Stanzel’s Sports Takeout — BREAKING NEWS: 2.9.24
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Take Patrick Mahomes and the points in the Super Bowl. Actually, take him outright. It’ll be the most watched SB post-game show ever, too.
Wolves Finally Close One Out
Up by more than 20 in the third quarter, there was never even any doubt the Wolves would hold on. Minnesota blistered one of the best in the East, the Milwaukee Bucks, 129-105 on the road last night.
Good on Chris Finch, who took a timeout late in the third after a couple iffy possessions to keep his team focused. They did everything right down the stretch, hitting 21 3-pointers in the game.
Anthony Edwards showed off his All-Star form which has been rare lately, going for26. Rudy Gobert was a force inside, missing just one shot en route to 16 points and 11 rebounds. Even without injured Jordan McLaughlin, the bench was effective.
The Wolves did get help at the trade deadline-at least theoretically-acquiring backup guard Monte Morris from the Pistons for...well, two guys that don’t see the court much and a future second round pick. Especially with the other J-Mac’s injury and Kyle Anderson’s inconsistent play, that will help.
A showdown with the Clippers on Monday awaits, the middle game of a five-game road trip.
Wild Survives Hawks, Fêtes Fleury Tonight
You have to wonder how far Friday’s Marc-Andre Fleury 1,000th game celebration had actually been planned. Yes, the NHL scheduled the Wild to host the Pens on “2-9”-Fleury’s jersey number.
It’ll be interesting to see how the Wild comes out, and they’d better be better than they were in their All-Star Break return, in which their fourth line was best in a 2-1 squeaker over last place Chicago. The top six forwards sure looked like they were back in Turks and Caicos. Of course, Flower was there too but he should be jazzed against his original mates tonight.
The Wild’s Pat Maroon, one of just a few trade chips they have, underwent surgery and will be out 4-to-6 weeks, although someone could still snag him. The deadline is one month from yesterday, and all eyes could be on Fleury at that point if the Wild isn’t in the top eight. They’ve got some hard games coming up-aren’t they all-but Vegas, Vancouver, Winnipeg and Edmonton all in the next two weeks (three of them on the road).
Gopher Hoops
Only four teams in the Big 10 have more wins than the Gophers, who on Sunday visit an Iowa team 1.5 games behind them in the standings. If they finish in the top four, they get a double bye, and they’re almost assuredly going to get at least one bye in next month’s Big 10 Basketball Tournament at Target Center.
No. 5 Ohio State blitzed the Gopher women last night in Columbus. That’s now five straight losses for Minnesota, which visits Rutgers on Tuesday.
Gopher Hockey
Only three series remain of Big 10 hockey for the Gophers, who host sixth-place Penn State this weekend in a must sweep if they have any hope of catching Wisconsin for second. If the season ended today, the Gophers and Nittany Lions would face off in the first round of the B10 Tournament.
The Gopher women, coming off a couple rough weekends in which they were able to sweep inferior teams, had better be very careful in a home-and-home against No. 10 St. Cloud State.
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