The candidates are:
Providence Lions girls 66 Hopkins Royals girls 59 on December 27. Both teams went on to win their state titles in Class AA and AAAA, respectively. This game meant that Providence won the mythical “single-class” title.
Minnesota Gopher men sweep USC and UCLA 69-66 and 64-61 on February 15 and February 18. It was the Gophers 1st-ever road trip to California to face USC and UCLA as Big 10 rivals, and the Gophers were struggling. The last thing anyone expected was for the Gophers to get a sweep, but that’s what they did.
Carleton Knights men sweep Gustavus Gusties men 73-61 and 75-64 on February 19 and February 27. The Gusties were 17-0 in the MIAC at the time, but Carleton beat them in the regular season (at Carleton) and then in the playoffs (at Gustavus, no less). Those losses ended the Gusties’ season, while Carleton’s ended 2 nights later against St. John’s.
Minnesota State-Moorhead Dragons men 81 Minnesota State (Mankato) Mavericks men 55 on February 22. It was the regular season finale, and it pointed to post-season success for the Dragons and post-season disappointment for the Mavericks.
Wayzata Trojans boys 76 Hopkins Royals boys 72 on March 11. Wayzata defeated arch-rival Hopkins 76-72 in the Section 6AAAA final, then won 3 state tournament games and their 3rd state title in 5 years.
Southwest Minnesota State Mustangs women 77 Concordia St. Paul Golden Bears women 64 on March 14. CSP won both the regular season and tournament titles, while SW was 2nd in the regular season. Both made it to the NCAA tournament where SW State shocked the Golden Bears 77-64.
Hopkins Royals girls 81 Maple Grove Crimson girls 67 on March 15. Hopkins youngsters surprised a veteran Maple Grove 81-67 in the Class AAAA final.
Alexandria Cardinals boys 73 Totino-Grace Eagles 65 on March 21. Alexandria beat the 3-time defending AAA champions in the semi-finals on their way to the AAA title. The following night they defeated Mankato West 73-64 in the final. But this was the more historic game.
Minnesota Timberwolves 140 Denver Nuggets 139 (2 OT) on April 1. The Wolves were just 32-29 on March 1, when they started to turn it around. This unlikely win got their record to 44-32.
Minnesota Timberwolves 117 Los Angeles Lakers 95 on April 19. The Wolves snuck into the playoffs with a #6 seed, but quickly set the tone with this win at the #3 Lakers in the 1st game of their 1st playoff series.
Minnesota Timberwolves 143 Oklahoma City Thunder 101 on May 24. What a totally weird game! Overall, the Thunder manhandled the Wolves. But here, in game 3, the Wolves turned the tables with a totally dominating performance. It did not bode for the rest of the series, however, and OKC romped to a 4-1 series win, followed by another win in the NBA finals.
Minnesota Lynx 111 Las Vegas Aces 58 on August 2. The Lynx were flying high, and absolutely demolished a very good Vegas team on this night. Vegas took the loss to heart, and quickly turned things around, winning their next 17 games. The Lynx suffered some injuries and coasted to the finish line. By then, the Aces were razor sharp and the Lynx were not.
Phoenix Mercury 89 Minnesota Lynx 83 (OT) on September 23. The Lynx, already leading one game to none, were up 58-38 in the 3rd period, but proceeded to lose to the Mercury. Phoenix outscored the Lynx 51-25 down the stretch to take the home court advantage back to Phoenix.
Phoenix Mercury 84 Minnesota Lynx 76 on September 26. Debate had been raging about the physicality of the WNBA. Becky Hammon said the physicality of the WNBA would never fly in the NBA. It was no mistake that the 2 most physical teams, Indiana and Phoenix, both made the final 4 despite neither being in the top 2 in their division. Well, it was already obvious that the Mercury were beating the Lynx with their hyper-physical play. So it didn’t decide anything but it sure put an exclamation point on it. Late in game 3, the Merc’s Alyssa Thomas bull-rushed Napheesa Collier, flicked the ball loose, then crashed into Collier with a mighty, er, crash. I guess that if you can knock the ball loose, then you can knock an opponent to the floor and, well, cause her to sprain her ankle and say, no foul! Collier didn’t get up for several minutes and never played another second of ball. People have criticized Cheryl Reeve for going crazy. And, yes, she went crazy. She got 2 technicals, and six-figure fine, and a suspension from game 4. The official who made the call got a promotion. Seriously. Reeve is not stupid. Don’t be surprised if the Lynx aren’t 1,000 pounds heavier next year. And don’t be surprised if the WNBA finds yet another way (it would be #4) to screw the Lynx. They seem to like it.
If I seriously thought that anything was going to change, this would be the game of the year. But the WNBA will continue to feed cavier to its big city executives and swill to its small market swabbies. Nothing will change. So, no, not the game of the year.
And the winner is….
- Minnesota Lynx 111 Las Vegas Aces 58 on August 2. Nobody knew it at the time, but this was the game that set the Aces on track toward their 3rd WNBA title.
- Minnesota State-Moorhead Dragons men 81 Minnesota State (Mankato) Mavericks 55 on February 22. This was the game that trumpeted the changing of the guard from Mankato’s defending national champions to Tim Bergstrasser’s ticket to the big time in Denver.
- Alexandria Cardinals boys 73 Totino-Grace Eagles 65 on March 21. Alex’ win over the 3-time defending state champions was a blow for Greater Minnesota basketball which, honestly, has or had (your choice) fallen so far behind Twin Cities basketball over the past 20 years. This was a semi-final. As if to accentuate the point, Mankato East edged Orono 64-62 in the other semi, then Alex won the all-Greater Minnesota final 73-64.
- Providence Lions girls 66 Hopkins Royals girls 59 on December 27. The one game that more than any other settled a championship debate. Hopkins was the AAAA champion, usually indicative of overall dominance. But not this time. Class AA Providence was clearly Minnesota’s #1 team.
- Phoenix Mercury 84 Minnesota Lynx 76 on September 26. Not the game of the year, but a game that encapsulated the WNBA season, one that will always be remembered for cheap shots and bad feelings.
- Minnesota Timberwolves 140 Denver Nuggets 139 (2OT) on April 1. The Wolves were just 32-29 on March 1. In March they went 11-3, and then on April 1 they won in Denver in OT despite the starting 5 being -29. The bench was +34. Josh Minott had the game of his life at +14. Denver’s starters were +23 and its bench -28. While the Wolves would only get up to #6, they were poised for playoff success by the tiny thread of this one-point OT win. Denver was up 139-138 and had the ball with 13 seconds in the 2OT. With no shot clock, Russell Westbrook decided to shoot it at 9 seconds. He missed. Westbrook then fouled Nickiell Alexander-Walker at the final buzzer, which a video review upheld. NAW made 2 of 3 FT for the win.
It was a bad loss for the Nuggets, mostly because of the very ending. Still, they led by 11 at 6:53 of the 4th, and by 5 at 106-101 at 4:33. At the end of regulation it was the Nuggets, however, who needed 2 FT by Nikola Jokic to force OT. In OT, the Wolves led by 6, 123-117 at 2:17 and 125-120 at 0:57. A Jokic jumper sent the game into the 2nd OT. Neither team led by more than 2 points in the 2nd OT, but Russell Westbrook’s 2 misplays at the very end were too many for Denver. The Wolves were now on their way toward an ending that had been expected early on, but had seen as it it were out of reach through most of the regular season.
For the 2nd straight year, the game of the year is a Timberwolves win over the Nuggets.