Minnesota Sports Forum

I'm fairly certain I'm the only one on this board who cut his NBA teeth watching the Minneapolis Lakers Sunday afternoons with 2500 other fans at the Minneapolis Armory. As a very young boy I loved my Lakers, so you can imagine how quickly my love turned to hate when they slipped out of town in the middle of the night headed for the palm trees. My hatred of the Fakers led to my favorite NBA moment of all time...a drugged up Willis Reed limping out of the locker room seconds before the opening tip of the championship Game 7 in 1970 with the Fakers' entire team staring in disbelief. Reed got the first two baskets (his only 2 of the game) against Wilt Chamberlain, who had put up 45 and 27 in Game 6, and the Knicks denied LA another championship.

So, you can only imagine how I have suffered through the Wolves' 22-game losing streak to the Fakers, and how surprised I am to see them as a 4 point favorite at Staples. A 4-point spread in no way guarantees a victory, but it is an indicator that the streak ends tonight. I'll be there, feeling guardedly optimistic for the first time ever in a Wolves/Lakers game at Staples.

I think we're all in agreement that the key to victory tonight is whether or not Corey can shut down Wes Johnson. I just wanted to see if I could type that with a straight face...I couldn't. Actually, all the Wolves have to do is play good basketball, and they will reap the benefit of a superior roster. LA has over-achieved this year with high energy and long range shooting...almost 40% beyond the arc. But their defense is worse than ever...perhaps the worst in the league... and the Wolves might put up 120 points tonight. Victory is by no means assured...LA has a lot of guys capable of hitting a ton of threes, but we are favored for a reason. We're better than they are.

My dream scenario: Wolves build an early 20 point lead, and nobody plays more than 25 minutes tonight so they can stay fresh for Monday's Clip-joint game.

My nightmare scenario: you all know

this is well justified hatred :-D .. we have to win today, we need to finish this embarrassing streak, but we also cannot afford to loose to a team like Lakers without Kobe in this west conference full of equal teams fighting for playoffs .. we just have to come back with at least 1-1 score from L.A.

I have a feeling that Rubio is going to have a big game tonight, like 25 points and 15 assists. Rubio should be able to slice and dime all night against Nash and Blake and with no rim protection except for Hill (is he even playing?). Hopefully we can win convincingly tonight and come back 5-3 because I don't think we stand a chance against the Clips tomorrow.

Last start means I might get to watch it. Cmon Wolves, make my Monday'itis go away with a victory!

Feelin' good about this one--I think the streak ends tonight.. Just gotta keep the Lakers from going crazy from the 3 point line. And to quote a line Kevin Love has used several times this year: gotta hit first. Come out strong and don't look back.

I saw that we were favored by 4 when I went to check my football bets today. I agree that we have a better roster, but that seems a little high to me. Are the Lakers missing someone tonight besides Kobe? I can't in good conscience put money on the Wolves tonight and give up 4 points. You know what vegas says, never bet against the streak. But I do think we will win, after all, if not tonight then when?

Don't expect any calls tonight.

thedoper wrote:Don't expect any calls tonight.

Oh God no. Not sure what officiating is worse - playing pro basketball in LA/Boston, or pro football in Green Bay.

CoolBreeze44 wrote:

thedoper wrote:Don't expect any calls tonight.

Oh God no. Not sure what officiating is worse - playing pro basketball in LA/Boston, or pro football in Green Bay.

I would ad the knicks too, but they are so bad it doesn't matter.

CoolBreeze44 wrote:

thedoper wrote:Don't expect any calls tonight.

Oh God no. Not sure what officiating is worse - playing pro basketball in LA/Boston, or pro football in Green Bay.

I'd like to throw in umpires in New York. Always hate when the Twins have to go play the Yankees at home just because it's almost guaranteed that Sota gets shitted on by an ump.