Minnesota
New York 112, Minnesota 106: “Started the New Year right!”
A first impression is a lasting one.
After shocking news broke of a trade on Saturday sending RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley north of the border to Toronto, many Knicks fans (including myself) were upset. Both RJ and IQ were beloved by the Knicks faithful – two homegrown Knicks that were easy to root for, loved playing here, and were accustomed to basketball life in the Big Apple. The trade officially marked the end of a chapter in Knicks history, one highlighted by Barrett, Quickley, and Obi Toppin.
With every end, however, comes a new beginning.
It was easy to let our hearts overtake our heads when assessing the departures in the Toronto trade, but the three player return the Knicks got from the Raptors was impressive.
The centerpiece of the trade, OG Anunoby, is an all-NBA defender, someone who led the league in steals last season and shoots the corner 3 at an impressive clip. Precious Achiuwa is a capable backup power forward/center, which is something the Knicks were in desperate need of. Malachi Flynn had an impressive college career, and despite struggling with efficiency at the NBA level, is a hard-nosed defender that could eventually woo Coach Thibs.
Assessing positional fits, spacing, rotations, and overall feel of a lineup is always hard to do in a hypothetical. Whether it be summer league, preseason, or the playoffs, witnessing a product on the court with your own eyes is imperative for predicting success. The league was watching to see how the individual pieces would fit when combined, and today’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves proved to be a proper measuring stick in assessing the new-look Knicks.
The Timberwolves came into the game with a 24-7 record, tops in the Western Conference. Their offense is crisp, and their defense is probably the best in the league. Armed with Anthony Edwards, Karl-Anthony Towns, Rudy Gobert, and a strong supporting cast, eyes across the country were on Monday’s matinee at MSG.
It wasn’t too long after tip before OG, Barrett’s replacement in the starting lineup, made himself at home.
After a slow start to the quarter, Julius Randle woke the Knicks up on offense, scoring eight points and sparking a 10-0 run. On the other end of the floor, Isaiah Hartenstein was sonning Rudy Gobert. Check out this disrespectful stuff.
Thibodeau will be tinkering his rotations moving forward, and traditionally, RJ Barrett has been the starter closing out the first quarter alongside the bench unit. Today, it was Randle, and he looked great early, scoring 15 in frame number one.
Despite this, Minnesota responded quickly. Anthony Edwards and KAT took over scoring duties, and the Knicks couldn’t get shots to fall on the other end of the floor. A 20-7 run by the Wolves brought the end of the first quarter, one that was hot and cold for New York. Minnesota: 32, New York: 23.
The second period got off to an awesome start, and the Knicks were able to sustain the awesomeness for a full 12 minutes. Josh Hart and Quentin Grimes hit back to back triples early. The absence of Quickley gives Grimes a massive chance to expand his offensive game, and he looked great in the first half.
Brunson had 13 in the second, and OG looked incredible in his second quarter minutes. The ball was moving on offense, rotations were tight on defense, and the Knicks were giving fans a reason to believe in their front office. It was a best case scenario for New York, who outscored the Timberwolves 38-17 in the second, bringing a 61-49 advantage for them into the halftime break.
The second half picked up right where the Knicks left off. The Knicks kept on rolling on both ends of the floor throughout the third, with the lead being pushed to as many as 22. While his shot was off tonight, Jalen Brunson showed off his prowess as a distributor, dropping six dimes to his teammates, his most in a quarter this season. He would end up setting a career high with 14 assists before the night was over.
OG had a couple of nice plays in the third, too. When all was said and done, the Knicks were up 94-78 at the end of three.
As is tradition with the Knicks, the fourth quarter was not easy. Minnesota jumped out to a quick run at the beginning of the frame, and with 6:40 left in the game, Karl-Anthony Towns hit a huge three to cut the once-impressive New York lead to a measly four points.
Luckily, Julius Randle was on cleanup duty tonight. No other Knick would hit a field goal for the rest of the afternoon. Randle scored 12 points in the last 5 minutes. He would finish the night with 39 points, shooting 14-24 from the floor.
Despite some brief scares down the stretch, the Knicks were able to hold on for an inspiring victory. Anunoby’s Knick debut was impressive, and most importantly, it was a win. He contributed a lot on both sides of the floor, and the Knicks looked much more cohesive as a squad with him playing. Was it worth giving up RJ and IQ for? Only time will tell. But tonight, it paid off.
Notes:
- Precious Achiuwa in 9 minutes tonight: 0-2 FG, 0 points, 3 rebounds. 2 fouls. Meh, but we can chalk it up to acclimating himself with a new team.
- Deuce McBride is going to see an expanded opportunity with IQ out of town, and has a chance to really stick in the rotation after signing a three year extension days ago. He also put up a goose egg in the points column tonight.
- Brunson shot 5-23, and Jaden McDaniels made his life hell. He’s an incredible defender, moves well with length, and is the backbone of the defensive movement happening in Minnesota.
- Rebounding tonight: +14, Knicks. Offensive rebounds were 16 to 4. That may have been the difference.
- Big Minnesotian spark from reserve Jordan McLaughlin. He’s a capable backup PG, but hasn’t seen playing time this year. Coming into tonight, he had 10 points in 51 minutes this year. Today, he had 9 points in 12 minutes. And was +13. Basketball!
- Donte DiVincenzo is now averaging career highs in points, FG%, and 3PT%. He’s 47.0% from the field, and 44.7% from downtown. The signing looks great at this point of the season.
Per xhu35: “Started the New Year right!” Yes, we did!
A happy New Year to all! And remember: The Knicks are undefeated in 2024. Stay classy, New York.
Of the many terrible roster decisions Minnesota sports teams have made over the past 30 years, the worst of the bunch may have been trading Randy Moss to the Raiders for the No. 7 pick in the draft and linebacker Napoleon Harris.
Why are we bringing up a trade that happened 21 years ago? Because the New York Giants traded defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence to the Cincinnati Bengals for the No. 10 pick in this week’s NFL Draft. It was the first time a non-quarterback has been traded for a top-10 pick since the infamous Moss trade in 2005.
Minnesota traded Moss for the Raiders’ first-round pick, Harris, and a seventh-round pick on March 2, 2005. The Vikings used the No. 7 pick on wide receiver Troy Williamson, who never panned out in the NFL. He had 24 catches for 372 yards and two touchdowns as a rookie, 37 receptions for 457 yards and zero touchdowns in 2006, and just 18 catches for 240 yards and one touchdown in 2007.
Williams led the league with 11 dropped passes in 2006. Minnesota traded him to the Jacksonville Jaguars for a sixth-round pick after the 2007 season, where he played in 10 games over two seasons and totaled just eight catches for 64 yards. He was cut before the start of the 2010 season, and that was a wrap on the former South Carolina speedster’s NFL career.
Moss didn’t put up jaw-dropping numbers with the Raiders for two seasons, but he set an NFL record with 23 touchdown catches in 2007 with the New England Patriots. He caught 47 touchdowns in 48 regular-season games with the Patriots from 2007 to 2009.
Whether it was trading Moss to the Raiders, the Timberwolves sending Kevin Garnett to the Boston Celtics — or drafting Ricky Rubio AND Johnny Flynn over Steph Curry — or the Twins cutting David Ortiz and watching him become one of the greatest players in MLB history with the Boston Red Sox, Minnesota sports teams have a long history of making terrible decisions.
The Bengals, meanwhile, gave up the 10th overall pick for one of the best defensive tackles in the league. They’ll likely get great production from Lawrence, while the Giants are now under pressure to get the 10th pick right. New York also holds the No. 5 pick in Thursday’s first round of the draft.
By the way, the Vikings had two picks in the first round of the 2005 draft. After taking Williamson, they used the No. 18 pick on defensive end Erasmus James. He was just as much of a bust as Williams, playing in 23 games in three years with the Vikings. He had four sacks as a rookie, but injuries wiped out most of his 2006 and 2007 seasons before he was traded to Washington for a conditional seventh-round pick.
James was cut by Washington in December 2009, marking the end of his NFL career.
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Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and two assists, and Ryan Hartman had a goal and an assist for the Wild, who are the No. 3 seed in the Central Division. Wallstedt made 27 saves in his Stanley Cup Playoff debut, and Zuccarello had three assists.
“I was definitely nervous,” said Wallstedt, a rookie. “I think it shows that it means something to you. I like a little bit of nerves. I think it’s something good. There were definitely some nerves throughout the day and then a little bit extra rolling into the game. But after the national anthem was over and the first couple pucks started coming, you’re good.
“I wanted to play and I felt like I have been going good. I was a little surprised (to get the start). But I was very excited as soon as I got the news. I just wanted to make sure I was ready today.”
Jason Robertson scored, and Jake Oettinger made 23 saves for the Stars, who are the No. 2 seed in the Central.
“We didn’t deserve to win,” Dallas forward Mikko Rantanen said. “I think two power-play goals for them, two a little-bit bounces for them where we had guys in the right spot. Just even keel. Playoffs are like this. Sometimes you lose a game, you can feel like you’re done. But that’s the mentality you need to have, you’ve got to reset and learn from mistakes.
“First 30 minutes, we didn’t win enough battles. They were just that little bit stronger in the battles and that’s why they were able to make us defend more than we want to. Just got to be stronger.”
Game 2 is here on Monday (9:30 p.m. ET; FDSNWI, FDSNNO, Victory+, ESPN, TVAS2, SN360).
“We prepped for a couple days coming into this one. Now, we will gather information from this game and continue to move forward,” Minnesota coach John Hynes said. “For me, it’s game to game and day to day. We want to continue to get better. We won and they [Dallas] lost. It’s not so much being satisfied where you’re at or that’s what it is. We need to continue to find ways to get better.”
Eriksson Ek gave the Wild a 1-0 lead at 5:35 of the first period on the power play. He scored on a one-timer from the left hash marks to finish a tic-tac-toe passing play with Zuccarello and Boldy, who found an open Eriksson Ek with a pass from the goal line.
“I think every team in the playoffs talks about not getting too high or too low. Just enjoy every day and each game and then we will go from there,” Eriksson Ek said. “I think we played pretty good today. The next game is a new game, so we just have to do it over and over every game. We know they are probably not the happiest with that game, so I am sure it’s going to be hard next game.”
Minnesota prosecutors charged a federal immigration agent with assault accusing him of involvement in a February road-rage incident.
Trump administration ends Minnesota immigration operation
Border Czar Tom Homan announced the end of Minnesota’s immigration operation after fatal shootings heightened tension and community backlash.
Minnesota prosecutors charged a federal immigration agent with assault, saying the agent was involved in a February road-rage incident during the Trump administration’s Operation Metro Surge.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr., 35, faces two counts of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon, according to April 16 Hennepin County court records. He has a nationwide warrant for his arrest.
On Feb. 5, prosecutors said Morgan allegedly drove illegally on the shoulder of a congested Minnesota highway in an unmarked SUV and pointed his weapon at two people in another car.
Morgan is the first agent charged in Operation Metro Surge, the controversial Minneapolis-area federal immigration operation that resulted in two American citizens fatally shot by federal officials, according to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office.
The charges “reflect an important milestone in our efforts to seek accountability for the harms inflicted on our community during Operation Metro Surge,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in an April 16 video statement.
Second-degree assault with a gun has a presumptive sentence of 36 months in prison if convicted, she said.
“Mr. Morgan’s conduct was extremely dangerous,” she said, adding his actions could have led to “another disastrous incident” in the community.
Neither ICE nor the Department of Homeland Security immediately responded to email requests for comment. A cell phone listed for Morgan, identified as a Maryland resident, didn’t immediately respond to a call or text message.
The incident came less than two weeks after two Customs and Border Protection officers shot and killed Alex Pretti, 37, during a protest in Minneapolis. Pretti would be the second American killed during Metro Surge after an ICE agent in early January fatally shot Renee Good, 37, while she drove her SUV in Minneapolis near an immigration operation.
Later in February, the Trump administration drew down Metro Surge, which officials called the largest immigration operation in modern American history.
Investigators said they interviewed Morgan, who identified himself as the driver. Morgan told investigators he and the other ICE employee were returning from a surveillance shift. Morgan said he feared for his life and others’ safety, so he pulled up alongside the vehicle and drew his Glock 19 firearm. He said he identified himself as police.
State investigators said neither Morgan nor the other ICE agent reported the incident to an ICE supervisor.
The April 16 warrant, signed by District Court Judge Paul Scoggin, said there was a “substantial likelihood” Morgan would fail to respond to a summons, and officials couldn’t locate him.
On April 18, Daniel Borgertpoepping, a spokesperson for the county attorney’s office, said there is no knowledge of Morgan being arrested yet.
Eduardo Cuevas is based in New York City. Reach him by email at emcuevas1@usatoday.com or on Signal at emcuevas.01.
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