Fred Friedman – "Defeating the defending world champions on the road in game 7 is historic. Defense wins championships is more than just a slogan. The radical approach of playing with essentially two centers has worked before but rarely. The best examples were the San Antonio Spurs with Hall of Famers David Robinson and Tim Duncan, who, unlike most of today's players, stayed in school for four years and graduated as successful students. If the Wolves guards and small forwards can effectively defend the 3, the Wolves should win. This would be fabulous for Minnesota given the current disappointing state of the Twins, Vikings, and Wild."
Tom Elwell – “The Timberwolves did it again. They wore down the Denver Nuggets and cruised to victory after erasing a 20-point third-quarter deficit. Who can beat the T-wolves? Maybe the NBA champions Bulls of old with Jordan and Pippen? Maybe...”
Phill Homere – "It’s huge for them and the state of Minnesota. I love how a different guy always steps up. One thing that always stays the same is how hard they play defense and seem never to quit. Denver was not a hard out, and that was shown after they went down 0-2. Joker is the best player the Wolves will face. Crazy to think they have beaten KD and now the Joker. Only two more teams stand in their way on being champs. Anthony Edwards is one of a kind. At only 22 years old, he looks like he is ready to lead these guys to a championship. I love how when they went down 20 to Denver in the 3rd quarter and never panicked. You would think that a team who is not use to this situation and on the road would be the first thing that would happen. Nonetheless, they continued playing their game and were able to get back in the game and shock the defending champs. I said from the start whoever came out of this series had a really good chance winning it all. I still feel this way. This 7 game series felt like a championship matchup, and I loved every minute of it. It will be awesome to watch the Wolves continue to play, especially for the Western Conference Championship. I really love their chances against Dallas as long as they continue to play the way they have been playing on the defensive end."
Steve Battaglia – "Huge to beat Denver in a game 7 on the road! Jokic is a problem and it’s good to have him behind us. I like our match-up with Dallas – they’ve got Luka and Kyrie who can both go off, but I think the Wolves have a better overall roster. Wolves over Dallas in 5…6 tops!"
Don Ness – "The Wolves beat the defending world champs primarily because of their team defense. I love the way they scramble with length and purpose. The absolute key to this series was KAT's defense on Jokic. Ant had an off-night shooting, but it was his defense that kept him engaged and impactful through the second half. It's old-school playoff basketball and I love it. Wolves in 5 versus Dallas."
Mike Zagelmeyer --"I was intrigued and definitely into the game last night, which was a fun and exciting game to watch. It was the first professional basketball game I had watched from beginning to end since Jordan had played. Gotta admit, I couldn't help but think that the curse of Minnesota professional sports teams would strike again at the end. I loved watching teammates step up with Ant having a down night. The comparisons of Jordan to Ant needs to stop though. I don't remember Jordan having down nights in the playoffs, so there is still more growth that has to be done there. There are definitely reasons to be excited about this team, though. They seem to have that 'it' factor, whatever that is."
John Gilbert – "I tuned in and out of the game through the first half, and with a 20-point deficit in the third quarter, I only switched back to the game to show my visiting son how complete their collapse was. Then they started closing the gap, and we started paying more attention to it. Ordinarily, that’s the kind of pressure finish the Timberwolves (and the Vikings, etc.) lose, but when they got ahead they took the game over and won — an NBA record Game 7 comeback. It was amazing to watch, but it’s still necessary for 'Ant' to gain a little class and not taunt the whole hostile crowd!"
Daniel Fanning – "What an exciting game and series! It’s a big win not only for the Timberwolves, but also for the Twin Cities and the entire state. With the Wolves heading to the Western Conference finals, the national spotlight will be shining on our state even more. We already heard Wolves star Anthony Edwards response to Inside the NBA’s Charles Barkley when asked about great places to eat in Minnesota. Just as Edwards told Barkley to 'bring ya a**', we want Barkley, the entire crew and others throughout the nation to bring their *sses to Minnesota, eat at our local restaurants, support other local businesses and travel up to our beautiful community in Duluth to see what we have to offer too. I’m sure our friends at the City of Minneapolis, the Minneapolis Regional Chamber, and the Downtown Minneapolis Council welcome in the influx of visitors and attention with open arms and wouldn’t mind sharing some of that love with fellow Minnesota cities, including their friends a couple hours up I-35 in Duluth. In all seriousness, it’s great for business and our state economy! Minnesota deserves it. Let’s not stop here either. Imagine how much brighter that spotlight gets with the Wolves in the NBA Finals. #WolvesBack"
Andy Fenske – "To say I went through the whole gamut of emotions that every Minnesota sports fan feels is an understatement. It was frustrating watching that first half, and I finally concluded that it was one great season to remember. Then it went to, 'alright, let's just get it close for a Game 7.' It kept going with the thoughts of, 'Let's just get it close,' and suddenly, 'It is close!' Finally, 'We have a lead' and it wasn't until KAT but that dunk down on the rebound that I felt like I could breathe again. Everyone who's watched this team for the past few decades knows that nothing is over until the final horn. Case in point with the KAT/Ant turnover on the out-of-bounds pass. Being in high school the last time we played in a WCF, there are memories that came back, and how they made their comeback last night proves that we should have the upper hand in the next series. The way the team pulled through, between KAT making the turn to quiet the doubters, to Ant hopefully starting his dynasty run, McDaniels playing the best game of the season, Gobert's amazing turn-around at halftime, Naz being Naz, this whole squad is so fun to watch. I feel like 3-4 of the games this series we played were just awful, yet we came out on top. If we can iron out the small details, I imagine we will be seeing more than a handful of wins yet for this season."
Arik Forsman – “Since 1991, we hearty Minnesotans have been waiting for a special team to come along in professional men’s sports to take us back to championship heights. This Wolves team, scratching and clawing their way back from a 15-point deficit at halftime last night against the defending champs, may just be worthy of becoming that squad. The resolve, resilience, and determination of this team and what they did in Games 6 & 7 was one of the most impressive things I’ve ever witnessed as a fan. The level of teamwork and camaraderie the players appear to have for each other makes them so easy to root for. I love watching this team and can’t wait to watch the next chapter of what has already been a historic season start on Wednesday night against Dallas.”
