'Minnesota's coming to life': Timberwolves' playoff bid has the fans excited - and ready for more
Two decades ago, Nicole Uchal leaped from her bed as Kevin Garnett and the Timberwolves advanced to the NBA's Western Conference finals. Uchal, 39, has been a Timberwolves fan since the first grade.
On Friday, after years of close wins and heartbreaking losses, she and thousands of others packed downtown Minneapolis to watch the team's first second-round playoff appearance in 20 years.
"It just feels like Minnesota's coming to life," said Uchal, at Kieran's Irish Pub with her mother, Joni.
National attention turned toward the Timberwolves after they swept the Phoenix Suns in the playoffs' first round, but the team has collected more accolades since then.
Center Naz Reid won the Sixth Man of the Year Award for his breakout season, and center Rudy Gobert won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award for the fourth time. Center Karl-Anthony Towns was named the NBA's Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion, and shooting guard Anthony Edwards' playoff performance has drawn comparisons to Michael Jordan.
It's that kind of momentum that was igniting excitement among Timberwolves fans for the team's biggest home game in years. That excitement gave way to disappointment at the end of the night with a 117-90 Minnesota loss.
But before tipoff, hundreds gathered at bars near Target Center to watch the game. Posters of Reid, Towns and Edwards lined the streets, and fans wearing basketball jerseys with the numbers of Reid, Edwards and former Wolves great Garnett made their way to arena under signs reading "Wolves Back."
Damon Peters, hanging out at Tom's Watch Bar, said he started watching the Timberwolves about seven years ago. He compared the team's playoff runs to those in Chicago and Kansas City.
"If this continues on, this momentum's just going to hit fever pitch," Peters said. "Tonight feels like the beginning of the fever pitch, and if they keep going on, this place is going to explode."
Some of those fans have waited longer than others for the Wolves to return. John Evenstad bought season tickets in 1994, hoping top NBA draft pick Christian Laettner would help the team win. He struggled to keep those tickets after enduring years of losses, but Evenstad said this year's team rivals the 2003-04 squad, which finished first in the Western Conference.
Many fans expect the Wolves will eliminate the Denver Nuggets, last year's champions, from the playoffs and catapult Minnesota to the Western Conference finals. Though the outcome is unclear, Evansted and others said they're no longer on the fence about buying tickets to support the team.
"To see all those valleys that we've had before and now to have a team that's this good is really exciting," said Evenstad, at Tom's Watch Bar. "The defense and the hustle that they've shown coming down the stretch has really been a difference. And Anthony Edwards appears to be a top player ... the fact that he's going to be on this team, hopefully for a long time, is exciting for fans to get at the start of something really cool."
The team's success has drawn new fans, too. Joni Uchal, 61, from Chisholm, Minn., was ready to attend Friday's game at Target Center. She started watching the team a few years ago after seeing an attractive player take the court. She called her daughter Nicole and asked her, "Who's that handsome guy that plays for the Timberwolves?'" It turned out to be Anthony Edwards.
"I said, 'Oh, he's just adorable,'" Joni Uchal said. "Ever since then, he stole my heart."
