Game Preview #81 – Timberwolves vs. Nets

The Timberwolves pulled off a third quarter for the record books en route to a decisive victory over the Memphis Grizzles. Now they need to gather themselves and take care of business against Brooklyn like their playoff hopes depend on it… because they do.

Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Brooklyn Nets
Date: April 11th, 2025
Time: 8:00 PM CDT
Location: Target Center
Television Coverage: FanDuel Sports Network North
Radio Coverage: Wolves App/iHeart Radio

If you heard a loud BOOM around 10 p.m. Central Time last night, that was the Minnesota Timberwolves pulling the pin and launching a freaking grenade at the Memphis Grizzlies’ playoff hopes.

Let’s be clear: this wasn’t just a win. This wasn’t your garden-variety “tough road victory.” This was a third-quarter detonation, a 52-point quarter—yes, 52—the most productive quarter in franchise history, a sentence that feels both insane and entirely on-brand for this topsy-turvy Wolves team.

It was the exact brand of vengeance we all needed after that Milwaukee meltdown. You remember the Milwaukee game, right? When the Wolves choked away a 24-point lead like they were trying to recreate the 2016 Falcons Super Bowl collapse but with more bounce passes and less dignity?

Well, consider this Memphis blowout a spiritual cleanse. A basketball exorcism. A reminder that when Anthony Edwards and the Wolves decide to play like the team they’re capable of being, there’s not a single squad in the NBA that wants to see them in a seven-game series.

The Third Quarter That Baptized Us All

Watching that third quarter was like watching a Fast & Furious heist scene: everything was clicking, the execution was high-speed, and you were 60% sure someone was going to crash into a building by the end. Except in this version, Julius Randle is the Vin Diesel, Ant is doing all the impossible stunts, and Rudy Gobert is quietly steering the muscle car from the backseat while yelling in French.

The ball was moving. Shooters were open. Ant was destroying souls. Randall? Playing within the flow, distributing like a stretch-four Magic Johnson. Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Donte DiVincenzo suddenly turned into the Splash Cousins. It was beautiful. Like, “frame it and hang it over your fireplace” beautiful.

But of course… because we are Wolves fans… the fourth quarter started and we all felt it. That familiar Timberwolves dread. That tiny voice whispering, “Are we seriously going to do this again?”

Memphis made a push. The lead shrank. The crowd got excited. Wolves Twitter went full DEFCON 2. And then… the Grizzlies ran out of gas. The Wolves held their ground. And this time, they closed.

Let me repeat that: They. Closed. A big game. On the road. Against a tough opponent. Without shattering our souls in the final minutes.

Now What?

Here’s the reality: the Wolves have put themselves in a prime position to escape the play-in death trap, but as every Minnesota sports fan knows… we can’t exhale yet. Nope. Not when this team has made an Olympic sport out of stepping on rakes.

Which brings us to tonight’s game against the Brooklyn Nets, a.k.a. the Walking Dead of the Eastern Conference. A team so deep in the lottery abyss that even ping-pong balls are starting to look away in embarrassment.

Cam Johnson? Out. D’Angelo Russell? Out. (Insert sarcastic applause for his zero-point revenge tour against the Wolves last week.)

This should be a gimme. Should be a 25-point blowout by halftime. Should be another step toward playoff security. But it’s also the Timberwolves. If there’s a banana peel on the court, we are slipping.

Keys to the Game

1. Energy Early. No letdown. No “sleepwalk through the first half and try to save it with Ant in the fourth.” Come out swinging, build a lead, stomp on their chests. Tired or not (back-to-back be damned), this is a business trip. Show up like professionals.
2. Take Care of the Ball. Want to lose to a lottery team? Start giving them transition dunks and corner threes off lazy turnovers. That’s the exact blueprint. Minnesota gave up 18 points off turnovers in the first half against Memphis. Do that tonight, and Nic Claxton is going to drop 30 on your head.
3. Rudy, Eat. Against Giannis and Jaren Jackson, Rudy had to work. Tonight? Feast. Clean the glass, rim-run like a maniac, and stuff every Nets big into a locker.
4. Julius Randall, Floor General. When Julius is dialed in as a facilitator—making smart passes, finding shooters, punishing mismatches—this team reaches another level. He doesn’t need to go ISO on every touch. Let the offense breathe.
5. Ant. Freaking. Edwards. Employee No. 5 was a god among mortals last night. Forty-four points through three quarters. Morant’s little grenade celebration? Please. Ant dropped the atomic bomb. He left no question about who is the best young player in the NBA. If he brings that same energy tonight, the Wolves win by 30.

The Bottom Line

Here’s the math: win tonight against Brooklyn, win Sunday against Utah, and the Wolves are (almost certainly) the 6-seed. Maybe even 5. You don’t control what the Clippers, Warriors, and Nuggets do—but you do control this.

Two games. Three days. Cement your playoff spot. Avoid the play-in. Erase the ghosts of Milwaukee. Show us that this is not the same old Wolves team that lives to break our hearts.

And hey, maybe—just maybe—we’ll finally get that marquee playoff rematch with LeBron and Luka. Or perhaps a path where you avoid a first round eight-on-five assault and suddenly OKC is sweating Ant in Round Two.

But it all starts tonight. Pull the pin. Launch the grenade. Again.

And this time? Don’t stop throwing.