Semifinals, Thunder/Lakers

Hey, I tell ya what's good so far is

Minnesota 104, San Antonio 102

Timberwolves lead series, 1-0

De'Aaron Fox tried to save the Spurs late, came close, could not. Victor Wembanyama finished with a 5-17 mark from the floor, missed all eight three-pointers, took eight too many three-pointers. Dylan Harper appeared to be the only Spur unvexed by Rudy Gobert yet he gave up the ball in the game's final possession, and without Gobert between Dylan and Dylan's rim. Julian Champagnie ended up missing a three at the buzzer in the loss.

The Timberwolves are quirky, they roll left-handers at the bucket and watch as their right-handers finish lefty on the right side. The least-conspicuous person in the lineup is also its tallest and most effective, Rudy Gobert. Defense rules OK, but the Timberwolves took a road game against a decided favorite on Monday by swishing and finishing.

Power forwards beating the break against point guards, power forwards crossing over shooting guards with dribbles, running Ant out there like he's Jamal Crawford, all iso crossovers off the bench. These are all compliments.

Yeah, Anthony Edwards played. His soft tissue woke up on Monday morning and gave the go-ahead, finished with 18 points on 13 shots in 25 minutes. Parked 2-3 threes and they weren't darts. Nice crouch and release and arc from Edwards, who had eight full days off between performances.

Anthony Edwards vents about everything but he does not kvetch about handchecks. I wrote this as a note and then Keldon Johnson handchecked the hell out of Anthony Edwards on the next possession and Ant didn't raise a peep during the play. Talked about everything else on the court after the score, not that.