Stanzel’s Sports Takeout — BREAKING NEWS: 4.28.25

Apr 28

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Today is the only day without a playoff game for the Wild/Wolves until at least Friday…maybe till next Monday. The Takeout will be Wed-Thur-Fri the rest of the week…Remember, some cities do this every year with two teams.

Wolves Can Eliminate Lakers Wednesday

For the first time in the history of Minnesota sports, another team is complaining about the officiating.

The Wolves came out on the right side of two close - but correct - calls down the stretch, infuriating the Lakers and LeBron James. Minnesota rallied from a 10-point deficit after three quarters for a 116-113 win at Target Center yesterday, a win that set up a potential series-clinching game Wednesday at what I still call STAPLES Center.

Let’s be honest, the Wolves have been the better team in three of the four games. Their stars have been as good if not better than LeBron and Luka, and the role players have just taken over the series. Yesterday, ANT (41 points) willed the Wolves back into the game early in the fourth, but Naz Reid, Jaden McDaniels and Donte DiVincenzo each had key buckets down the stretch.

The Lakers? Such a shallow team that J.J. Reddick played the same five players the entire second half - no subs. And after a couple two-day breaks early in the series, 40-year-old LeBron had to play what was almost a back-to-back situation. The result? Zero points in the fourth quarter, a crucial turnover late in the game and the foul they’ll be talking about for awhile.

Up one with nine seconds left, LeBron slapped at the ball when Edwards had it. Ant fell on the ground. There was no call originally, but after a coaches challenge, the referees decided LeBron made contact with Edwards. Now where that contact was made was key - LeBron got him in the wrist, which is not the hand (the hand is part of the ball).

Just a moment earlier, Luka stepped on his own foot and traveled. There was no call at all - if anything it should have been traveling - and again the Lakers were upset for a foul that never happened.

LeBron, by the way, shot more free throws in the first half than Edwards had the entire series to that point.

Naz Reid had 12 points off the bench; he was +13 in less than five minutes in the fourth quarter. McDaniels had 16. Should they advance past the Lakers, the Wolves are going to need more from Rudy Gobert (the Lakers essentially have no bigs).

Wild Head Back to Vegas Tied 2-2

After a couple of three-goal games, Saturday’s Game 4 between the Wild and Golden Knights at The X was everything that’s great about playoff hockey. Unfortunately, Vegas took this one 4-3 in overtime, taking home ice advantage back to T-Mobile Arena. The series is tied 2-2 with Game 5 on Tuesday.

Marco Rossi, Marcus Foligno and Jared Spurgeon each scored for the Wild. Filip Gustavsson was good, but allowed Victor Barbashev’s OT goal with less than three minutes left in the session after a miscue by Jake Middleton. Minnesota was down to five defenseman after John Hynes benched rookie Zeev Buium, whose double minor earlier led to a Vegas goal.

The Wild has still never led 3-1 in a playoff series in team history. They’ll need to win once on the road to advance to the conference semifinals.

Quick Hits

The Twins earned their first three-game sweep of the season, outsourcing the Angels 21-5 to move to 12-16. Joe Ryan struck out 11 in seven shutout innings yesterday, and Carlos Correa had three more hits to move his average to .211 (it’s the little things). The Twins get their first look at Cleveland, on the road, this week.

The Loons scored for the first time in almost three full games, but it was an inconsequential goal late in a 3-1 loss to Vancouver at Allianz Field. It marked Minnesota’s first loss since the season opener. The game was marred by an alleged discriminatory incident by a Loons player that paused the game and is under investigation by MLS.

There’s a good chance the defending PWHA champs will miss the post-season. They lost 2-0 at home to New York yesterday in the first game after the World Championships break, taking destiny out of their own hands. The Frost is four points back with two games to play - they do play the nearest team Ottawa on the road in their next game. But they’ll need help.

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