MINNEAPOLIS — On the second-to-last day of December, Target Center was nearly full more than 20 minutes before the game even tipped off. Many a Minnesota Timberwolves season has been over by this time of year, and a franchise that has so often been lost in the wilderness would resort to marketing games like this one on Saturday night for the opponent that was sharing the floor with them so much more than the team that calls this arena home.
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In those days, when word would circle before the game that a star of LeBron James’ caliber might not play, a sense of panic would ripple through the building because the only real reason to watch the game was hanging in the balance.
On Saturday, James was listed as questionable because of an illness. Of course, there was nervousness because James missed the Los Angeles Lakers’ game here last week and fans certainly would have been disappointed after paying big money for a chance to see him on his 39th birthday. But there was more to it than that.
As longtime season ticket holder Roger McCabe headed to his courtside seat, he summed up the vibes for a crowd that has seen its team establish itself as one of the best in the NBA. When he was told that James was indeed playing, he smiled not because of the novelty of watching him play, but because of the test it was going to provide the Timberwolves.
“We should want to play against the best, right?” McCabe said, a twinkle in his eye.
Anthony Edwards could not have agreed more. Edwards grew up watching James and even started his NBA career by being represented by James’ Klutch Sports Agency. He has since moved on to WME for representation, but the respect remains for James as the ultimate litmus test.
“I was ready to go two days ago when I realized he was playing,” Edwards said. “The other game he didn’t play, I was mad about it. You want to play him because I know he’s winding down. I don’t know how many more years he’s got, so I’m looking forward to every matchup I got with him.”
There are members of the Timberwolves who have experience winning playoff rounds and being on teams that were contenders in the West. For the franchise as a whole, this season’s rise to the top of the conference is unfamiliar.
When the dust settled on a frenetic, scattershot, 108-106 victory over the Lakers, the Timberwolves showed themselves to be a team with the talent to overcome a monster night from Anthony Davis and prevent James from getting a birthday win at their expense. They also looked like a team that still has a lot to learn about what it means to play in the pressure cooker of games with real stakes.
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The building crackled with playoff-like electricity from the start. Most of the crowd was on its feet as both teams took the court for pregame warmups, and they did not sit down until Rudy Gobert’s dunk with 11 minutes, 32 seconds to play in the first quarter that was the Wolves’ first bucket. The environment was intoxicating, with energy pulsing through the air, which rarely happens in these parts at this time of year.
The Timberwolves (24-7) have long taken backseats to the Vikings, Twins and Wild in this market. This winter, the Vikings have more losses than the Wolves, the Wild have already fired their coach and the Twins are cutting payroll after losing to Houston in the ALDS.
Into the breach, Edwards, Gobert and the Wolves have stepped. They have been the No. 1-seeded team in the West since Nov. 19. In their previous 34 seasons of existence, they occupied the top spot all by themselves for a total of 10 days.
The fans have quickly jumped on board. All 15 home games have been sold out, and the Wolves are 14-1 in those games. In seasons past, bandwagon Lakers fans would take over Target Center, splashing purple and gold everywhere while they cheered James or Kobe Bryant and looked down their noses at beleaguered Wolves fans.
But in the two games the Lakers have played in Minnesota this season, there have been noticeably fewer Lakers faithful in the seats. This is a Timberwolves building in what is becoming a Timberwolves town.
“Oh my god, they were great,” Edwards said of the fans. “Big time tonight. They gave us energy.”
Maybe a little too much, on occasion. The Lakers took notice of the Wolves’ record and the amped-up atmosphere, and James and Davis brought a playoff-like intensity to the game early. They led 17-6 before the game was five minutes old. Davis was 8 of 9 in the first quarter, scoring 17 points with eight rebounds and five assists and coach Darvin Ham’s new, defensive-minded starting lineup forced five turnovers that the Lakers turned into nine points.
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At times, the moment looked a little big for the mistake-prone Wolves. They turned the ball over 12 times in the first half, stunting an incredible shooting half in which they hit 58 percent of their shots, 44 percent of their 3s and all 10 of their free throws. Turnovers have been an issue for most of the season for this team, and coach Chris Finch hypothesizes that players like Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns, who are both new to the view from the top of the conference, might be learning how to handle the success.
“You have to maintain focus when you’re winning games and maybe not playing your best basketball,” Finch said. “Everyone’s trying to spread their wings a little bit instead of realizing these are the things that we’ve done that have been super beneficial to us. Just gotta keep doing them over and over and over and make it boring. we’ve got to keep it boring rather than try to do things that are outside the norm.”
This game was anything but boring. Towns had a nightmare of a night, scoring just nine points and turning the ball over five times while committing five fouls. But he was able to grab five of his nine rebounds in the fourth quarter and hit a pair of clutch free throws with 1:46 to play. Naz Reid picked him up with 21 points off the bench.
NAZ REID COMING THROUGHHH pic.twitter.com/bX8lBpXN17
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) December 31, 2023
Edwards was 10 of 23 from the field, turned it over three times and glaringly refused to come out of the game late in the second quarter after picking up his third foul. He waved off Finch’s substitution, forcing Nickeil Alexander-Walker to leave the court instead. It wasn’t a great look, and Edwards apologized to the team after the game.
“That was my fault. Never want to do that to Finchy,” Edwards said. “Man, he’s a great coach. We talked about it. He knows I love him, he loves me. He told me at halftime. We talked about it.”
Edwards said he wasn’t even thinking about his foul situation, wanting to remain in the game to take the last shot of the half and try to help build the Wolves’ lead. Finch said after the game that the matter was addressed and he declined further comment.
“His reasoning was he didn’t want me to get a fourth foul or anything,” Edwards said. “Which he was right. So that was my fault. But I definitely wanted to play, for sure.”
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He atoned for it with three blocked shots, relentless drives to the rim that produced 11 free-throw attempts and a sizzling fourth quarter that saw him score 11 of his 31 points, including two big 3s and an unguardable pull-up jumper after he put Davis, one of the best defensive players in the world, on skates.
FEELIN' IT. 🐜
VOTE » https://t.co/Ofg3MF8R5q pic.twitter.com/vqFKbsng4a
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) December 31, 2023
“His consistency in playing these games has been extremely impressive,” Finch said. “The next stage of his growth, everyone always asks me about. You got to play at a high level every night. He’s certainly doing that. We know he loves the moment.”
His fellow fourth-year teammate, Jaden McDaniels, fouled out of the game, but not before a costly technical foul for protesting a call with 31 seconds to play. The Wolves led by seven points with 36 seconds to play after Mike Conley’s 3-pointer, which should have ended the game. But McDaniels fouled James, then protested and was given the technical. It turned into a four-point possession for the Lakers, who cut the deficit to 107-104, setting up a tense finish.
“He’s been good for the bulk of the season with his emotional control, but this is an inexcusable one, for sure,” Finch said.
Conley scored eight points in the fourth, hitting two clutch 3s. But his last shot was off the mark and James appeared to tie the game with a 3-pointer in transition. But referees ruled that his toe was on the line and a replay review did not find conclusive evidence to overturn the call. It was an impossibly close call.
The screenshot of LeBron’s foot outside the line serves no purpose because it doesn’t show when the ball left his hands. Here’s a more accurate replay for you to decide. It’s close for sure. pic.twitter.com/tX38xTvQNi
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) December 31, 2023
“You can clearly see a white, the wood on the floor, there’s a space in between the front of my foot and the 3-point line,” James said. “So, you know, Stevie Wonder can see that, champ.”
Those in the replay center in Secaucus, N.J., could not. And the Timberwolves hung on in a thriller. After looking overwhelmed by Davis in the first quarter, Gobert gradually adjusted to limit his effectiveness. Davis scored 12 points and took just five shots in the second half. He had 33 points and 17 rebounds, but the Wolves won his 39 minutes by six points. Gobert had 13 points and 13 rebounds and was a plus-19 in almost 38 minutes.
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Conley finished with 15 points and seven assists. D’Angelo Russell had five points and was a minus-19 in 20 minutes for the Lakers before leaving with a hip injury.
It wasn’t easy. It wasn’t always pretty. But it was the kind of experience this new-to-the-party team needs to prepare for what lies ahead.
“Tonight we used a bunch of different guys at different moments during the game and they all were able to get in there and just feel the atmosphere, feel the physicality and feel the importance of each moment,” Conley said. “I feel like there was an important moment in every quarter of the game.
“For us to find a way to win through a lot of adversity tonight and have guys experience that, it’s great moving forward.”
(Photo of Anthony Edwards: David Berding / Getty Images)
