Heading into their first round playoff series with the Los Angeles Lakers, The Minnesota Timberwolves had already made a ton of progress since the start of the season. Being dealt an extremely difficult hand after the front office's last minute trade in September, this season was always going to be an uphill climb for this team.
All season, we saw this group squash their deficiencies and become a more capable, playoff-worthy team. Anthony Edwards conquered being double-teamed on seemingly every possession, Julius Randle truly found his groove, and Jaden McDaniels finally blossomed into a legitimate two-way star.
But even after coming so far, there was still one big issue Wolves fans could not shake headed into the playoffs: This team's ability to close tight games. Minnesota played an inordinate amount of clutch-time games in the regular season, and their record in those contests... wasn't great.
That obviously left a lot of worry in the minds of many Timberwolves fans. How could they expect their squad to go deep in the postseason when they were so often underperforming in clutch situations?
Well, that question received a resounding answer during Minnesota's Game 3 against the Lakers on Friday night. In a crucial contest with the series tied 1-1, the Wolves put up unquestionably their best clutch performance of the entire season.
The Timberwolves' clutch issues disappeared against LA
From the start, the energy was different in this one. The Target Center crowd reached deafening noise levels, and it was not going to be an easy atmosphere for any opponent to pull out a win in. The Timberwolves' defense was causing havoc all game long, like when Rudy Gobert forced an extremely satisfying turnover on Luka Doncic that led to a McDaniels and-one in the first half.
Then came the moment in the fourth quarter where die-hard Wolves fans watched with baited breath. With the score tied 103-103 and 4:30 remaining, it was still anyone's game. Anyone could have guessed that the script for this game involved Minnesota giving it away in the final minutes.
But what followed was the most pleasant surprise any Timberwolves supporter could have hoped for. A few seconds later, Anthony Edwards stepped back for a tie-breaking three. That sparked a 13-1 run to finish the game for Minnesota, and sent the home crowd into an even bigger frenzy.
It was the poise of Edwards and his teammates down the stretch that turned a close game into a not-so-close game by the time the final buzzer sounded, and in a situation that the Wolves have failed so many times this season. In a moment where it was time for Minnesota to show what they were made of, they answered the call in an unbelievably thrilling way.
Of course, one star-studded clutch time performance may or may not completely right the Timberwolves' ship. But it's certainly a massive encouragement to see them break through at just the right time.