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Wolves back on winning track, dump Lakers 118-111
The team bounced back after a resounding loss to Philly Wednesday, with Anthony Edwards collecting 27 points in the home win.
MINNEAPOLIS — Anthony Edwards had 27 points to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves past Los Angeles 118-111 on Thursday and hand the Lakers — with LeBron James sitting out on the second night of back-to-back games — their fourth straight loss.
The Wolves — also playing for a second straight night — are now tied with Boston at 21-6 for the NBA’s best record.
“All credit to the guys for getting the win on a back-to-back. I know there might not have been a full tank for everyone, but that’s one of those games where if it goes 3 more minutes, we may lose it,” Wolves coach Chris Finch said.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 21 points for Minnesota before limping to the locker room for further examination on a lower-leg injury — Finch said Towns took a “bang” but had no update on his condition — with 5:07 left. By then, the Wolves were awake after a sleepy third quarter.
Mike Conley finished with 16 points, eight assists and two of the team’s 13 steals and Rudy Gobert had 15 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks as the Wolves avoided consecutive losses for the first time this season and improved to 12-1 at home.
“We just use our depth and our size,” Conley said. “That can be overwhelming for certain teams at certain times, and it allows us to just be unpredictable every night.”
Anthony Davis had 31 points and eight rebounds, and Rui Hachimura — in the starting lineup with James out to rest tendinitis in his ankle — scored 18 points as the Lakers fell to 1-5 since winning the NBA In-Season Tournament. They’re 15-14 overall and 5-11 on the road.
“We’ll break through this thing, once we get guys back healthy, get guys back in rhythm,” coach Darvin Ham said. “We’ll be OK.”
The Lakers have been in a mini-slump over the last 12 days, whether or not the lag was related to the investment of energy into winning the league’s inaugural sideshow in Las Vegas on Dec. 9.
While James watched from the bench in a stocking hat and hooded sweatshirt, Davis powered through an ankle injury against one of the league’s best groups of big men with Gobert, Towns and backup Naz Reid.
“It was a battle from start to finish and he showed why he is who he is, even in a loss,” Ham said about Davis. “He’s a pleasure to coach, man.”
Austin Reaves (18 points) provided a burst off the bench and Taurean Prince — one of three former Timberwolves in the rotation — hit all of four of his 3-pointers for the Lakers. D’Angelo Russell, who had only two points at Chicago on Wednesday and was in as deep a rut as anyone, finished with 17 points and eight assists against his old team but shot just 7 for 19 from the floor and lamented the lack of continuity afterward.
“We still haven’t even seen our postseason lineup that we were successful with last year,” Russell said. “Every game feels like something new.”
Meanwhile, the Wolves continue to collect Ws while allowing the fewest points per game in the league.
“Our defense is what we’ve got to hang our hat on,” Conley said.
Timberwolves: At Sacramento on Saturday.
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The chief was discussing the shooting of Davis Maturi, who for months had been contact with the MPD about escalating harassment from his neighbor, John Sawchak.
MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said his department “failed” after a man was shot, allegedly by his neighbor in the city.
“We failed this victim. 100%, because that should not have happened to him,” said O’Hara in a Sunday evening press conference.
The chief was discussing the shooting of Davis Moturi, who for months had been contact with the MPD about escalating harassment from his neighbor, John Sawchak.
Sawchak was charged with shooting Moturi as he was pruning a tree on his front yard on Oct. 23.
Moturi remains hospitalized with a fractured spine, two broken ribs, and a concussion.
O’Hara and the MPD came under a heavy attack from the Minneapolis City Council after it was revealed that the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office had charged Sawchak, but the MPD had not arrested him.
“MPD still has not arrested the suspect despite charges from the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office for Attempted Murder, 1st Degree Assault, Stalking, and Harassment and a request from the HCAO for a warrant with $1 million bail. MPD told the HCAO they do not intend to execute the warrant ‘for reasons of officer safety,’” said the letter from the Minneapolis City Council.
“We failed to act urgently enough,” said O’Hara, before citing staffing concerns as a contributing factor.
It was a stark difference from the tone the chief initially took on Friday, then saying “If we wound up in a deadly situation, the headlines would read ‘MPD shot mentally ill person’.”
On Sunday, O’Hara said his previous comments were meant as a response to accusations that the MPD “didn’t care,” about the case.
“This is the result of over-politicizing policing in Minneapolis,” said O’Hara.
O’Hara stated that the MPD will, for the moment, continue waiting for Sawchak to exit his home to arrest him, but the chief added “We are running out of options before we have to escalate the matter.”
The heated back-and-forth between the city council and the chief continued earlier Sunday when Minneapolis City Council member Emily Koski released a statement questioning O’Hara and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey actions in the matter.
“Our Chief of Police is hiding behind excuses, and our Mayor…is just hiding.” said Koski in the statement.
Cities across Minnesota expanded voting hours and locations for the upcoming presidential election.
MINNEAPOLIS — Expanded early voting hours and locations are giving Minnesotans more opportunities to cast their ballots before the general election.
Over 1,000 people visited Minneapolis Elections & Voter Services over the weekend to make their voice heard.
“We have always voted as a family. We have this right as Americans to vote, and we wanted him to know right from the get-go that you’ve got to vote in every single election because this is our voice, this is our opportunity to really pick the future that we want based on the candidate that we vote for,” said Kelly Wallander.
Kelly and her husband, Claude, picked up their son Harrison from college, so they could all vote in the general election for the first time as a family.
“It’s interesting. It’s cool to see elections on TV, basically as long as I can remember, and now know that I’m a part of it and being able to vote with my parents is cool,” Harrison said.
“I like voting early just because exactly you miss the line and you get it in there,” Claude said.
Director of Elections and Voter Services for the City of Minneapolis Katie Smith said the past two days have been busy.
“We’ve had really solid turnout. We’ve had about 42,000 people who have already voted in this election,” she said.
She anticipates next weekend will be even busier.
“Every year we kind of looking at how many people we’re planning for and how many people are coming through. We try to always expand our service hours as we get closer and closer to the election,” she said.
Smith said they’ve also started using pop-up voting locations to reach more people.
“In 2023, there was a legislative change that allows for us to have sites around the city that are open for different lengths of time as well as different dates form our main site. We’ve really taken the opportunity to host some one-day early vote pop-ups… in some unique and really great spaces throughout the city,” Smith said.
Sunday’s pop-up was at the Capri Theater. Paige Gayle voted here along with her sister.
“I like early voting because it’s convenient, it’s fast and it’s quick,” she said. “I work on actual election day, so for me it was important to get out beforehand.”
Smith said offering more voting opportunities for people in Minneapolis is crucial to their work.
“It’s so important to be able to offer all of these voting methods so that people can find something that works really well for them and make their voting plan,” Smith said.
Voters tell KARE 11 one of the perks to early voting is little to no wait. Voting early also gives them peace of mind and is one less thing to do on election day.
“It’s so much more convenient. This way I don’t have to worry about it. I’ll still be working on election day, so I would have had to go in before or after work. Now, I don’t have to worry about it. I know my vote will be counted,” Macy Bauers said.
Bauers said she votes in every election and hopes more people take advantage of early voting in the coming days.
The two adults who were killed were both male, according to the department, which is investigating the shooting.
MINNEAPOLIS — Three people were shot, two of them fatally in a Minneapolis encampment on Sunday afternoon, according to the Minneapolis Police Department.
The shooting occurred on the 4400 block of Snelling Avenue shortly after 3 p.m., said the MPD.
The two adults who were killed were both male, according to the department, which is investigating the shooting.
A woman was also taken to the hospital after the shooting and is in critical condition, said the MPD.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
