Dec. 10--"The Timberwolves are going to make the playoffs"

A buddy leaned in close yesterday, paused in a way that lent GREAT IMPORTANCE to the moment, then said, in a hushed voice, "The Timberwolves are going to make the playoffs." I didn't know what to say. Maybe I should have said, So, then, why not say it out loud?

It was a funny thing to say with the Wolves at 13-13, in 10th place in the West, with a game AT GOLDEN STATE that night. And, indeed, the Wolves lost to drop to 13-14 and now 12th in the West, 4 spots and 2 full games out of the playoffs.

But, of course, there's this. Since trading away the cancer man, the Wolves 9-5. Amazingly, they've been among the best defensive teams in the NBA. And, last night? Well, they lost, but they kept coming back, coming back, coming back. No, they were never gonna win. I mean, about the time the Vikings fell behind the Seahawks 14-0, I realized it was time for the Wolves to be getting started out there on the west coast. Well, they were doing better than the Vikings, but not much. It was 14-2.

But, before the 1st quarter was done they had gotten within 19-18. In the 2nd quarter they actually tied it up at 56-all before falling behind by 6 on a buzzer-beater 3 by Klay Thompson. In the 3rd they got within 75-71 before falling back at 91-77. In the 4th they got within 91-83, 114-106 and 116-108, the final score.

I mean, nobody was going to beat the Warriors last night, as they connected on 19-of-43 3s--57 points on 43 attempts--more than one of them of the buzzer-beater variety, with a few no-look, behind-the-back and between-the-legs shots for good measure. Nothin' but net. Curry scored 38, Thompson 26, Durant 22 on 15-of-28 3s. But Karl Towns responded with 31 points and 11 boards, Derrick Rose 21 points, Andrew Wiggins 20--72 points on 48 shots. Not too shabby, but just 7-of-25 3s.

A far cry from that horrible west coast swing 5 weeks ago when they lost to Golden State, Portland and Sacramento by 58 points. So far the Wolves are 0-2 this trip but down just 16, with Sacramento up again tomorrow night. A win would be nice with just 3 of the 10 games following at home. The 4 of 5 and 6 of 8 at home by which time (January 20 to be exact and only then) do I expect the Wolves to break the .500 mark at 24-23. After that it says here that they win 12 of 20, and they're 36-31 and maybe, just maybe, on their way to the playoffs. It will be a tough slog, no doubt. But the Wolves play over the past month says they can do it, and my buddy says they can do it, too. I am not going to buck the trend, not now.

Player of the Day--Karl Anthony Towns
Team of the Day--Minnesota Timberwolves
Coach of the Day--Tom Thibodeau