The third full week of April around here will feel a lot like March Madness. Anyone who doubts that is welcome to try to find a place to park in either of the twin downtowns this coming Friday, when the Wolves will be hosting Denver in downtown Minneapolis for Game 3 of their series, the Wild will be hosting Dallas in St. Paul for another Game 3 and the Twins-Washington first pitch is thrown at 7 p.m. at Target Field. It's going to be a busy, busy week, and here's your guide:
Minnesota fans' guide to busy, high-stakes weeks ahead, for Wolves, Wild, Twins (and even Vikings)
It starts Sunday night with Game 1 of the Timberwolves-Nuggets series followed by the Wild's Game 1 in Dallas on Monday night. Get ready for late nights for road games and busy streets when the local teams play in town.
April 15, 2023 at 3:05PM
The Wolves are up first. They open their playoff series against the Nuggets on Sunday night in Denver. Our Michael Rand stayed up late and talked about the Wolves — and all this April Madness — on a special edition of Daily Delivery just a few hours ago: give it a listen.
The Wild learned their opponent on Friday night, and it's Dallas. That series opens on Monday night in Dallas. Sarah McLellan gave Strib readers a close examination of how the Wild is built differently this year and how this remade approach could be a good thing for their playoff future.
The first-place Twins will also be on the road during these first few days of action, but it'll be must-see TV: their wildly-successful-so-far series at Yankee Stadium wraps up Sunday, off day Monday and then a three-gamer at Fenway Park in Boston before that return home Friday. (Happy Jackie Robinson Day to everyone today, by the way.).
Now for the real nuttiness ...
Wednesday: Wild at Dallas for Game 2 (8:30 p.m.), and Wolves at Denver for their Game 2 (9 p.m.), with Twins at Red Sox (6:10 p.m.) as an appetizer. Change the batteries in your remote now to prepare.
Thursday: Rest your eyeballs.
Friday: This oughta be fun:
• 7:05 p.m.: Twins home game, vs. Washington
• 8:30 p.m.: Right next door: Wolves vs. Denver, Target Center, Game 3.
• 8:30 p.m. Same time, across the river: Wild vs. Dallas, Xcel Energy Center, Game 3.
One of the best and busiest nights of home games in quite some time right there.
Saturday: No playoff games today, but the Gophers football spring game is on campus, just to add a new food group to the mix. The United is on the road (at Seattle).
Sunday: Same as Friday — three home games. Will someone attend all three? It's possible:
• 1:10 p.m.: First pitch at Target Field, Twins-Nationals.
• 5:30 p.m.: Puck drop at the X, Wild-Stars Game 4.
• 8:30 p.m. Tip-off at Target Center, Wolves-Nuggets Game 4.
That wraps up quite the notable week in Minnesota sports. The following week, the Wolves and Wild both play on Tuesday, assuming neither best-of-seven series is a sweep. That would be four nights total — Wednesday, Friday, Sunday, Tuesday — of doubleheader Minnesota playoff games.
And just when we're all exhausted from all this sports action ... the NFL draft starts its around-the-clock assault on our sports brains on that Thursday (27th). The Vikings have the 23rd pick in the first round, if you're still standing after all this, with the rest of the draft set for the next two days.
If the Wild and Wolves playoff series are tight, get ready for drama every night:
• Thursday, 27th: Wolves-Nuggets Game 6, at home.
• Friday, 28th: Wild-Stars Game 6, at home.
• Saturday, 29th: Wolves-Nuggets Game 7, in Denver.
• Sunday, 30th: Wild-Stars Game 7, in Dallas.
Enjoy the ride.
Introduction: Host Michael Rand starts with three converging hypotheticals. What would have happened if Sam Darnold was on the Vikings last season? What might have happened if the Falcons had signed Darnold instead of Kirk Cousins this season? And how might all of this be different if Bill Belichick had become Falcons head coach instead of now taking the North Carolina job?
