boston leading 4-3 as four of the goals came over the final eight minutes of the period. Minnesota went 0-for-3 in its three power-play chances.
The team was coming off a 4-1 upset over Toronto 4-1 in Game 5 of the semifinals on Friday.
The Wolves win on Sunday was an unreal game to see unfold in real-time. That first half couldn’t have gone any better for Denver which had a 53-38 lead and pushed it to 20 points early in the third quarter.
The comeback was the largest in Game 7 history and if that defense mixed with confidence with the ball, the conference finals should be fun.
The postgame interview with Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns was great in the sense of what this team is all about – knowing roles, helping a teammate on both ends of the floor and in the end, they find a win.
Head Coach Chris Finch and his staff had better ideas of how to challenge Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. Offensively, Finch drew up a great plan to utilize the strengths with Edwards leading the charge, distributing the ball in the second half, or using sheer willpower to bully his way to the rim.
The Timberwolves’ Jaden McDaniels had another huge second half to finish with 23 points, equalling Towns’ output. What about Rudy Gobert’s 20-foot turn-around fade shot before fouling out? Towns responded by returning to the floor to pick up where Gobert left off, disrupting Jokic’s shots or denying the lane while on the opposite end, making his share of 3-pointers and mixing in some post moves.
My daughter and I were in the seats for a Dec. 28 win against a Dallas squad that didn’t feature Kyrie Irving or Luka Doncic.
The atmosphere was electric inside Target Center as this fan base has come alive thanks to a product on the court that deserves all of the attention it is getting.
Follow Jason Olson on Twitter @Jason0lson or @SunSportsJason.
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