Roughly an hour and a half before gates opened at Fiserv Forum, across the parkway, and buried within the Deer District, The Mecca Sports Bar and Grill featured more Minnesota Timberwolves fans than Milwaukee Bucks fans.
The place started to get busier as the tip-off approached, and Bucks fans filled most of the seats. However, Wolves fans still held strong, staking their claim above Bucks fans on the bar’s food chain, which consisted of deep-fried cheese with a side ranch, wings with an IPA, and smash burgers with fries. However, Wolves fans asserting themselves early embodied much more.
Milwaukee is roughly a five-hour drive from Minneapolis, so many fans could easily make the road trip across the border. However, the Wolves were about to endure one of their final rigorous tests of the season, trying their best to fight and claw out of the Play-In Tournament with less than a week left in the regular season.
The Wolves were well on their way to acing another difficult road game, holding a 24-point lead with 10:09 left in the fourth quarter. However, the Bucks asserted themselves as king of the jungle, snacking on the Wolves in the fourth quarter like deep-fried cheese.
The game appeared to be over when Donte DiVincenzo drilled his third three-pointer of the third quarter from an impossible angle. Julius Randle dished it to him in the corner on the run. DiVincenzo was off balance, falling out of bounds as he hoisted the shot from behind the backboard.
Bucks fans groaned as the Wolves took an 80-62 lead with 2:54 left in the third. However, the roar from the Wolves fans masked them. They were asserting their dominance again. Minnesota shot 14 of 21 (66.7%) from the floor in the third and 6 of 12 (50%) from deep. Milwaukee shot 10 of 18 (55.6%) from the floor and 3 of 5 from three-point range. Still, it was not enough to prevent the big bad Wolves from taking a 20-point lead into the fourth quarter.
Minnesota immediately had a noticeably sharper edge on Tuesday after Mike Conley addressed what was ailing them over the previous two games. The Wolves won both games against inferior opponents, the 26-53 Brooklyn Nets and the 23-56 Philadelphia 76ers. Still, they didn’t pull away from Brooklyn until the fourth and needed an improbable shot from Anthony Edwards to walk out of Philly with their fifth-straight win.
Edwards typically brings it on the road, especially against a good team on a big stage. Therefore, it was no surprise he dropped 14 points on 6 of 10 from the floor in the third quarter against Milwaukee. He was hitting his Spiderman three-point celebration. Minnesota’s bench was eating it up, as were its fans, most of whom were sitting directly behind the away team bench.
The Wolves were howling together, with their sights set on another impressive road win and a venison postgame meal. However, they became a deer in headlights in the fourth quarter after the big game prize was all but in Minnesota’s mouth.
“We just kind of froze,” Finch told the media postgame. “We didn’t move the ball. We just over-surveyed. When we did make the pass to the middle of the floor, it was late, and then turnover, turnover, turnover.”
The energy inside Fiserv Forum steadily shifted as Milwaukee went on a 16-0 run early in the fourth quarter to pull within eight points with 6:41 minutes remaining. Then, when AJ Green tied the game at 97 with 3:35 left in the fourth, the hometown crowd retook their territory – letting out a roar that could and did scare off the biggest and baddest Wolves.
Rudy Gobert and Kevin Porter Jr. got tangled up at halfcourt on the next possession. Porter flexed over Gobert. The two then got face-to-face. Bobby Portis had returned after being suspended for 25 games for violating the league’s anti-drug program and stepped in, along with Gary Trent Jr.
That was the final straw. As the game’s outcome became clearer, the hometown fans chanted, “BOBB-Y BOBB-Y BOBB-Y,” heckling Gobert.
Minnesota allowed Milwaukee to complete the second 24-point comeback in the NBA this season by shooting 4 of 20 (20%) from the floor and turning it over eight times in the fourth quarter. Donte DiVincenzo was shaking his head on the bench. Edwards scored one point on 0 of 4 from the floor. The Bucks outscored the Wolves 40-13 in the fourth. It was an inexcusable collapse at this juncture of the season. Still, the team held their heads as high as they could postgame.
“We good,” Edwards said postgame. “I mean, it’s a part of the game. Of course, we didn’t want to lose. But we can’t be in bad spirits because we know we need to win the next game. So, we can’t really think too much about it. It happened. I don’t think we feel too down about it.”
Instead of asserting themselves as king of the jungle, the Wolves let the Bucks walk all over them in the fourth. With how close the standings are in the Western Conference, much is still to be decided. Minnesota isn’t necessarily locked into the Play-In. Still, it was hard for Wolves fans leaving Fiserv Forum not to hang their heads after Milwaukee suddenly ascended to the top of the food chain by stopping over the Wolves.
