Minnesota
Timberwolves-Warriors: 5 takeaways from Minnesota’s bounce-back Game 2
Anthony Edwards battles through injury, Julius Randle posts a double-double and Minnesota rolls to a 117-93 Game 2 victory.
MINNEAPOLIS – Never mind whatever it is that’s going on with zany road-team advantage over in the Eastern Conference. It was left to Oklahoma City first, then the Minnesota Timberwolves to impose some order out West on what began in this round as homecourt chaos.
The Wolves’ 117-93 victory over Golden State Thursday at Target Center wasn’t as bloated as what the Thunder did to Denver a night earlier. But it achieved the same thing, evening the conference semifinals series at 1-1 as the series switched cities.
Actually, Minnesota’s situation was a little more dire than OKC’s. Had the Wolves failed to beat the Warriors with Stephen Curry – after losing Game 1 despite a hamstring injury prematurely ending Curry’s night – even diehard fans might have winced at what likely would have come.
But that scenario (perhaps an updated version of former Wolf Jimmy Butler coming into the gym and punking the franchise again the way he notoriously did in 2018) did not happen.
Here are five takeaways from the game Minnesota didn’t dare lose, as the series shifts to San Francisco beginning with Game 3 on Saturday (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC).
1. Wolves felt the urgency and responded
Everything has been fast-tracked in this series. First, the opposing coaches began lobbying the officials for calls after just one game. And Minnesota already was feeling must-win urgency in Game 2.
To their credit, the Wolves met the challenge. They scored the game’s first 13 points, led 20-5 deep in the opening quarter and, by that time, had held Golden State to 2-for-12 shooting (1-for-8 on 3s) and even 0-for-2 from the foul line.
Not having Curry on the court for a defense is like not having vegetables on your plate when you’re 12.
The Wolves went wire-to-wire with the lead, pumping it to 22 in the second quarter and 25 near the end. Julius Randle was their pillar, with 24 points, seven rebounds and 11 assists. Jaden McDaniels was a two-way star, helping pester Butler into just 17 points on a night the Warriors needed way more from the “Playoff” guy. McDaniels scored 16 points himself and added three steals and three blocks.
The Wolves sagged in the third quarter, getting sloppy with the ball as their lead got chiseled to 62-55 at 6:57. But a pair of 3-pointers and the Warriors’ intermittent offense pushed the margin back into double figures.
2. Kerr throws players at wall, 2 of ’em stick
Losing Curry is like snagging a fancy sweater – things can unravel fast. He is the hub and the focus of Golden State’s offense, a player whose standard rest within games is challenging enough to cover for. Losing him for long stretches, whole games or, in this case, for at least a week to his hamstring injury requires serious triage.
“Part of the game plan coming in was to play a lot of people and we did,” coach Steve Kerr said. “We have to figure out what we’re going to be able to do in this series without Steph. We gave a lot of people a lot of chances and some guys really stepped up.”
Stephen Curry’s hamstring injury has caused cascading effects on the Warriors rotation, and the Wolves take advantage in Game 2.
Two in particular: Jonathan Kuminga and Trayce Jackson-Davis. Jackson-Davis is a deep reserve big man who hit all six of shots, clogged the middle defensively and scored 15 points. Kuminga, 22, is a thoroughbred athlete and long seen as part of Golden State’s future. Wrapping his fourth NBA season, he fell out of the rotation in April, a negative heading into restricted free agency. Kuminga scored a team-high 18 off the bench.
“We’ve got to figure out rotations and who we start, but they’re going to be a part of it,” Kerr said after his personnel experiment. “We’ve got to find some better ways to score.”
3. Edwards takes licking, keeps ticking
For several uneasy minutes to close the first half, it looked this might turn into a series of chess – as in, key pieces taken off the board for both sides. Midway through the second quarter, Edwards hit the floor and had his left ankle stepped on by Golden State’s Jackson-Davis.
As the action shifted to the other end, Edwards stayed down. Coach Chris Finch called a timeout and his star shooting guard had to be helped to the locker room, where he stayed through halftime.
“This one I was really worried about,” said Finch, when asked about Edwards’ knack of bouncing back from injuries within games. “I was planning on not seeing him for the rest of the game, to be honest with you.”
Edwards did come back, though. He looked shaky in the third, but scored 10 in the fourth. It wasn’t the showtime folks have been expecting, but he was moving all right. He has 48 hours for treatment before Game 3 and, remember, he’s a fast-healing 23-year-old.
“One thing about Ant is he’s not gonna sit out,” teammate Nickeil Alexander-Walker said. “He’s got to be damn near dead.”
4. Draymond infractions inch toward danger zone
Warriors center Draymond Green has positioned himself on the cusp of potential suspension, picking up yet another technical foul with 8:46 to play in the second quarter.
Green had the ball, with Minnesota’s Naz Reid guarding him from behind, when Reid reached and fouled. Green flailed his arms in a way that banged Reid in the head.
Referee’s verdict: Foul on Reid, dead-ball technical on Green. At which point, Green went ballistic. But the game moved on, and Green now sits within two technical-foul points of a 1-game exile.
“He’s going to have to be careful now. We need him,” Kerr said.
5. Minnesota regresses from mean history
The Wolves had set a new NBA low for 3-point accuracy after Game 1. Combined with their 7-for-47 work in the clincher over the Lakers last week, Minnesota’s 5-for-29 in Game 1 Tuesday set an NBA low for consecutive playoff performances: 12-for-76, just 15.7%.
This time, with better shot selection and floor spacing, they took 37 and hit 16, a robust 43.2%. At 32.1% for the postseason, they still have work to do to approach their 37.7% accuracy of the regular season, which ranked fourth.
* * *
Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA since 1980. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on X.
The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA, its clubs or Warner Bros. Discovery.
Minnesota
Vikings Have a Dubious Connection to the Dexter Lawrence Trade
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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Minnesota
Boldy, Eriksson Ek help Wild cruise past Stars in Game 1 of Western 1st Round | NHL.com
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
ICE agent assault charge marks a ‘milestone’ for Minnesota prosecutors
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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