After Minnesota closed within 102-100, Victor Wembanyama, as part of a 16 point fourth quarter masterpiece, captained a 13-8 finish, and San Antonio righted the wrongs of their earlier free throw shooting woes to put away the Wolves 115-108. With Anthony Edwards inserted into the starting lineup for game 3, it was a tale of two first quarters as the Spurs surged to an 18-3 advantage and promptly ceded nearly all of it back to the Wolves in the closing four minutes. Despite the teams being knotted at 51 at the half, San Antonio was able to grab a hold of the lead through most of the second half before Wembanyama’s crunchtime takeover.
Minnesota
Why Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota is a hidden well of natural beauty
National Parks: Rarely visited parks worth going out of your way for
These are among America’s least visited national parks, excluding remote places like Alaska, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa and Dry Tortugas.
Staff video, USA TODAY
Just like you can’t judge a book by its cover, you can’t judge a national park by its numbers. Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota is one of the least visited national parks in America.
“I think it’s one of the best kept secrets,” said Mark Miller, the park’s acting chief of Interpretation, Education, Visitor Services, Public Affairs and Partnerships.
“We are a water-based park predominantly, with approximately 40% of our acreage being water,” he said.
In the summer, Voyageurs’ lakes are prime for water recreation like canoeing, fishing and just relaxing on houseboats “complete with a hot tub and a waterslide off the upper deck.” In the winter, Miller said, “People love to come for 110 miles of snowmobile trails that we have, a number of miles worth of groomed cross country ski trails, (and) ice fishing.
Here’s what travelers should know about Voyageurs, the latest national park in USA TODAY’s yearlong series.
What is so special about Voyageurs National Park?
“The park is so well known for its amazing landscapes, the 218,000 acres of woods and waters that border on the boreal forest,” Miller said. “From an ecology standpoint, great stands of white pines, red pines and the ecosystem that holds megafauna like moose and bear and wolves, but also the geology of the park, rocks up to 2.8 billion – with a B – years old, some of the oldest rocks here in the heart of the continent of North America. Our lakes are lined with this amazing, rocky shoreline of exposed granite with pine tree-studded forests.”
He noted that 99% of the park’s campsites have lakefront views, which is unique among national parks. They’re perfect spots to sit back and take in the night sky.
“We are a certified International Dark Sky Park and what that means is incredible dark skies that we strive to preserve and protect so that people can come and have an opportunity to see the Milky Way in all its glory, constellations like they’ve never seen before, and the northern light, the aurora borealis, shimmering in waves, the orange, red, pink and green,” Miller said.
Where is Voyageurs located?
Voyageurs National Park is located in Northern Minnesota, almost to Canada. It’s about four-and-a-half hours away from the Twin Cities of Minneapolis-Saint Paul by car.
The gateway city of International Falls is about 12 miles away from the park. There is a small airport in International Falls, which offers connecting flights to Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport via Delta and regional carrier Sky West.
“For those people that are looking for a remote, yet unique, beautiful experience, Voyageurs is a great place,” Miller said.
What’s the most visited national park? Answers to your biggest park questions
Can you drive into Voyageurs National Park?
Yes, but how far you can drive depends on the season.
“Via snowmobile and driving on our plowed ice roads, one could make the argument that in terms of driving a car, there’s actually more mileage that you could do in the wintertime,” Miller said.
The rest of the year, there are a couple of what Miller describes as spur roads that lead to the park’s Rainy Lake and Ash River visitor centers. “That’s about the extent of driving a vehicle on our road inside the park boundary.” During open-water season, he said most people take watercraft deeper into the park.
What is the best time of year to visit Voyageurs?
Voyageurs is a year-round park with no entrance fees, but there are two sweet spots for Miller.
“I love August and September,” he said. “You get the best of summer. The air is dried out. There’s less bugs. It’s warm. And then if you wait a little further into September, you get the opportunity to enjoy the turning colors of autumn.”
For winter activities like snowmobiling, cross-country skiing and ice fishing, Miller recommends February and March.
“February and March is often when we have the best snow and ice conditions and warmer temperatures. We’re talking maybe highs in the 20s come mid February to mid March,” he said. “Hopefully we’re done with highs that are below zero like we often see in January.”
What months can you see the northern lights in Voyageurs National Park?
You can potentially see northern lights any time of year at Voyageurs.
“If you’re a night owl, being here in the summertime is of course as good a time as any, yet it stays light pretty long at these northern latitudes,” Miller said. “It’s really not getting dark in June and the first half of July and until after 10 p.m., and there’s ambient light that persists seemingly as late as 11 p.m.”
In the winter, he said there’s roughly nine more hours of darkness. But darkness alone isn’t enough.
“The key to being able to see the northern lights really has to do more with is there a solar storm and are the skies cloud-free?” he said. “With the solar storms increasing lately – and we’re kind of in a peak of an 11-year typical cycle – here in 2024 and 2025, there are great opportunities to come and see the northern lights.”
Who are the Native people of the land?
“The predominant Indigenous tribe is the Anishinaabe. That is the term that the area tribes often refer to themselves as,” Miller said. “The word Ojibwe is probably more commonly used. It’s the same people group essentially as the Chippewa, which is another word that is used.”
“The Dakota (Sioux) people that have a history in this area as well. Throughout the generations, they ended up migrating to further west onto the plains and the prairies,” he added. “There’s also the Cree but they’re more north, northwest.”
SAINT PAUL, Minn. — The Wild returns to Saint Paul tonight, taking on the Avalanche at Grand Casino Arena for the first time in the Second Round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The following lineup is a projection and is subject to change:
San Antonio, despite its early success, struggled for some time to find sufficient support of Wembanyama (39 points, 15 rebounds, and 5 blocks). Running mates Stephon Castle (13 points, 12 assists, and 4 rebounds) and De’Aaron Fox (17 points and 5 assists) started slowly, but both of them worked through the kinks when it mattered most. Devin Vassell (13 points and 6 rebounds) made just the right plays on both ends. Rookie Carter Bryant (6 points and 2 rebounds) made the most of his first half minutes to help the Spurs stay ever so slightly ahead of the Wolves. Keldon Johnson (11 points) worked through an ineffectual playoffs thus far and had a much-needed burst late in the third quarter. Dylan Harper (8 points and 4 rebounds) figured meaningfully in the closing minutes.
Minnesota’s Edwards (32 points, 14 rebounds, and 6 assists) led the way as expected with Jaden McDaniels (17 points and 7 rebounds) reprising his standout role from the Denver series. Former Sixth Man of the Year Naz Reid (18 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists) had an excellent effort off the bench, while Ayo Dosummu (11 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists) also helped the Wolves nearly pull off the upset.
San Antonio picked up where it left off from Wednesday night showcasing its defensive clamps – Edwards’ free throw was the only Minnesota scoring as they missed their first 11 shots. Wembanyama again set up shop in the paint and scored four early ones and netted 9 of the team’s first 11 points. The Wolves stayed glued to one point until the 5:09 mark when a Gobert tip-in roused the crowd from slumber. The Spurs reached zenith at 18-3. Despite the early San Antonio advantage, both teams shot a combined 9-for-36 (25%) over the first nine minutes, which was a foreboding lurch into Minnesota’s closing run. Gobert generated surprising offense, which emboldened Edwards to seek out his offense and the Wolves closed within 22-23 after one.
Three quick Minnesota field goals threatened to cause the Target Center to ’go crazy,‘ but the Spurs’ veterans – Wembanyama and Fox – stabilized them over several tense possessions. Bryant saw first half action and hit a pair of timely threes. Despite wresting the lead back, San Antonio left plentiful points on the board with its free throw misses. The teams fought and clawed to stay within 1-2 possesions of each other until fireworks from Minnesota and San Antonio resulted in a 51 tie at the half.
The teams put up a flurry of threes during a whirlwind third period. San Antonio remained ahead by a handful after the artillery exchange. The really interesting thing was that different players accounted for each three on both sides. The Spurs pushed their lead to as high as seven until Edwards and Dosummu connected on several quick field goals. Wembanyama, while having his left arm behind held by Gobert, swatted away Edwards’ floater with his right hand, and then the Wolves star held his right side as the center tried to run upcourt to join his tammates. After the pace slowed to a veritable crawl, San Antonio still found itself up seven going to the final 12 minutes.
- This was the second game this series where Randle made hostile contact to Castle, and the Spurs guard was whistled for the foul. Tonight’s call, however, was overturned after review.
- If Gobert continues to stay long stretches on the bench, that may effectively consume any meaningful Kornet minutes.
- My friend said, “remember when Ginobili would get fouled… his hair would fly everywhere? That’s Castle” And all I could reply with was “until 2007.”
- Does the Amazon arrow change directions depending on who’s leading?
- It makes sense why the Spurs tried to sell tickets to people within 150 miles of San Antonio in Round 1. The Philadelphia / New York game very much sounded like a pro-Knicks crowd.
- My three sisters and I ended our respective eulogies for my dad with ‘Go Spurs Go.’
- Sequence of the Game #1: Several minutes in, Wembanyama swatted away Randle’s attempt, sped past other Wolves down the floor, and and converted an and-1 over McDaniels. #wemblock
- Sequence of the Game #2: After a Reid three, Fox slithered down to the other end and got a layup over three Timberwolves.
Wembanyama dunked home successive lob passes from Vassell and Castle for San Antonio’s first four points. Fox deflected a pass on the first Wolves possession. (Wembanyama’s first block looked like a goaltend but we’ll keep that between you and me.) Wembanyama’s turnaround banker made it 11-1. The only negative for the Spurs was getting into the foul bonus in less than five minutes. Johnson’s catch-and-shoot triple made it 14-1. Reid’s three caused Mitch Johnson to burn his late period timeout. Gobert’s second and third buckets kickstarted a 9-0 run late in the stanza. Vassell’s floater salvaged a series of fraught moments. Edwards went on a personal twelve point explosion to draw Minnesota within one.
Another Wembanyama lob provided momentary relief from the Wolves’ onslaught – as Edwards, Reid, and McDaniels connected early on in the second period. Bryant hit a corner three to put San Antonio ahead for mere seconds. Bryant’s next one – a shotclock beating three – put the Spurs back up four. Minnesota again drew San Antonio into the foul bonus halfway through. Right as I was muttering to myself that he was settling for too many threes, Castle’s pull-up jumper in the paint put the Spurs up six. An offensive foul on Reid – who elbowed Kornet in the face – was overturned due to the Spurs’ center holding with his left hand. San Antonio challenged an offensive foul whistled on Castle and it was unfortunately upheld. Reid’s corner three put Minnesota back up. but Castle drew Reid’s third foul shortly after. After Castle swiped it clean from Randle, Fox hit his second straight field goal, but that was matched by a McDaniels three tying the game at 51.
Dosummu replaced Mike Conley in the starting lineup, and San Antonio made some decent stops to start the second half. Threes from Castle and Wembanyama put the Spurs up six. After the Wolves bigs used Wembanyama as a punching bag, the referees finally whistled Randle for an offensive foul on an elbow extension. Vassell threw down a thunderous lefty jam seconds later. Edwards hit two baseline floaters and Dosummi followed with a corner three. Castle and Kornet ran pick and roll action to get the center a runner. Harper took a shot to the head on a loose ball situation and stayed down on the court for minutes, while Castle and McDaniels were assessed technicals. San Antonio got into the foul bonus but continued to put up ‘1-for-2s.’ Johnson paired two freebies with a wing three and the Spurs were relieved to head to the fourth up 86-79.
For the Wolves fan’s perspective, please visit Canis Hoopus.
San Antonio stays in the Twin Cities for Game 4 with Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday night at 6:30 PM CDT on NBC.
Police in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota, are searching for a suspect after an individual was injured in a shooting following an altercation on Friday morning.
Officers responded to the 3300 block of 76th Street around 2:45 a.m. for a report of shots fired and a person who had been hit by gunfire, according to the Inver Grove Heights Police Department. They found the 911 caller, who was struck by a bullet. They were taken to a hospital and is expected to survive, officials said.
Investigators said the suspect was trying to get into the vehicle of the caller. Both individuals shot at each other after a short verbal altercation, according to police.
The suspect, whose description has yet to be disclosed by law enforcement, left the scene on foot.
Police are asking area residents who have video of the shooting or the suspect to email the footage to them.
Anyone who sees the suspect is urged not to approach them and to call 911. According to police, they are considered armed and dangerous.
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