Julius Randle returned to the Timberwolves’ lineup on Sunday in Phoenix after missing Minnesota’s last month of action.

Randle suffered a groin strain at the end of January, and then ESPN insider Shams Charania reported the forward was away from the team for the last week “tending to a family matter.” The Wolves went 5-8 in his 13-game absence.

While drawing the ire of the local fan base for much of the season, Randle’s importance has been largely validated over the last month. There have been games in his absence — particularly against downtrodden teams like Washington and Utah — that Minnesota likely would have won with the additional production of a forward who consistently puts up 20 points and five-plus assists.

More of those contests are on the horizon with Minnesota’s schedule softening significantly in its upcoming stretch.

Plus, Minnesota was playing well when Randle went down with the injury. The game he exited against Utah marked Minnesota’s fifth straight victory. Randle and the Wolves had seemingly found a way to mesh his abilities with the rest of the roster. That often included Randle playing in lineups that included more reserves, which allowed him minutes to push the pace and serve as a focal point of the team’s attack.

Randle’s return is especially beneficial for Minnesota given the Wolves’ depleted front court. Rudy Gobert was out again Sunday. The center has yet to play a game post all-star break due to back spasms. The Wolves have been rolling out small-ball lineups featuring Naz Reid at the center position and Jaden McDaniels at power forward. While those combinations are intriguing, they haven’t proven fruitful to Minnesota’s overall record.

The duo of Randle and Reid still represents a small big-man combo, but combining those two with McDaniels at the small forward spot gives Minnesota some legitimate size up front. That was Minnesota’s starting front court on Sunday.

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The Wolves entered Sunday’s action in ninth-place in the Western Conference, and must turn the tide quickly if they’re to work their way into the top six of the standings by season’s end to avoid the play-in tournament.

Anthony Edwards also returned to action Sunday following his one-game suspension served for accruing 16 technical fouls over the weekend. Edwards was also fined $35,000 by the NBA for throwing the ball into the stands after he was ejected in Thursday’s loss to the Lakers.

With Donte DiVincenzo playing his third consecutive game Sunday, the Wolves are now nearing full health just in time to make a potential playoff push.

By JONATHAN LANDRUM Jr., Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Paul Tazewell made history at the Oscars, becoming the first Black man to win best costume design.

Tazewell won for his masterful design work in “Wicked” at the 97th Academy Awards on Sunday. It is his first win and second nomination. He was previously nominated in the category for his work on Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story.”

“I’m the first Black man to receive the costume design award,” he said in his acceptance speech, which was met with a couple standing ovations. “I’m so proud of this.”

Backstage, Tazewell said winning the award is the pinnacle of his career. He said he feels humbled to inspire other Black men aspiring to become costume designers.

“I’ve been designing costumes for over 35 years — that has been on Broadway and now it’s film,” he said. “There was never a Black male designer who I saw that I could follow and see as an inspiration. But to realize now that it’s actually me.”

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Before the Oscars, Tazewell won awards at BAFTA, Critics Choice and Costume Designers Guild awards. He’s the second Black person to in the category after Ruth E. Carter made history for her work in 2018 for “Black Panther,” which made her the first African American to win in the category.

Carter became the first Black woman to win two Oscars in 2023.

“She has paved the way for designers of color,” Tazewell said.

In his acceptance speech, Tazewell thanked “Wicked” stars Ariana Grande and Cynthis Erivo.

“To my muses, Cynthia and Ariana and all the other cast,” he said. “Thank you for trusting me with bringing your characters to life. This is everything.”

Tazewell built a legendary career, winning an Emmy in 2018 for his costume work on “The Wiz Live!” and a Tony for “Hamilton.” He worked with Erivo on the 2019 film “Harriet,” which was his first feature film.

Tazewell, who has earned nine Tony nominations, gained notoriety through theater projects such as “The Color Purple,” “In the Heights,” “MJ the Musical,” “Suffs” and “A Streetcar Named Desire.”

A former St. Paul police officer who was brutally attacked while responding to a 911 hang-up call more than a decade ago has died of her injuries, the police department announced Sunday.

Former St. Paul Police officer Felicia Reilly laughs during a ceremony recognizing and honoring her years of service, at the St. Paul Police Federation office in St. Paul, Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2016. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)

“It’s with great sadness that we share the passing of retired Saint Paul Police Officer Felicia Reilly, who passed away Saturday, March 1, 2025,” St. Paul police spokesperson Nikki Muehlhausen said. “Those who knew Felicia remember her as compassionate, devoted, and an inspiration to many. Felicia was a hero and she will be profoundly missed.”

She was the first St. Paul female officer to die from injuries received in the line of duty, according to the St. Paul Police Retirement Association. The statement from the association said that her husband, Matt Reilly, was at her side when she died.

Reilly quit his job as a St. Louis Park police investigator to take care of his wife, whose condition grew progressively worse over the years.

Her family released a statement Sunday saying that Reilly “was injured in the line of duty and that was what killed her,” her family said. “She fought to stay alive.”

The statement read that she and her husband’s “faith in God gave her the grace and strength to fight for her life every day over the years and over tremendous odds.”

She “loved God, family, and being a cop in that order,” the statement continued. Her “death from this injury is heartbreaking. Our mom’s life was more than this injury.  She always encouraged every person to pray for their enemy and to practice forgiveness.”

In March 2010, Reilly responded to a 911 hang-up call at Thomas Jerard Swenson’s parents’ home.

“What ended her career was a courageous battle with a suspect that repeatedly kicked her and assaulted her,” St. Paul Police Chief Todd Axtell has said.

Swenson “sucker-punched her,” her husband said, which knocked her to the ground, and he continued to assault her.

A jury found Swenson guilty of assault and he was sentenced to 8½ years in prison in November 2015.

Due to her severe injuries, Reilly wasn’t able to return to work as a St. Paul police officer and for several years, the city fought her workers’ compensation claim. They settled as she and her husband were at the brink of bankruptcy over her medical bills.

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In 2016 while being recognized and honored for her years of service, Reilly said that she saw double, her stomach had shut down, she could only consume puréed food.

She said she was in constant pain and had been prescribed an end-of-life drug.

Now that she has died from her injuries, it is unclear if additional charges will be brought against Swenson.

“We will consult with the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office to determine if additional criminal charges are appropriate in this instance,” said Muehlhausen.

Mara Gottfried contributed to this article.

By CHEYANNE MUMPHREY, Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Zoe Saldaña earned her first Academy Award for best supporting actress in “Emilia Pérez,” capping an already accomplished awards season Sunday.

“Mommy! Mommy!” a tearful Saldaña said. “My mom is here. My whole family is here. I am floored by this honor. Thank you to the academy for recognizing the quiet heroism and the power in a woman like Rita and talking about powerful women. My fellow nominees, the love and community that you have offered to me is a true gift, and I will pay it forward.”

Saldaña accepted the award from the reigning winner in the category, Da’Vine Joy Randolph.

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The win adds to a collection of successes for the star on the awards circuit: Saldaña won her first Golden Globe in January, and notched wins at the British Academy Film Awards, the Critics Choice Awards and Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Saldaña, a front-runner in the category, was among a roster of actors also nominated for the first time, including Monica Barbaro in “A Complete Unknown,” Ariana Grande in “Wicked,” and Isabella Rossellini in “Conclave.” Felicity Jones, nominated for her role in “The Brutalist,” was previously nominated in 2015.

In “Emilia Pérez,” Saldaña played the down-on-her-luck lawyer Rita Castro, hired by a Mexican drug lord to help facilitate gender-affirming surgery. That drug lord becomes Emilia Pérez, played by best actress nominee Karla Sofía Gascón, the first openly transgender actor nominated for an Oscar.

Jacques Audiard’s Spanish-language narco-musical had a leading 13 nominations heading into the Oscars, but an already contentious film generated even more controversy after old offensive tweets by Gascón surfaced. The film also received backlash for its depiction of Mexican culture.

Saldaña, whose role highlights her range through song and dance, was not spared from critique as some claimed she was in the wrong category, with more screen time than Gascón.

An emotional Saldaña last week, and in previous acceptance speeches, credited “Emilia Pérez” with being a film about identity and love.

“I’ve never been questioned about where I come from or judged by how I speak or what my pronouns are. I believe that everybody has the right to be who they are and ‘Emilia Perez’ is about truth and is about love,” she said in accepting the award for best actress in a supporting role at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. “I think that us as actors, now more than ever before, we really have to tell stories that are beautiful and thought-provoking and live within the spectrum of artistic freedom.”

Saldaña, whose career spans nearly 25 years, is known for her roles in major franchises such as “Star Trek” as Uhura, “Avatar” as Na’vi princess Neytiri, and in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Gamora, the green-complexioned alien assassin-turned-Guardian of the Galaxy.