NBA Play-In Tournament: Timberwolves powder-keg explodes in finale

The Minnesota Timberwolves are no strangers to controversy, drama, and adversity this season, but they have not been so willing to wade into the midst of a maelstrom of their own making, until now. This has been a team that has been forced to embrace the chaos of uncertainty, of facing two-thirds of the 2022-23 NBA season without arguably their best player in power forward/center Karl-Anthony Towns, and by stitching together a Timberwolves roster on the fly.

It’s been a season filled with discovery, fortune, frustration, and thanks to a season finale fracas, and fisticuffs. This is a young team, with high-strung emotions, bursting with youthful energy and passionate play. When harnessed correctly, the Timberwolves can be a very competitive team. When not harnessed correctly, the Timberwolves explode like a powder keg exposed to an open flame.

Boom! The Timberwolves roster explodes in the finale

The Timberwolves exploded today:

This was a team that has never forged through the course of a full NBA season, as was the original plan of Minnesota Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly. This is a team that, before today’s game, only benefitted from 29 games from power forward/center Karl-Anthony Towns, 24 games from veteran point guard Mike Conley Jr., and fewer than 30 games from center Luka Garza, wing Wendell Moore Jr., shooting guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker, power forward Josh Minott, and power forward Matt Ryan.

It’s ironic to talk about a Timberwolves roster that is still fighting through issues of unfamiliarity, discongruity, and dissension in the final game of an 82-game NBA season, but that is where the Timberwolves are right now.