San Francisco — Plan A for Minnesota the moment Steph Curry’s diagnosis of a hamstring strain was confirmed: Don’t let the superstar guard see the floor again in this series.

That meant downing the Warriors four straight times to finish the series in five games, likely one game before Curry could feasibly return to action.

Monday’s third quarter moved Minnesota within one game of completing the mission.

Trailing by two at the half, the Timberwolves cranked up two things — their ball movement on offense and their intensity on defense. The result was an avalanche, and a 117-110 victory that gave Minnesota a commanding 3-1 lead in the Western Conference semifinal series.

Anthony Edwards scored 14 points in the first 6 minutes, 30 seconds of the frame as he drove and finished through contact on one play and buried consecutive triples immediately after that.

His offense was the spark for a team-wide inferno. Minnesota went 15 for 23 in the quarter. And the Warriors — whose only offensive faucet since Curry went down has been to push with pace and score either in transition or against cross matches — were helpless when attempting to score against Minnesota’s set defense.

The combination contributed to Minnesota’s best quarter in the franchise’s playoff history. The Timberwolves outscored Golden State 39-17 to take a 20-point lead by quarter’s end and, for all intents and purposes, end the series.

Game 5 is Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. at Target Center. Technically, Golden State could win that game and push the series back to California to give Curry a crack at a triumphant return, but that feels highly unlikely.

Minnesota is simply too much for Golden State with Curry in street clothes. Before and after each game, Warriors coach Steve Kerr has talked about how Golden State has to play with pace, execute the gameplan defensively and win the possession battle. Basically, all of the controllables that the worse team in a matchup has to execute in order to pull off a massive upset.

But those things are difficult to carry out for 48 minutes straight.

The Warriors did them for 36 minutes on Saturday and 24 on Monday. But the moment Golden State lets go of the rope, Minnesota pounces. And when Minnesota pounces, the game is over.

It did so Monday in the form of an Edwards’ explosion.

Minnesota was bamboozled by Golden State’s zone at the end of the first half of Game 4. The Warriors were getting stops on one end and attacking Minnesota in transition on the other.

The Wolves were fortunate to only trail 62-60 at the break, thanks to a 19-point half from Julius Randle and a couple of key triples in the final minutes of the half from Edwards to stem the tide.

Minnesota roared out of the gates in the third quarter, utilizing ball movement to rip that same zone defense to shreds and remove the final ounces of fight from the Warriors.

That 22-point third quarter margin marked Minnesota’s highest in any quarter in franchise playoff history.

Edwards finished with 30 points, while Randle had 31. Minnesota hit 16 triples on the night, tied for fourth-most in a playoff game in franchise history.

CANYON — A fire burning along both sides of Munger Shaw Road on Monday afternoon has forced nearby residents to evacuate, making it the third large wildfire burning in St. Louis County as dry and windy conditions fuel fires across the region.

St. Louis County Sheriff Gordon Ramsay wrote on Facebook that the fire is “moving quickly in a northern direction” and urged residents in the eastern half of Cotton Township, including communities near Morley Beach and Elde roads, to evacuate.

An evacuation center has been set up at the Cotton Town Hall, 9087 Highway 53, Ramsay said.

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High winds and low humidity have turned much of northern Minnesota, which has yet to fully green up, into a tinder box.

On Sunday afternoon, the Camp House Fire near Brimson ignited, and on Monday morning, the Jenkins Creek Fire ignited a few miles northwest of the Camp House Fire.

The causes of the fires are under investigation.

The National Weather Service in Duluth said dry conditions and southerly winds will remain Tuesday, causing them to issue a Fire Weather Watch, which is one step below the Red Flag Warning in effect Monday.

But widespread rain across this region is coming later this week.

“A pattern shift occurs later this week, with very warm temperatures ending and precipitation chances returning,” the Weather Service said Monday afternoon.

BRIMSON, Minn. — Low humidity and high winds caused a wildfire burning near Brimson to jump in size Monday. Meanwhile, a new, separate wildfire ignited a few miles to the northeast and Gov. Tim Walz authorized the National Guard to help in the fight.

The Camp House Fire, which started Sunday afternoon about 45 miles north of Duluth, grew to 1,250 acres by mid-morning Monday, up from 750 acres the evening before, Superior National Forest spokesperson Christine Kolinski said.

Three cabins were believed to be destroyed and over 50 residences evacuated in the Camp House Fire, the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office reported Monday afternoon.

Separately, the Jenkins Creek Fire ignited late Monday morning, about 9 miles northeast of the Camp Fire near Fairbanks, Minn. It grew quickly to 800 acres by late afternoon, Kolinski said.

St. Louis County Sheriff Gordon Ramsay said on Facebook that the Jenkins Fire had “engulfed” one structure.

The Jenkins Fire also prompted the U.S. Forest Service to evacuate and close its Cadotte Lake Campground.

The cause of each fire is under investigation.

Evacuating through fire

The Camp House Fire appeared to still be growing Monday afternoon. The fire jumped to the west side of County Highway 44, forcing Mikayla Schliep and her family to evacuate down their long driveway as fire burned on each side of the truck, leaving some components singed.

Other family members piled into other vehicles, so Schleip had to wait at the end of the driveway until they, too, could drive through the flames.

“That was the longest five minutes of my life,” Schliep said.

Schliep was not sure if her home survived.

Several dozen residents were evacuated Sunday evening.

Jeff Conklin looks at the plume of smoke rising from the Camp House Fire near Brimson, Minn. on Monday, May 12, 2025. (Wyatt Buckner / Duluth Media Group)

Jeff Conklin, who lives on Elo Road, was on a side-by-side ride with friends Sunday when he started to hear about the fire. When he got closer to home, he found his road was closed. But his dogs, Queeny, an 11-year-old Presa Canario, and Thor, a 10-year-old Presa Canario and lab mix, were back at the house.

He was allowed to quickly retrieve the dogs and get out, but said he would have gone in if they had tried to stop him

“They (Queen and Thor) are old,” Conklin said. “They don’t deserve to die of smoke inhalation.”

Conklin, who uses a wheelchair, spent the night in his vehicle parked outside Hugo’s Bar in Brimson, which is serving as a staging area for first responders and an unofficial gathering place for evacuees.

So far, he thinks the fire spared his home.

Greg Ruberg, of Two Harbors, who was sitting at the bar snacking on popcorn just before noon Monday, said he just got back from checking on his cabin near George Lake.

While the fire burned around the property, his cabin and four other structures were unharmed.

“We had a really large fire perimeter because of all the dead balsam, so we worked on it for the last year and half, cleaning up every dead tree, all the brush,” Ruberg said. “And it burned exactly around the perimeter of our yard.”

At least two of his neighbors, however, were among those who lost their cabins.

In addition to reducing fuels, Ruberg also credited the work of aerial crews dropping water on and around his property and first responders who went in and checked on his property and let him know it was safe.

“They were doing everything they could to save it,” Ruberg said.

Multiple agencies at work

Dwayne Kelly, of Two Harbors, takes a photo of the Camp House Fire near Brimson, Minn. on Monday, May 12, 2025. (Wyatt Buckner / Duluth Media Group)

Gov. Tim Walz signed off Monday on the Minnesota National Guard helping fight the growing Camp House Fire.

“Wildfires in northern Minnesota have forced families to evacuate and caused severe damage to and loss of property,” Walz said in a news release Monday afternoon. “My thoughts are with those Minnesotans who are being impacted by this dangerous and unpredictable fire.”

The National Guard will provide personnel, assistance and resources alongside the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Minnesota Interagency Fire Center and local agencies.

As of Monday morning, the wildfire was burning in mixed-forest vegetation, including a “large quantity” of spruce budworm-infested forest stands, the Minnesota Incident Command Team C reported in a news release.

Robbie Krofoot, who has a cabin on Elo Road, said he evacuated yesterday but returned in the evening to water down the ditch and around his property. He’s glad he did, as the fire ended up jumping the road. As of early Monday afternoon, he said his cabin was safe.

“I’ve been here 30-some years. I’ve seen fires up here, but I’ve never had to evacuate,” Krofoot said as he sat at the bar at Hugo’s. “This is the biggest one in Brimson in a long time.”

The public is asked to avoid the area. No drones are allowed.

“If drones are detected near the fire, all air operations supporting the fire will stop,” Minnesota Incident Command said in the news release.

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County Highway 44 between Indian Creek Road and Brimson Road, north of Hugo’s Bar, was closed to all traffic as of 11 a.m. Monday. Highway 44 north of Rollins Road and Hugo’s also closed Monday afternoon.

Firefighting aircraft, personnel from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and Superior National Forest, and mutual aid from St. Louis County and Lake County fire departments responded.

The “rapidly spreading grass/wildfire” was first reported at 1:15 p.m. Sunday on the 2200 block of Highway 44 in Ault Township, near the Lake County border.

The National Weather Service issued a Fire Weather Watch and Red Flag Warning for Monday for 64 counties due to the near-critical fire weather. The NWS forecast a high temperature Monday of 85 degrees, with wind gusts up to 25 mph. The forecast Tuesday calls for wind gusts up to 20 mph and a high temperature of 85 degrees.

By CHRIS MEGERIAN, ZEKE MILLER and BERNARD CONDON

WASHINGTON (AP) — For President Donald Trump, accepting a free Air Force One replacement from Qatar is a no-brainer.

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“I would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer,” the Republican told reporters on Monday. “I could be a stupid person and say, ‘No, we don’t want a free, very expensive airplane.’”

Critics of the plan worry that the move threatens to turn a global symbol of American power into an airborne collection of ethical, legal, security and counterintelligence concerns.

“This is unprecedented,” said Jessica Levinson, a constitutional law expert at Loyola Law School. “We just haven’t tested these boundaries before.”

Trump tried to tamp down some of the opposition by saying he wouldn’t fly around in the gifted Boeing 747 when his term ends. Instead, he said, the $400 million plane would be donated to a future presidential library, similar to how the Boeing 707 used by President Ronald Reagan was decommissioned and put on display as a museum piece.

“It would go directly to the library after I leave office,” Trump said. “I wouldn’t be using it.”

However, that did little to quell the controversy over the plane. Democrats are united in outrage, and even some of the Republican president’s allies are worried. Laura Loomer, an outspoken conspiracy theorist who has tried to purge disloyal officials from the administration, wrote on social media that she would “take a bullet for Trump” but said she’s “so disappointed.”

Congressional Republicans have also expressed some doubts about the plan.

“My view is that it would be better if Air Force One were a big, beautiful jet made in the United States of America. That would be ideal,” said Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley.

And Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul flatly said he was a “No” on whether Trump should accept the plane. When asked to elaborate on his reasoning, Paul replied: “I don’t think it looks good or smells good.” The Republican shrugged when asked by a reporter if there were “constitutional questions.”

Trump will likely face persistent questions about the plane in the coming days as he travels to the Middle East, including a stop in Qatar.

Why does Trump want the Qatari plane?

The two planes currently used as Air Force One have been flying for nearly four decades, and Trump is eager to replace them. During his first term, he displayed a model of a new jumbo jet in the Oval Office, complete with a revised paint scheme that echoed the red, white and dark blue design of his personal plane.

Boeing has been working on retrofitting 747s that were originally built for a now-defunct Russian airliner. But the program has faced nearly a decade of delays — with perhaps more on the way — from a series of issues, including a critical subcontractor’s bankruptcy and the difficulty of finding and retaining qualified staff who could be awarded high-level security clearances.

The new planes aren’t due to be finished until near the end of Trump’s term, and he’s out of patience. He has described the situation as “a total mess,” and he has complained that Air Force One isn’t as nice as the planes flown by some Arab leaders.

“It’s not even the same ballgame,” he said.

Trump said Qatar, which hosts the largest U.S. military base in the Middle East, offered a replacement plane that could be used while the government was waiting for Boeing to finish.

“We give free things out,” he said. “We’ll take one, too.”

He bristled at suggestions that he should turn down the plane, comparing the potential gift to favors on the golf course.

“When they give you a putt, you pick it up and you walk to the next hole and you say, ‘Thank you very much,’” he said.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota expressed skepticism.

“I understand his frustration. They’re way behind schedule on delivering the next Air Force One,” the Republican told reporters. “Whether or not this is the right solution or not, I don’t know.”

Mississippi GOP Sen. Roger Wicker said that any plane “needs to be gifted to the United States of America.”

He added that it whether the U.S. should accept a Qatari plane warranted further inquiry. “There’ll be some questions about that, and this issue, I expect, will be vetted by the time a decision needs to be made.”

Will the new plane be secure?

The Qatari plane has been described as a “palace in the sky,” complete with luxurious accommodations and top-of-the-line finishes.

FILE – A 13-year-old private Boeing aircraft that President Donald Trump toured on Saturday to check out new hardware and technology features, and highlight the aircraft maker’s delay in delivering updated versions of the Air Force One presidential aircraft, takes off from Palm Beach International Airport, Feb. 16, 2025, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)

But security is the primary concern when it comes to presidential travel. The current Air Force One planes were built from scratch near the end of the Cold War. They are hardened against the effects of a nuclear blast and include a range of security features, such as anti-missile countermeasures and an onboard operating room. They are also equipped with air-to-air refueling capabilities for contingencies, though it has never been utilized with a president on board.

A former U.S. official briefed on the Air Force One replacement project said that while it would be possible to add some features to the Qatari jet, there was no way to add the full suite of capabilities to the plane on a tight timetable.

The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive program, said it would be a risk for presidents to fly on such a jet.

One of the most important features of Air Force One is the communications capabilities. Presidents can use the plane as a flying Situation Room, allowing them to respond to crises anywhere on the globe.

However, on Sept. 11, 2001, Republican President George W. Bush was frustrated by communications issues and ordered up massive technology upgrades over subsequent years to improve the president’s ability to monitor events and communicate with people around the world.

The new ones under development by Boeing are being stripped down so workers can replace the standard wiring with shielded cabling. They’re also modifying the jet with an array of classified security measures and communications capabilities.

Because of the high standards for ensuring a president can communicate clearly and securely, there are fears that Trump would be compromising safety by rushing to modify the Qatari jet.

“Disassembling and evaluating the plane for collection/spy devices will take years,” William Evanina, who served as director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center during Trump’s first term, wrote on social media.

He said the plane should be considered nothing more than “a gracious presidential museum piece.”

Is any of this legal or ethical?

Even for a president who has blurred traditional lines around public service and personal gain, Trump’s plans to receive a jumbo jet as a gift has rattled Washington.

The Constitution prohibits federal officials from accepting things of value, or “emoluments,” from foreign governments without congressional approval.

“This is a classic example of what the founders worried about,” said Richard Painter, a law professor at the University of Minnesota and former White House ethics chief under Bush. “But I don’t think the founders anticipated it would get this bad.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News on Monday that the details of the donation are “still being worked out” but would be done “in full compliance with the law.”

She dismissed idea the idea that Qatar wanted to influence Trump.

“They know President Trump, and they know he only works with the interests of the American public in mind,” she said.

Trump faced a legal fight over emoluments during his first term, when he opened the doors of his D.C. hotel to lobbyists, business executives and diplomats. His lawyers argued that the founders didn’t intend to ban transactions representing an exchange of a service like hotel space for money, only outright gifts. But some ethics lawyers disagreed, and it’s not clear if Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the Philippines and other countries were paying full price or more for when they used the hotel.

In his second term, Trump’s family business has been very busy overseas. In December, it struck a deal for two Trump-branded real estate projects in Riyadh with a Saudi firm that two years earlier it had partnered with for a Trump golf resort and villas in Oman. And in Qatar, the Trump Organization announced last month another Trump branded resort along the coast.

Four Democratic senators on the Foreign Relations Committee — Brian Schatz of Hawaii, Chris Coons of Delaware, Cory Booker of New Jersey and Chris Murphy of Connecticut — issued a statement saying Trump’s plan “creates a clear conflict of interest, raises serious national security questions, invites foreign influence, and undermines public trust in our government.”

“No one — not even the president — is above the law,” they said.

Condon reported from New York. Associated Press writers Matt Brown, Lolita Baldor and Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.