BBNBA: Karl-Anthony Towns scores 30 in chaotic Timberwolves win

Sunday marked the last day of the 2022-2023 regular season and the Minnesota Timberwolves went out fighting. Literally. Karl-Anthony Towns‘ twin tower and occasional locker room nuisance, Rudy Gobert, punched teammate, Kyle Anderson, during a timeout following verbal sparring. Just punched him right in the chest.

The Wolves subsequently sent Gobert home, similar to how a school might handle a raucous kid on the playground.

Rudy Gobert throws a shot at teammate Kyle Anderson during a timeout. pic.twitter.com/dRzi3ALkoJ

— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) April 9, 2023

The drama came during the middle of perhaps the most important game of the day against the New Orleans Pelicans when it came to playoff implications. The winner would get the luxury of going to the 7-8 seed game and only have to win one game to get into the playoffs while the loser would be forced into the 9-10 seed game and thus need to win two in a row to make the postseason.

On top of this chaos, the Timberwolves’ best defender, Jaden McDaniels, punched a wall going into the tunnel during halftime and fractured his hand. Getting a season-ending injury by punching a wall out of frustration because one of the best players on your team punched one of your teammates is a remarkable way to go out.

Miraculously, through all this, the Timberwolves still won, thanks in large part to Towns’ 30 points, which included five made 3-pointers. Towns also grabbed eight boards and blocked a shot.

The Timberwolves went all in on Rudy Gobert last offseason, giving up a truckload of draft picks and assets to obtain the player Utah was ready to see leave. After causing a mostly positive and fun stir in the playoffs last season, the Wolves will now try and do the same via dumpster fire.

Towns and the Wolves play Anthony Davis and the Lakers on Tuesday in the 7-8 seed play-in game. Win, they’re in, and the drama continues for at least four more games.

Immanuel Quickley scores 30 in a near triple-double

With the Eastern Conference playoff picture completely locked in going into Sunday, it would have been very easy for Immanuel Quickley to do what so many other key rotation players did and sit out. That’s just now who the likely NBA 6th Man of the Year is.

Not only did Quickley play in the Knicks’ final game of the season, he thrived, scoring 30 points, grabbing nine rebounds, and dishing out seven assists in a near triple-double. The Knicks ultimately fell to the Indiana Pacers, but Quickley looks primed to not only win the 6th Man award but be a problem for opposing teams in the playoffs.

Let’s just hope Julius Randle won’t have to miss much time as he continues to recover from an ankle injury. Isaiah Jackson started for the Pacers in the season finale, snagged a team-high nine rebounds, and chipped in six points in the win.

Other BBNBA Notes

• Olivier Sarr started for the Oklahoma City Thunder and nearly played the entire game (42 minutes to be exact). He put up one of the best games of his career, scoring 22 points and grabbing 15 rebounds as he looks to secure a spot in the league next season.
• Fresh off his sensational G League playoff stint, TyTy Washington drilled his two 3-point shot attempts for the Houston Rockets as they picked up a win over the Washington Wizards. The Rockets will enter the NBA lottery tied with the best percentage chance to get the first overall pick and acquire generational talent, Victor Wembanyama.
• A day after Kevin Knox scored 30 points, he finished off the regular season with a 13-point outing for the Portland Trail Blazers. Shaedon Sharpe scored 18 as the Blazers lost to the Golden State Warriors by…wait for it…56 points.
• Finally, hats off to longtime Kentucky rival, Udonis Haslem. He played the last game of his NBA career on Sunday and the 42-year-old put up 24 points in quite the curtain bow. The former Gator beat up on Kentucky during his time at Florida, but I have to give the man respect. Who would have thought that after going undrafted in 2002, he’d still be balling in 2023? Bravo.

4/9/2023 Statistics

Player	Score	PTS	FG (3PT)	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	MIN	+/-
Immanuel Quickley (NYK)	136-141 L vs. IND	30	9-22 (3-11)	9	7	2	0	5	37	+9
Karl-Anthony Towns (MIN)	113-108 W vs. NOP	30	10-19 (5-8)	8	2	0	1	2	36	+4
Olivier Sarr (OKC)	115-110 W vs. OKC	22	10-15 (0-2)	15	1	1	0	1	42	+14
Shaedon Sharpe (POR)	101-157 L vs. GSW	18	7-18 (2-8)	7	4	1	0	5	28	-35
Anthony Davis (LAL)	128-117 W vs. LAL	16	7-15 (0-0)	13	3	3	4	4	34	+10
De’Aaron Fox (SAC)	95-109 L vs. DEN	13	6-10 (1-3)	2	3	0	0	1	18	+17
Kevin Knox (POR)	101-157 L vs. GSW	13	4-16 (2-9)	0	1	1	0	0	33	-34
Jarred Vanderbilt (LAL)	128-117 W vs. LAL	12	5-7 (0-1)	4	1	0	0	1	19	+6
Nick Richards (CHA)	106-95 W vs. CLE	11	3-4 (0-0)	8	1	1	3	3	18	+8
Johnny Juzang (UTA)	117-128 L vs. LAL	8	4-9 (0-2)	4	0	0	0	0	16	+9
TyTy Washington (HOU)	114-109 W vs. WAS	8	3-5 (2-2)	3	3	0	2	0	21	+2
Isaiah Jackson (IND)	141-136 W vs. NYK	6	1-6 (0-0)	9	3	1	2	3	26	-11
Bam Adebayo (MIA)	123-110 W vs. ORL	4	2-3 (0-0)	3	1	1	0	0	8	+1
Wenyen Gabriel (LAL)	128-117 W vs. LAL	4	2-3 (0-0)	4	1	0	0	1	16	+4
Tyler Herro (MIA)	123-110 W vs. ORL	4	2-3 (0-1)	1	3	0	0	2	9	+3
Malik Monk (SAC)	95-109 L vs. DEN	4	2-5 (0-2)	0	3	0	0	5	18	-15
Trey Lyles (SAC)	95-109 L vs. DEN	2	1-4 (0-3)	2	0	0	0	2	20	-21
Devin Booker (PHX)	114-119 L vs. LAC	DNP-Rest
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (OKC)	115-110 W vs. OKC	DNP-Rest
Tyrese Maxey (PHI)	134-105 W vs. BRK	DNP-Rest
Jamal Murray (DEN)	109-95 W vs. SAC	DNP-Rest
Hamidou Diallo (DET)	81-103 L vs. CHI	DNP-Foot
Keldon Johnson (SAS)	138-117 W vs. DAL	DNP-Foot
PJ Washington (CHA)	106-95 W vs. CLE	DNP-Foot
Brandon Boston Jr. (LAC)	119-114 W vs. PHX	DNP-CD
Julius Randle (NYK)	136-141 L vs. IND	DNP-Ankle

This week in the NBA

Tuesday (7-8 seed play-in games)
7:30 (TNT): Hawks @ Heat (Herro, Adebayo)
10:00 (TNT): Timberwolves (Towns) @ Lakers (Davis, Vanderbilt, Gabriel)

Wednesday (9-10 seed play-in games)
7:00 (ESPN): Bulls @ Raptors
9:30 (ESPN): Thunder (Gilgeous-Alexander, Sarr) @ Pelicans

The loser of the 7-8 seed games will then play the winners of the 9-10 seed game on Friday. The first playoff series will officially kick off Saturday.