A glorious night for Minnesota sports

Every other major sports market gets these days at least somewhat regularly. Forget titles, just advancing in the playoffs. Many get this joy through multiple teams. 

Not us. 

Minnesota is a cursed sports market, a reality that becomes more and more of a burden through every season of unfulfilled expectations and misplaced hope, and absurd circumstances that lead to losses.

There was little reason to think the last night of April would be any different. But there was a wrinkle this time, a very rare coincidence of scheduling that had both the Timberwolvea and the Wild at home, both playing a game 6 up 3-2, and thus both in position to advance to round 2 in their respective marathon playoffs.

The Wild had the more hopeful situation, since they were healthy. The Wolves, man, they were already down Anthony Edwards and Donte DiVincenzo, and then we found out Ayo Dosunmu was going to be out too. How were the Wolves possibly going to get this done?

The Wolves game had some reasonable ticket prices (unlike the Wild game...sheesh), so I went to that one. 

The Wild game was followed from afar, on the radio, and through apps. The game was tied at 1 when I got to Target Center. Dallas took a 2-1 lead as I was heading to my seat. The Wild tied it shortly after I got up to my nosebleed seat. That game was tied at 2 after 2.

Then it was tipoff. 

The Wolves, in a closeout playoff game, started both Mike Conley (who we traded several months ago and brought back after a buyout) and little used Terrence Shannon Jr. 

You could tell very early on that the Wolves were not just going to play dead. They were putting out maximum effort from the opening tip. This was going to be a 4 quarter game.

As this game was unfolding, the Wild pulled ahead halfway through the 3rd on a Quinn Hughes goal. I'm sure the ex-X was rocking. Then the Wild put in a couple of empty netters, and that embarrassing streak of playoff series losses was over. On to round 2.

The Wolves' fantastic early effort was already energizing the Target Center crowd, and then they played the final seconds of the Wild game on the scoreboard. Huge ovation. Chills. 

The worst-case scenario for the night was already over. 

Now, the focus was entirely on the Wolves. And the great effort continued. Terrific defense, contesting everything. Hustling for everything. And playing smart. The turnovers killed them in game 5, but here they played under control.

The Wolves led by 7 at halftime, giving the kind of performance that was making us all believers. Honestly, given the injuries, I really didn't think they had much chance. But now it was different. They clearly DID have a chance to do this, and now, if they didn't, it would be a huge letdown. But could they maintain this for another half?

This has been a Timberwolves season marked so often by the team taking off possessions, quarters, and even whole games. The last game I went to, on Super Bowl Sunday, was a pathetic blowout loss to a mediocre Clippers team. But there was never a moment in this game the Wolves took a break. The Nuggets made a little push in the 3rd quarter, but critically never managed to take the lead. 

You could tell the Wolves' relentlessness was breaking Denver. Nikola Jokic behaved like a clown. Again. He and all his teammates whined to the refs constantly (even though the refs were crucial to even keeping this thing close).

This thing wasn't resolved until the last couple minutes, when the Wolves got a little distance. They ended up winning by 110-98. It was a joyous scene. 

What a tremendous team performance. Jaden McDaniels was a superstar, the Nuggets #1 tormenter going for 32 points and playing smothering defense. Terrence Shannon had a legendary career breakout game with 24 points, including a poster.slam over Jokic. Gobert finished off his best.playoff series as a Wolf with a near triple double. Naz Reid had a big game off the bench. 

It was thrilling, rousing, anything else positive you want to call it. It was arguably more impressive than the game 7 road comeback against Denver 2 years ago. 

Both the Wild and Wolves were the better teams and deserved to win.

As great as this was, you know, it was just one round. But we have never had this before. These teams have never advanced in the same year. It's okay to take a little time to savor this. Even if this is where it stops, it was a great night. 

The Wild now face the Colorado Avalanche. The Wolves take on the San Antonio Spurs. Both will again start on the road. Both will be underdogs. We'll see how it goes.

Obviously, if neither the Wolves or Wild keep this going, it will be disappointing. We crave an end to the main 4 title drought. Anything short of that might end up feeling like just another chapter of the Minnesota sports curse. 

But for at least one night, we got to feel some real joy.