But after a couple of up-and-down, getting-to-know-you months — and after a midseason blip that saw both new arrivals miss time due to injury — the Wolves turned into a Minnesota wrecking crew, posting a top-five record and net rating after the All-Star break to edge past the Warriors and Grizzlies in the standings, and into the safety of the sixth seed. The rest of the Wolves delivered, with Jaden McDaniels and Naz Reid combining for 48 points in a Game 1 rout, McDaniels popping for 30 in Game 3, Randle providing 25 to support Edwards’ superstar turn in Game 4 … and the forever maligned Rudy Gobert turning in the game of his life, with 27 points and 24 rebounds in Game 5, to end the Lakers season. But with Golden State coming off a seven-game war against Houston, with the Warriors’ mid-30s top guns all having put a ton of minutes and miles on their legs to knock off the Rockets, with the every-other-day cadence, and with Minnesota having both home-court advantage and a rest advantage … everything just seems to be lined up for the Wolves to eventually force the more experienced underdog to run out of gas and to make their way back to the Western Conference finals.
Author: Dan Devine
Published at: 2025-05-05 21:48:22
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