The Minnesota Timberwolves, a big 10 games over .500 and two games out of the No. 3 seed in the West, smacked the Cleveland Cavaliers by 28 on Monday. The Target Center was loud, Andrew Wiggins had a helluva game — it’s all smiles for Minnesota right now. Over their last 15 games, per NBA.com, they have the No. 1 offense, a top-10 defense, and the No. 1 net rating.
What do Tom Thibodeau and Kanye West have in common?
They both fixed Wolves. We have that and more in Tuesday’s NBA newsletter.
Photo by Jordan Johnson/NBAE via Getty Images
That’s it. No “but ...,” no “however ...” The Wolves are awesome. Kudos to Tom Thibodeau the general manager, Tom Thibodeau the coach, and everyone else involved (including Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns, who are blossoming). It’s been a long, long winter, but it’s springtime in Minnesota.
Scores Galore ...
MIL 96, IND 109
TOR 114, BKN 113 (OT)
HOU 116, CHI 107
CLE 99, MIN 127
DET 109, NOP 112
SAS 107, SAC 100
DEN 114, GSW 124
ATL 107, LAC 108
... And So Much More
Kyle Lowry fell hard and had to get a butt X-ray. Prayers up. (The Nets might have gotten screwed on a no-call at the end of that one. Spencer Dinwiddie had himself a night.)
Isaiah Thomas, inspired by former Cavaliers point guard Matthew Dellavedova, clotheslined Andrew Wiggins to stop a drive. Bad idea, dude. We have to stop clotheslining people in the NBA.
Woj’s trade deadline primer. We’re a month away!
After Rick Carlisle’s rather bellicose comments on LaVar Ball, Steve Kerr came with a thoughtful sermon on ESPN’s priorities, which included shouting out two laid-off ESPN journalists. Meanwhile, I argue that the Lakers are doing everyone a favor by essentially ignoring the guy.
Last bit on this guy, hopefully for a few weeks. I have a Twitter list made up solely of major NBA reporters and columnists from ESPN and other outlets. I check it every morning. With a brief break to laud Alabama’s freshman quarterback, that entire timeline was devoted to LaVar Ball on Monday, despite near unanimous agreement among those reporters with Kerr’s sentiment that reporters are spending too much time talking about Ball.
If you want to stop talking about LaVar Ball...maybe try stop talking about LaVar Ball. (Now I’m going to stop talking about LaVar Ball for a little while. Probably. Maybe.)
Olimpia Milano is one of the worst teams in EuroLeague. You should watch them anyway.
The forgotten unicorn, Mr. Karl-Anthony Towns. (Paul Flannery has a good piece on KAT coming Tuesday; stay tuned.)
This is a really good piece on why Andrew Wiggins is so divisive. I’m still a believer, for the record.
Four games on Players Only Tuesday, with NBA TV grabbing Blazers-Thunder at 8 p.m. ET and Kings-Lakers at 10:30. Full schedule here.
Be excellent to each other.
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