Minnesota Timberwolves are loaded for Grizzlies . . . , er, . . . bear.
By Bret Stuter
Surprising season, surprising success
The Timberwolves had surged from a 16-20 start to the season to finish at 30-16 the rest of the way. That 46-36 record earned the team a chance to compete in the Play-In, facing the battle-tested Los Angeles Clippers for the right to enter the NBA Playoffs.
Win, and the Timberwolves would enter as the seventh-seeded team. Lose? And the Timberwolves would need to compete, and win, to enter the post-season as the eighth-seeded team. The Timberwolves would defeat the Clippers by a score of 109-104 and earn the right to enter the postseason.
That bit of positive momentum set the stage for the Timberwolves to shock everyone as they opened their NBA Playoff series with the second-seeded Memphis Grizzlies with a commanding win, scoring 130 to claim the victory by a score of 130-117. The Timberwolves got huge numbers of points from Anthony Edwards (36) and Karl-Anthony Towns (29). But the surprise scorer was Malik Beasley (23), who led all scorers off the bench.
Nobody expected the seventh-seeded Timberwolves to have much success against the second-seeded Grizzlies. But the Timberwolves carried their Play-In Tournament momentum to arrive hot in the opener.
That would not be the way of the postseason in the NBA. Teams make rapid adjustments. Veterans change how they play, and how they defend. The pace in the NBA Playoffs is incredibly fast and far more physical. The Minnesota Timberwolves had proved that they meant business in the series opener. Now, the Memphis Grizzlies needed to respond.