Timberwolves and Wild both look to make playoff run

NINA MOINI: The Playoffs have begun for the Wolves and the Wild. The Minnesota Timberwolves dominated their first postseason game against the LA Lakers on Saturday. They were up against not only LeBron James, but Luka Doncic. You may remember, he helped keep Minnesota out of the NBA Finals when he played for the Dallas Mavericks last year, but that didn't stop the Wolves from winning, this time by 22 points.

The Wild, meanwhile, lost their Playoff opener against Las Vegas last night, but for both teams, this weekend was just the beginning of a best-of-7 series that continues tomorrow. Our sports contributors Wally Langfellow and Eric Nelson are here now to break that all down for us. Thanks for being here, guys.

ERIC NELSON: Happy Monday, Nina.

NINA MOINI: Happy Monday. Wow, so I got to say, I wasn't too excited for the Wolves when we had talked last Monday. [LAUGHS] I didn't see it going very well for them. What do you think happened, Wally?

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Well, I mean, they're off to a great start, obviously. Beating the Lakers in Los Angeles, They really-- it was a statement victory. I mean, the Lakers are favored, and of course, the national media is all over it. They love the Lakers because of LeBron and because of Luka Doncic, no question about that.

But you want to know what happened? The Wolves shot 50% from beyond the 3-point arc, which is just phenomenal. If they continue to shoot like that, the Lakers may not have a recipe for beating Minnesota.

Now, let's not get too far ahead of ourselves because Luka did throw in 37 points on Saturday, and you can argue LeBron is one of, if not the greatest, player to ever put on a basketball uniform in the NBA. So they've got their work cut out for them, but they played really well. They shot the ball well. They had 29 assists in the game, which is a phenomenal number. Anthony Edwards alone had 9 assists for the Wolves.

They basically did just about everything right. Now, Edwards did go out of the game briefly with an injury to his calf, but he came back and scored immediately after he came back into the game. But they were well-balanced, and that was the key, too. Naz Reed had 23 points. Edwards, along with his 9 assists, had 8 rebounds and 22 points. Jaden McDaniels had 25 and 9 rebounds. Julius Randle had 16 points.

So they really spread the wealth out. And if they shoot like that, as I said, I don't expect that, though. I mean, they're a good shooting team, and they shoot more 3's than anybody in the NBA, but you've got to make them. And if you're not making them, that can be your Achilles heel as well. So, we'll see how it goes. I think the Wolves are deeper team than the Lakers. They're probably more athletic than the Lakers, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they're going to win the series. But they have won Game 1, and Game 2 is tomorrow night in Los Angeles, and let's see if they can do it twice in a row and come home with a 2-0 lead. By the way, their first home game in this series will be Friday night, 8 o'clock at Target Center.

NINA MOINI: OK, good. So we'll see if they can-- they can do it again. The Wild struggled in their first game, but they get another shot at it tomorrow. What do you think it would take to turn things around for them, Eric?

ERIC NELSON: Yeah, Nina. Last night, 4-to-2, Vegas wins it. Britt Howden had two goals for the Golden Knights. One was an empty net goal as time expired. Matt Boldy played well. He had two goals for Minnesota. Kirill Kaprizov had two assists, but it wasn't enough.

Here's the deal. Vegas is a very physical hockey team, and the Golden Knights are tough to beat at home. They have 30 wins and 42 games on home ice. And if the Wild are going to win this series, they have to win a minimum of one game in Nevada.

So, this Game 2 coming up Tuesday night is one Minnesota really needs to get. Now, the Wild are not a potent offensive team, so it would probably behoove them to get the lead and play ahead. Comebacks are probably not going to be their forte against a seasoned team like the Vegas Golden Knights.

Now, there was a bright spot. Minnesota's 19-year-old prospect, Zeev Buium, made his NHL debut as he logged 13 minutes, 37 seconds of ice time. And Buium did some good things. On defense for Minnesota, he had a shot on goal. And what a huge moment for this teenager. Think about it.

NINA MOINI: Yeah, wow.

ERIC NELSON: 11 days ago, he's playing for the University of Denver in the Frozen Four in St. Louis. And then suddenly, he's playing his first pro game on the Vegas strip in front of a packed house in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. And making it even sweeter, Buium is from that hotbed of hockey, San Diego, and he had a lot of family at T-Mobile Arena as they made that short trip to Vegas.

So, a cool moment for Zeev Buium, but the Wild lose the game. This is the second-ever Playoff match-up between these two teams. So Vegas won a few years ago over Minnesota. Game 2, Tuesday night at T-Mobile Arena on the Vegas strip. The puck will drop at 10:00 PM Central Time. So there are going to be some sleep-deprived hockey fans in Minnesota on Wednesday-- and basketball fans, too, because they tip it off at 9:00 in Los Angeles, so set your alarm clock on Wednesday.

NINA MOINI: Yeah. And tomorrow is going to be busy, too, right, Wally, with the Twins are starting a series against the Chicago White Sox at home. What are you going to be watching for?

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Oh, boy, to see how many people actually show up for the Twins game. So the bad news for the Twins, of course, is that they lost to the Braves yesterday, 6-2. They got swept in the series in Atlanta. They're only 3-and-10 so far in their first 13 road games, so that's not very good. They have the third-worst record in baseball at 7 wins and 15 losses.

But the good news is what you just said. The Chicago White Sox are coming to town. The White Sox, who last year had the worst record in the history of modern baseball, they're back, and they're just as bad this year as they were last year. They've only won one of their first 10 games on the road, and that happened to come yesterday when they beat the Boston Red Sox.

So the White Sox are really bad. They're 5-and-17. The Twins are ahead of them by a couple of games in the American League Central. David Festa will go to the mound for the Twins tomorrow. So really, this is an opportunity for the Twins to hopefully get well because Chicago is not very good, and they're coming to town, and as I said, they've struggled on the road.

And the Twins need to get some good vibes going. They had it going, you thought, anyway, when they took two out of 3 from the Mets last week and they were headed to Atlanta. They had a lead late on Friday night, but Griffin Jax got knocked around and they ended up losing that game. Then they played a tight game on Saturday, and they ended up losing that, and then they lost again yesterday on Easter Sunday. So, not a very good weekend for the Twins, but like I said, the good news is that the Chicago White Sox are coming to town. Hopefully the Twins can get well.

NINA MOINI: There's so much inconsistency and ups and downs, but-- in a Minnesota sports, but not with our Paige Bueckers. You know I love Paige Bueckers, our Hopkins native, now a part of the WNBA. A superstar. And I guess the city just proclaimed May 16 is now Paige Bueckers Day. Eric, why did they pick that day.

ERIC NELSON: Yeah, how about that? Well, that's the exact same day that Paige Bueckers' new team, the Dallas Wings, will open the regular season at College Park Center down in Arlington, Texas. And making this even juicier is that Bueckers will be playing the Minnesota Lynx in her inaugural WNBA game. So she's going to go up against a team you know she followed as a youngster and try to take down Napheesa Collier and company.

Yeah, the Hopkins City Council unanimously passed the proclamation to pay tribute to Bueckers and her remarkable achievements in high school here in the Twin Cities, at college with the UConn Huskies where she capped things off with an NCAA title a couple of weeks ago. What I'm wondering is, if you're driving around the Western Suburbs of Minneapolis on May 16 and you go through Hopkins, will your GPS show up as Paige Bueckers, Minnesota?

NINA MOINI: I don't know. It might just be like paper signs. It might just be posters. I don't know about all that.

ERIC NELSON: --catch on that quick, we'll see. Also, Nina, I did want to let you know, Bueckers is one of the most famous people now ever to come out of Hopkins. She's right up there with Anne Bancroft, North Pole Explorer, Walter Bush, one of the original Minnesota North Stars owners, ABC and CNN broadcaster Aaron Brown, Amir Coffey, now with the LA Clippers, and Peyton Manning, Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback who--

NINA MOINI: I didn't know that.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: --went to Tanglin Elementary School when his father, Archie, played for the Minnesota Vikings. And yes, this Bueckers story is national news. I saw it in The New York Post, Sports Illustrated, USA Today, and a lot of other media outlets.

NINA MOINI: Yeah, and they're kind of giving her a little zing, though, too, by making it May 16. So we'll see what happens. That's going to be a really fun, dramatic start for Paige Bueckers. Cool. Well, Wally and Eric, want to thank you both for stopping by. As always, I hope you have a great week.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: All right, same to you.

ERIC NELSON: Same to you, Nina.

NINA MOINI: Take care. Those are our sports contributors Wally Langfellow and Eric Nelson. Tomorrow on the show, we're going to hear from the author of The Hungry Season and the translator who recorded the audiobook into the Hmong language. Lots more tomorrow. We're going to talk about a woman who coordinates assistance for trafficking victims in Western Minnesota. That's part of our Wander and Wonder series. I'm Nina Moini, thanks for tuning in to Minnesota Now on this Monday. Hope you have a great start to your week.

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