Dunks After Dusk

Well, the predictably unpredictable Wolves come out against Memphis and put together a 52-point quarter on their way to a double-digit victory against the Grizzlies. Anthony Edwards entered the Avatar State for 3 quarters, Julius Randle had maybe his best game on the Wolves, and the rest of the roster did their thing to help the Wolves win. 47-33 with their destiny in their own hands.

Nobody is going to remember the 38 minutes of great basketball from the Wolves, because the last 10 was so bad that it made all the good useless. The Wolves blow a 24-point 4th quarter lead by giving up a 34-3 run. Embarassing.

Mitch and Pat connect some telephone wire and cups to record following one of the most exciting regular season games you'll see. NAW was amazing, Ant is growing and the Wolves have won 6 in a row vs the Nuggets.

In a game that saw five players and two coaches ejected, the Minnesota Timberwolves lock in and beat an undermanned Pistons squad. Rudy Gobert was dominant in the paint, Julius Randle came to life, and Mike Conley chased a red-hot Malik Beasley down till he cooled off. 43-32, 7th in the West.

As the Timberwolves blow out the Phoenix Suns... again... it gets Mitch and Pat thinking about the playoffs and which players will be the most trustworthy. The biggest question? Julius Randle (AKA Julius R) whom Mitch proposes that he may in fact have a severance chip in his head that activates only on certain games. 

Well, the vibes have officially hit the inverse of the 8-game winning streak. The Timberwolves lose their 3rd game in four tries, this one marked by poor effort more than any other in recent memory. Edwards played like he had a severe cut and bandage on his hand, while Julius Randle and Jaden McDaniels got benched in the 2nd half.

A short and sweet episode covering a relatively uneventful blowout win. Best moment of the night was Joe Ingles getting the start so his autistic son could see him. As far as on the court basketball goes, a solid "B" effort from most the team, with some standout moments from Jaylen Clark as his stock continues to gain more and more value.

Well... there goes all the optimism. Except for from Mitch who digs deep after these two losses to offer some form of hope. Looks bad now, but we are only 3 days removed from an 8-game winstreak and vibes being as high as can be. 

The Timberwolves win 7-in-a-row with a gritty come from behind effort against a "better than their record" Magic team. DiVincenzo sparked the comeback in the 4th, while Jaden McDaniels close it down with defense, shooting, and a mesmerizing dunk. Still, somehow, percentage points out of 6th place.

The Timberwolves flew into Denver and chose domination vs the Nuggets. Without Aaron Gordon, the Nuggets had no answer for Julius Randle and he overpowered them all night long. Also, Ant was great. And Donte. And Jaden. And Rudy. And Naz. And Conley.  And NAW.... just an all-around win for an ascending playoff threat.

The Timberwolves led coast-to-coast for their 5th straight victory, this one over the San Antonio Spurs. Julius Randle once again flirted with a triple double while all the rest of the rotation guys got in on the fun by sharing the basketball and knocking down open looks. Games against bad teams help, but this Wolves squad is beginning to find their form and is a season best eight games over .500.

The Timberwolves head to Miami and win a street fight against a Heat team ready to compete on both ends of the floor. Point scoring was shared equally among the starters (And NAW and DiVincenzo), but it is Mike Conley who stands out as the big ticket award winner for setting the offensive tone. 36-29, four in a row.

The Wolves take care of their business with back-to-back wins against middling to bad teams. With just 18 games left to go, they find themselves in a virtual tie for the 6th seed and just three games out of the 5th seed.

Following a two game slide, the Wolves bounce back with a comfortable victory over the reeling Phoenix Suns. DiVincenzo set the tone, Randle played some great team basketball, and Anthony Edwards was a superstar. With 20 games left, the Wolves are basically tied for the 6th seed with an opportunity to make some noise with an easier schedule.

The Minnesota Timberwolves 25-point comeback against the Thunder ties their largest in team history. Most shocking about it? It was led by the bench, Naz Reid and Jaden McDaniels. This team continues to make no sense whatsoever, but after tonight, we've decided to just give in and let go of the wheel.

In the new best game of the season (a lot of those lately!) the Minnesota Timberwolves soundly defeat the best team in the league on their home floor. While the night was led by Naz, Ant and Jaden, the most encouraging aspect of the game is how the rest of the young pups each contributed to winning. 31-25 at the All-Star Break.

The Wolves played their last game of a 5-game homestand short-handed against the red hot blazers, and find a way to pull off a heck of a victory. Jaden and Naz were awesome all game and every single other member of the team that saw that floor had big moments to drive the team towards the win. 30-23. Got some hard ones coming up!

One of the more fun games of the year - just stop reading this and give the episode a listen!

The Wolves drop back-to-back games at home in a must-win stretch of the season. Injuries and sickness are big reasons why, but every team in the NBA goes through it. With the trade deadline looming Thursday, Pat takes some time to look at the Wolves roster and create five tiers of players, ranging from untouchable, to "please take him I beg you".

A blowout against a bad team that turned out just to be... incredibly fun. The young guys on the bench all had their moments in the game led by Dillingham, Clark, and Luka Garza. Wolves easily best the hapless Jazz on their way to a five game win streak and 27-21 record.

Phrasing? Well, what a fun win for the Wolves! They go into Phoenix short-handed and get contributions from up and down the roster - led by a monster effort from Anthony Edwards. NAW, Randle, McDaniels and Jaylen Clark(!!) each with fantastic games.

The Wolves did in fact play a game tonight... More interestingly, we spend about 25 minutes on the pod discussing the two paths that the Wolves could take at the trade deadline involving Julius Randle. While keeping Randle is a much riskier idea, there is an arguement to be made for his development this season still leaving this team with an untapped ceiling.

The Timberwolves play their most complete game of the season, highlighted by an All-NBA Rudy Gobert effort and a patient Anthony Edwards. 24-21, 7th in the West, and a building block type win that should give every one a little hit of optimism.

The Timberwolves play lose a close one against Memphis and win a close one against the Mavs. The team as a whole is so consistently inconsistent that every game is going to the clutch and every night different plays are heroes and different players have their talents stolen from the Monstars. 23-21, 8th in the West.

The Timberwolves go 1-1 in a very hard road and home back to back agains the Knicks and the Cavs. The Knicks game was one of the best team efforts of the season, while the Cavs game was an admirable effort against the league's current best. But taken in tandem with the loss to the Warriors on Wednesday, the 22-20 Timberwolves team is really about the eye of the beholder. You can be optimistic or p...