Reusse: Wolves could use talent, ferocity KG once brought to playoff games

The most gripping evening in the 33 seasons of the Minnesota Timberwolves involved a game that resulted in a combined 163 points. The combatants were Flip Saunders' Wolves and Rick Adelman's Sacramento Kings.

This was Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals on May 19, 2004, and the score was Timberwolves 83, Kings 80, amazing totals in lieu of the offensive talent on the court.

The Kings had evened the series with a 104-87 victory three days earlier in Sacramento. Notoriously, Kevin Garnett — never yet to be challenged as the greatest of Timberwolves — had used the break between games to offer this post-practice comment on the intensity he was feeling:

"This is it. It's for all the marbles. I'm sitting in the house loading up the pump, I'm loading up the Uzis, I've got a couple of M-16s, couple of 9s … couple of grenades, got a missile launcher. I'm ready for war."

The U.S. was a year into the second Iraqi War at that time and the criticism aimed at KG was substantial, as if Garnett's exaggerations were diminishing the importance of true war, or promoting such behavior within our border.

When we got to the part about the missile launcher, perhaps rational people could have said, "OK, KG … we get it, you're fired up," but he was made to offer an apology — either by the Wolves, the NBA or his agents.

My son Jim, a lifer in the Marines, was due to head off to the outskirts of Fallujah, Iraq, for the first time (but not the last) in a couple of months. I called to get his view of KG's remarks.

"Outstanding," said the future Lt. Colonel. "I wouldn't want him to feel any other way. This is a big game!"

Among those winning 83 points that night, Garnett had 32, to go with 21 rebounds, five blocks and four steals.

He was traded three years later, won an immediate title in Boston, seemed to become increasingly thin-skinned and, post-retirement, has turned down chances to have his number retired here over past grudges.

Yet oh, to have another Garnett, with his talent and ferocity, entering Friday night's "win or you might as well stay home" Game 3 vs. Denver in the first round of the West's playoffs.

There was a blowout loss in Game 1, and an Anthony Edwards explosion that made Game 2 intriguing — although not enough to ignite a burning fever for tickets to Friday night's first home game.

"I was able to get a $10 student ticket for tonight's game," a University of St. Thomas student said at noontime Friday. ''I guess being down 0-2 took care of any ticket shortage."

Wolves vs. Nuggets playoff schedule, Games 1 through 4Day-by-day NBA playoff schedule, results

The location for this conversation was McCarthy Gymnasium, amid the collection of buildings on the south side of Summit Avenue. The Noonballers, a group of hoop-heads that started with Bill McKee, Tom Kundla and Dennis Fitzpatrick in 1974, have enough former Tommies to get an hour on occasion at this treasure of a basketball floor.

The first stop Friday had been for the tail end of the Wolves shootaround at the practice facility down the skyway from Target Center.

Kyle Anderson and Nickeil Alexander-Walker were the post-practice player interviews. Anderson aimed high praise at Edwards (41 points) and also felt Rudy Gobert had done well in holding down Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic.

In the end, though … down 0-2 and desperate.

"We have to turn it up,'' Anderson said. "We have to be into bodies … take it back to old NBA [style]."

Which was a reminder of KG vs. the Kings — old NBA, body on body, 83-80 and proud of it.

Fitzpatrick, Noonball founder, basketball lunatic, said: "I thought that third quarter was the best real basketball I've seen the Wolves play in a long time. And then the fourth … can't finish.''

Fitzpatrick and other Noonballers were in the group calling for D'Angelo Russell to be traded almost from the time that he arrived.

"Next, I'd like to see them trade KAT [Karl Anthony-Towns] this summer and keep Naz Reid," he said.

Ed Cassidy, well-traveled coach, 65 and still a noontime ball-handler, said: "To me, they do a poor job of getting the ball to their best player. Edwards was great, and then he didn't get it for a while in the fourth."

That's not a problem in Noonball. Cassidy and Fitzpatrick arrange to get the ball to Darrell Hill, 29, still an athlete, a shooter and driver, all the time.

Game one starts: Hill hits a three on a handoff from Fitzpatrick. Cassidy then tosses inside for a one-step Hill layup.

"Did you see those assists?" Fitzpatrick said. "Wolves could take a lesson."