Stanzel’s Sports Takeout — BREAKING NEWS: 4-12-23.
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Wolves Lose in Spectacular Fashion; Play Friday for 8th Seed
Of their now 19 losses this season when leading by 10 or more points, this one will sting the most. The Wolves led by 15 midway through the third but scored only seven points in the game’s last 11 minutes counting overtime, as the Lakers took the seventh seed with a 108-102 win. Minnesota scored just 12 fourth quarter points, but forced overtime with three Mike Conley Jr. free throws with .1 seconds left. Conley scored 23 points, including the Wolves’ only points for a 10-minute stretch spanning the fourth quarter and overtime.
The Wolves live to fight another day, for a must win to get into the playoffs. LA takes the seventh seed and will play Memphis, while the Wolves will host either New Orleans or Oklahoma City on Friday at a lubed up Target Center for the right to be the No. 8 seed and play West leading Denver in the first round.
Towns (24 points) helped stake the Wolves to that 15-point lead, outdueling LeBron James (30 points) through 30 minutes. But Towns, as he’s want to do, got into foul trouble, and didn’t score a single point in the final 19 minutes, 39 seconds.
And with Anthony Edwards battling a sore shoulder and missing 13-of-16 field goals, the depth simply wasn’t enough to hold off the Lakers. The Wolves outscored the Lakers by 19 points with KAT on the floor, but was outscored by 25 with him on the bench.
Towns’ fifth foul was especially problematic. It was ticky tack, but Towns has a penchant for putting himself in positions like that, to not get the benefit of the doubt. And as I’ve mentioned a dozen times in the last two years of this column, Towns won’t get the benefit of the doubt from the NBA referee colony because he does nothing but whine about officiating. The Wolves scored just nine points in the fourth after Towns’ fifth foul.
The Wolves just had so many chances. They twice stole an inbounds pass in a crucial situation - the first time they turned it right over again, and the second time, with less than 20 seconds left in OT, Taurean Prince missed a 3-pointer.
One also has to wonder how Rudy Gobert, suspended for punching his own teammate Anderson in the final regular season game, would have helped in the paint. Anthony Davis had nine of the Lakers’ 12 offensive rebounds.
The Lakers also benefited by the Wolves being called for 11 more fouls than them. After halftime, the Lakers had 17 free throw attempts, and Minnesota had just three - Conley’s just before the buzzer.
The Wolves were given “no chance” by former Laker Shaquille O’Neal on the TNT pre-game shot. But it’s a loss that simply shouldn’t have happened, especially with a herculean defensive effort against LeBron and Davis, with their best two defenders not dressed.
The Wolves’ 18 losses when leading by 10 or more in the regular season ranked second in the NBA.
Wild Officially Third Seed After Falling 3-1 to Jets as Things Turned Ugly
On a night the Wild put almost all of its “playoff opening night roster” on the ice, it’s clear there may be an understudy or two needed before the curtain rises early next week. A night after they rested many veterans and escaped with a 4-2 win in Chicago, the Wild wasn’t very good at home, welcoming the Winnipeg Jets into the playoffs with a 3-1 loss on home ice to the hated Jets.
Here’s the rub. You’ve got to make sure your vets in particular are rested. They watched Joel Eriksson Ek break a bone in his foot a week ago. They were mostly locked into third place. Sure, you rest some guys. But you can’t then just expect everyone to get back together in Game 1 of the playoffs and have their best stuff. So, minus Gustav Nyquist (won’t play back-to-back games coming off his injury), and with Marc-Andre Fleury in net instead of presumed Game 1 starter Filip Gustavsson, the Wild was awful for all but about 10 minutes of the third period.
Sam Steele got sick mid game. Oft-injured Marcus Johansson twice went down with an injury last night, incuding an ominous check into the boards late in regulation that left him clutching his ribs. Evason called it a “cheap” hit.
That led to a couple scuffles, including a Ryan Reaves fight, and Jets coach Rick Bowness yelling obscenities in the direction of Dean Evason and challenging him to a fight.
Now, you can’t blame Deano for taking his best players off the ice after seeing one of them hurt in the final minute. Also, classic shrug emotion from Deano. It’s too bad another playoff series likely isn’t in the cards between these teams this year. Different coaches, but these teams have just loathed each other since Mike Yeo had his No. 1 power play unit out in a blowout win many moons ago.
Brock Faber was awesome in his Wild debut Monday, and one has to think if he finds his way into the playoff lineup because he looks a lot more composed than a couple current Wild defensemen.
With 104 points and one game left - Thursday at now eliminated Nashville - the Wild is officially locked into third place. They’ll play either Colorado or Dallas - at this point the Stars more likely - in the first round, but without home ice.
On the bright side, Kirill Kaprizov hit 40 goals last night despite missing a month due to injury. Kaprizov is one guy you don’t have to be worried about being ready, no matter the time, to play his best.
Twins Walk it Off with Infield Single After Lopez Retires 23 Straight
On a night Luis Arraez hit for the cycle for Miami, Pablo Lopez cemented his signature on the Twins’ No. 1 starter role. After allowing the game’s first four batters to reach base, Lopez set down 23 straight White Sox, and the Twins eventually won 4-3 in the 10th after the throw on a bunt single by Michael A. Taylor went off his helmet and into foul territory.
The worst part about the night was that Lopez didn’t earn his third win, because Jhoan Duran allowed a first-pitch homer in the bottom of the ninth. Lopez has just one win to show from three starts - but he’s allowed just three runs in 20 innings, striking out 26 and walking just five. He’s giving the Twins a top of the line starter they haven’t had since Johan Santana.
It was a fitting end for Taylor, too. After putting the Twins up 3-2 with his first home run, he came to bat with the stupid automatic runner on second. He bunted perfectly to third, and hustling down the line, the ball hit his helmet and caromed into foul territory allowing the game-winning run to score.
Carlos Correa missed another game with back spasms. It’s not a good sign, although after his start, he wasn’t really providing much to the offense in the cold weather. But there continue to be holes in this lineup. Even with his two hits tonight, Taylor is hitting .205, albeit playing a great centerfield. Kyle Farmer has struck out seven times in his last 10 at bats in place of Correa. Matt Wallner is 0-for-7 since coming up from St. Paul. With Joey Gallo hitting the injured list, the Twins have recalled Quebec City native Edouard Julien, who was hitting nearly .300 with the Saints.
Snuggerud Stays with Gophers
After watching Brock Faber, Jackson Lacombe and Matthew Knies leave the program early, Bob Motzko got some good news earlier this week when freshman phenom Jimmy Snuggerud announced he’d stay with the Gophers for his sophomore season. Not a huge surprise, as Snuggerud was one of the youngest freshmen in college hockey. Eyes turn to freshman Logan Cooley, who is expected to make his decision soon.
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