The 5 Most Vital Games in Timberwolves Historical past

The Minnesota Timberwolves accomplished the kill shot Thursday evening.

They ended the Denver Nuggets’ season, despatched Nikola Jokic off to no matter offseason horse-stable sanctuary awaits him in Serbia, and gained the rubber match in what has grow to be one of the best rivalry this franchise has ever had. Wolves-Nuggets, Round 3: Minnesota takes it. Again.

While lots of the Wolves devoted had been assured heading into the sequence and should not stunned on the consequence. We must admit that the best way this group took down the Nuggets made completely no sense.

This was speculated to be the sequence the place the Wolves wanted Anthony Edwards to show right into a superhero. Then Ant bought damage. Donte DiVincenzo’s toughness and capturing had been speculated to be core to the Wolves attck. Then Donte tore his Achilles. With the beginning backcourt in traction, this was speculated to be the sequence the place Ayo Dosunmu grew to become the emergency engine. Then he was scratched with calf soreness. Kyle Anderson, one of many few remaining gamers who may calm the offense down within the wake of a 25-point turnover evening, additionally grew to become unavailable.

By Game 6, the Wolves’ depth chart was decimated.

And they nonetheless beat Denver.

They beat Jokic. They beat Jamal Murray. They beat their largest rival. And they did it not with their full arsenal, however with the sort of team-wide, next-man-up, nobody-blinks efficiency that makes playoff basketball really feel like one thing greater than basketball.

Jaden McDaniels performed 45 minutes, scored 32 factors, and spent the evening placing Jamal Murray in a straight jacket. Rudy Gobert owned the paint and helped maintain Denver beneath 100 factors for the third time within the sequence. Julius Randle delivered large buckets when the Nuggets began making their final determined push. In his first playoff begin, Terrence Shannon Jr. displayed zero worry, attacked downhill, and introduced himself as somebody who isn’t simply joyful to be right here. Mike Conley reached into the previous, stole a little bit extra time from Father Time, and gave Minnesota the precise veteran stabilization it desperately wanted. Naz Reid attacked the rim. Jaylen Clark got here off the bench like a rabid wolverine. Everyone gave one thing.

This was not a one-man masterpiece. It was not Ant dropping 45 and carrying everybody throughout the end line. It was not some fluky capturing evening the place the Wolves caught hearth. This was group basketball at its purest with the entire changing into higher than the sum of its bruised, battered, undermanned components.

And that’s the reason, because the Wolves put together for San Antonio and no matter alien geometry Victor Wembanyama is about to deliver into their lives, it felt value pausing for a second and asking an even bigger query:

Where does Game 6 in opposition to Denver rank in Timberwolves historical past?

Not most entertaining, not wildest… I imply most vital. Most significant. The video games that mattered most to the franchise, to the fan base, to the story of Minnesota basketball.

For my record, the standards is easy. Postseason video games outrank regular-season video games. I don’t care how wild some January double-overtime basic was. It can not carry the identical weight as a recreation the place the season is definitely on the road. I additionally prioritized clinchers and true series-defining moments. Game 1s and Game 2s could be unimaginable. I’ll always remember Sam Cassell’s “big balls” dance after saving Game 2 in opposition to Sacramento in 2004, however these video games don’t fairly hit the identical historic weight as elimination video games or series-clinching moments. And lastly, the sport needed to imply one thing larger than the ultimate rating. It needed to shift the franchise, validate a group, break a curse, or stamp a second into Wolves mythology.

With that stated, listed below are the 5 most vital video games in Minnesota Timberwolves historical past.

5. 2026 First Round, Game 6: Timberwolves Eliminate the Nuggets

This one simply occurred, so perhaps there’s some recency bias baked in. Fine. I’ll personal that. But I additionally assume time will probably be very form to this recreation.

The Wolves entered Game 6 with out Edwards, DiVincenzo, Dosunmu, and Anderson. They had been coming off a Game 5 loss in Denver the place they turned it over 25 instances and invited each Wolves fan to begin nervously contemplating a possible Game 7 in Ball Arena with out their famous person. The stakes had been monumental. Lose, and all the sequence tilts again towards one of the best participant on the planet. Win, and also you ship Denver dwelling once more.

And not solely did they win, they gained with protection, toughness, collective effort, and massive moments from sudden locations. McDaniels was magnificent. Gobert was the anchor. Conley was the grownup within the room. Shannon gave them actual juice. Randle hit large photographs. Clark was able to struggle Jokic. The Wolves appeared like a group that had been stripped right down to its bones and nonetheless discovered one thing actual beneath.

Add within the rivalry, the accidents, the rubber-match ingredient, the pre-game DiVincenzo jerseys, the Target Center electrical energy, and the truth that Minnesota as soon as once more ended Denver’s season, and this recreation completely belongs on the record.

4. 2025 First Round, Game 5: Timberwolves Eliminate the Lakers

This was revenge served 20 years chilly.

The Lakers had at all times been the large brother franchise Minnesota may by no means contact. The Minneapolis group that left for Hollywood. The glamour group, free-agent vacation spot, group with banners, superstars, and a nationwide highlight completely aimed in its route. Meanwhile, the Wolves had been the enlargement franchise that needed to struggle for relevance and reduce under-the-table offers simply to land a Joe Smith-caliber free-agent.

It was the Lakers who took Minnesota out within the 2003 first-round and subsequently crushed the Kevin Garnett Wolves within the 2004 Western Conference Finals, ending one of the best probability that first nice period ever had at a title.

So when Minnesota lastly bought one other shot at them in 2025, with LeBron James and Luka Doncic on the opposite aspect, it meant one thing. “Lakers in five” was the mantra from the second the matchup was set. And then the Wolves spent the sequence proving they had been larger, deeper, more durable, and higher.

Game 5 was the exclamation level. Rudy Gobert went full monster within the paint. The Lakers had no reply for Minnesota’s dimension. And Edwards delivered the proper remaining flourish with the Antman/Batman/Superman vitality and the “Lakers in five” echo bouncing by the Crypto.com Arena tunnels as Los Angeles followers tried to course of what had simply occurred.

For as soon as, Minnesota wasn’t the little brother. Minnesota was the bully.

3. 2004 First Round, Game 5: Timberwolves Eliminate the Nuggets

This was the curse-breaker.

For seven straight years, the Timberwolves made the playoffs and went dwelling within the first spherical. Seven straight exits. Seven straight reminders that Kevin Garnett might be sensible, heroic, and utterly trapped by the restrictions round him. By 2004, the burden of that historical past was suffocating.

Then Sam Cassell and Latrell Sprewell arrived, KG gained MVP, and every thing modified.

The Wolves gained the West. They earned the No. 1 seed. And fittingly, their first-round opponent was Denver, who was led by a younger Carmelo Anthony and decided to make the sequence as bodily and uncomfortable as doable.

But the Wolves had been too good. Game 5 wasn’t probably the most dramatic recreation in franchise historical past. It didn’t must be. Its significance was within the launch. As the ultimate seconds ticked away, Minnesota lastly escaped the primary spherical. Garnett lastly bought previous the wall. Wolves followers lastly bought to exhale after seven years of getting the identical nightmare.

It is tough to overstate what that meant on the time.

Before the Western Conference Finals, earlier than the Sacramento basic, at the beginning else, this was the second the franchise lastly proved it may win within the playoffs.

2. 2004 Western Conference Semifinals, Game 7: Timberwolves Eliminate the Kings

This is 1B greater than No. 2. Trying to separate this recreation from the highest spot is like deciding which of your youngsters you’re keen on extra.

The Wolves had lastly damaged by in opposition to Denver, however actual title goals should not made within the first spherical. This franchise wanted extra. Waiting for them was a loaded Sacramento Kings group, a battle-tested group with Chris Webber, Mike Bibby, Peja Stojakovic, and sufficient offensive firepower to make each possession really feel harmful.

The sequence was a conflict. The Kings almost stole each video games in Minnesota to open it. Cassell saved Game 2 with one of the crucial iconic celebrations in Wolves historical past. Then all of it constructed to Game 7 at Target Center, on Kevin Garnett’s birthday, with the franchise’s total basketball soul hanging within the steadiness.

KG delivered one of many defining performances of his profession. Webber answered. The recreation was tense, bodily, emotional, and alive in a means solely Game 7s could be. And when Minnesota lastly survived, Garnett leaping onto the scorer’s desk and waving that towel grew to become the signature picture of the primary 34 years of Timberwolves basketball.

For 20 years, this was the mountaintop.

The Wolves wouldn’t win one other playoff sequence till 2024. That’s how lengthy this second needed to carry the franchise.

1. 2024 Western Conference Semifinals, Game 7: Timberwolves Eliminate the Nuggets

After 20 years and not using a playoff sequence victory, Minnesota swept Phoenix and at last returned to the second spherical. Waiting there was Denver: the defending champion, the group that had eradicated the Wolves the yr earlier than, the group with Jokic on the peak of his powers.

Minnesota stole the primary two video games in Denver with bruising, suffocating protection. Then the Nuggets punched again, profitable three straight and placing the Wolves on the brink. Minnesota answered with a Game 6 demolition at Target Center, establishing Game 7 in Denver.

Then every thing went unsuitable.

The Wolves fell behind by 20 within the second half. The season appeared useless. The defending champions had been rolling. Ball Arena was able to have fun. And then, in some way, impossibly, Minnesota got here roaring again.

Anthony Edwards. Karl-Anthony Towns. Rudy Gobert. Jaden McDaniels. Mike Conley Jr. Naz Reid. The total group flipped the sport, flipped the sequence, and flipped the franchise’s fashionable id. It grew to become the most important Game 7 comeback in NBA historical past, however greater than that, it grew to become the second this new period really arrived.

The Wolves didn’t simply win. They took one thing.

They took Denver’s title protection. They took the sequence. They took their place again within the Western Conference Finals for the primary time in 20 years.

And now, with Thursday evening’s Game 6 win, they’ve added one other chapter to that very same story.

That is what makes this present period so particular. For so lengthy, Wolves followers needed to survive on one or two reminiscences. Garnett on the scorer’s desk. Maybe a random regular-season basic you talked your self into as a result of the postseason cabinet was empty.

The Wolves have gained first-round sequence three straight years. They have taken down KD and the Suns, the LeBron/Luka Lakers, the Jimmy Butler and the Warriors, and Nikola Jokic’s Nuggets. They have reached back-to-back Western Conference Finals and now have an opportunity to make it three if they’ll get previous Wemby and San Antonio. They are now not a franchise begging for one second to cling to. They are constructing a set.

Thursday evening belongs in that assortment.

And if this group has something to say about it, the record isn’t completed but.