Tuesday Night Brought the Latest Batch of Heartbreak for Minnesota Sports
Josh Frey
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There are five minutes left in the third quarter of Tuesday night’s NBA play-in game between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Los Angeles Lakers. The winner of this game secures the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference playoffs and a date with the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round. Nickeil Alexander-Walker banks in a layup high off the glass after a nifty pass from Kyle Anderson, and the Timberwolves take a 78-63 lead over the Lakers.
Anderson and the Wolves as a whole have had a bit of a strange start to the week following a sideline scuffle with star center Rudy Gobert that ended in a punch and Gobert suspension. Jayden McDaniels was also missing from the lineup after punching a wall and breaking his hand on Sunday following some early foul trouble.
Honestly, this is just another typical week in the weird world of Minnesota sports, but a victory over these Lakers would banish those memories of Sunday’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans back to the depths of hell.
Anderson has done well to rectify any blame he may have gotten for those events. He’s hit a few big shots and has been the leading assist man for the Wolves while also being a force on the defensive end, and now, the Wolves seem poised to cruise into the playoffs with a chance to redeem themselves against the same Grizzlies that eliminated them from last season’s playoffs.
However, as seems to always happen in Minnesota sports around this time of the season, disaster and heartbreak were bound to follow. That 78-63 lead would be the largest that Minnesota would hold over these Lakers, and LeBron James putback layup with 22 seconds left capped off an LA 16-8 run at the end of the third quarter.
The Wolves probably could have used their three-time Defensive Player of the Year and 2022’s rebounding champion in that spot, but he was watching the game from his couch.
Things continued to unravel as the fourth quarter got underway. With just under eight and a half minutes to play, a 6’10, 250-pound Anthony Davis found himself guarded by the smaller Anderson, drove to the hoop, and hit an and-one layup in his face to trim the lead down to three.
Desperately trying to maintain their lead, veteran leaders Taurean Prince and Mike Conley each hit threes in the next minute of action to temporarily stop the bleeding, but the paint bombardment from the Lakers simply was too much.
With 10 seconds left in regulation, the Wolves were tasked with an impossible mission in a 95-95 game: stop LeBron James as he drives to the paint with a full head of steam. Even at 38 years old, James is still one of the strongest players and best finishers in the league, so this was going to be a difficult task even if Gobert had been in the game.
The crazy thing is: the Wolves still manage to accomplish this task. With Prince guarding James head-on, it is Anderson who stepped down into the paint with the help defense, forcing James to pass out from a potential go-ahead layup.
The only problem is that by helping guard James, Anderson left Dennis Schroder, a 32.9% three-point shooter this season, wide open in the far corner.
Normally, you’d take those type of odds, especially if it meant stopping LeBron three feet from taking a shot that he makes 100 times out of 100, but this is Minnesota sports, and heartbreak was bound to happen. Schroder nailed the three, and with 1.4 seconds left in the game, the Lakers take their first lead since it was 47-46 with three minutes left in the second quarter.
The Wolves immediately call timeout, and with one last-ditch effort to save the game for overtime, Anderson once again finds himself with the ball in his hands as the inbound man at mid-court.
With most of the action taking place at the top of the key, it may have been easy to miss a cutting Conley make a break for the corner. Having 12 assists in the game, though, Anderson has been making pinpoint passes all night long, and this time is no exception.
He finds Conley, throws a strike that hits him in stride, and the Wolves trade deadline acquisition attempts to be a hero as Davis closes in to attempt a block on the shot. Instead, Conley’s prayer hits the top of the backboard, but as the ball bounces, a faint whistle can be heard.
Perhaps Minnesota’s prayers have been answered. In his rush to defend Conley’s shot, Davis could not gain control of his momentum as he barreled into the point guard, and the career 82% free throw shooter heads to the line with 0.1 seconds on the clock to try and force overtime.
The first free throw causes hearts to sink for a third time in about 10 seconds of game time as it bounces off the rim…
bounces again…
and finally lands safely in the hoop.
The second free throw swishes the net.
The third free throw swishes the net. Overtime.
With another chance at life, the Wolves once again looked to secure a spot in the playoffs. Sunday’s sideline debacle wouldn’t matter nor would the fact that they’ve blown a 15-point lead tonight.
No such luck. As the overtime period begins, it’s clear that the Lakers still have all the momentum from their second half comeback. After missing nine of his previous ten three-point attempts, Rui Hachimura drills a three-pointer 25 seconds into OT. Moments later, Schroder hits a layup to give the Lakers a 103-98 lead to begin the period.
Following an Anthony Edwards transition dunk to make it 103-100, Davis once again played bully ball on a limited Wolves interior defense. LeBron tosses a pass about 12 feet into the air which the power forward snags with his go-go gadget arms, lowers a shoulder into Karl Anthony-Towns, and softly lays in the bucket to make it 105-100 with 1:40 left to play.
Edwards again cuts the deficit to three after a layup from another Anderson assist with 19 seconds left, causing the Lakers to call timeout. With LeBron inbounding, once again, it is the hero Mike Conley stealing a pass to former Wolves point guard D’Angelo Russell that gives Minnesota another chance to tie.
Conley quickly drives downcourt and feeds Edwards, who kicks the ball to Prince in the lefthand corner. The career 37.2% three-point shooter has been hot from three all night long, making four of his first six attempts.
Prince gets the pass from Edwards, lines up a shot and fires as Minnesota fans hold their breath.
The shot is perfectly on-line.
It bounces off the top of the rim…
And falls into the waiting arms of Lakers guard Austin Reaves, who is fouled by Edwards. After a couple more fouls, and some made free throws by Davis and Schroder, the Lakers escape with a 108-102 victory.
Meanwhile, the Wolves remain in the play-in tournament, awaiting a Friday night game against either the New Orleans Pelicans or the Oklahoma City Thunder that will decide who gets to match up with the No. 1 seeded Denver Nuggets.
We will find out the ultimate fate of the Wolves 2023 season when that day rolls around, but Tuesday night was just the latest example of Minnesota sports going through heartbreak in the past few months.
Normally, this site is dedicated to Minnesota Vikings content, but Minnesota sports heartbreak happens all the same across each and every sport.
The Vikings season ended on a 4th-and-8 dump off pass against the New York Giants. The Minnesota Gophers hockey season ended in the national championship game where they took a record-low number of shots. And the Twins, Wild, and Gopher basketball and football teams fight have been fighting to maintain mediocrity in that timespan.
Will the trend change anytime soon?
Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho with a bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing. He also earned minors in History, Human Biology, and Journalism. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys marathon training, playing video games, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. For more of his opinions, check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.