A shot at the No. 1 seed was still in play in the regular season finale Sunday.

But any path to that required a victory Sunday against Phoenix.

And, uh, that didn’t come to fruition.

Phoenix blitzed Minnesota 125-106 at Target Center, knocking the Timberwolves down to the No. 3 seed and moving Phoenix up to No. 6.

So the Wolves, who were non-competitive in all three games against Phoenix this season, will square off with perhaps with the team they match up worst against in Round 1.

Game 1 will be next weekend at Target Center.

Minnesota better search for some answers between now and then. Because the Wolves never were within single digits in the second half of any game against Phoenix all season.

In the first matchup of the season, the Wolves were on the second half of a back to back. So that loss was chalked up to that. In the second loss, the Wolves essentially said they just weren’t themselves and didn’t knock down shots. Plus, those games were in Phoenix, so Sunday was a good test to see how the Wolves would fare at Target Center.

Answer: Not well.

There was no ready-made excuse for Sunday’s debacle. Minnesota had loads of incentive to win. But it again sputtered out of the gates, committing an insulting 19 first-half turnovers, which tied an NBA record.

And Phoenix continued to get seemingly whatever it wanted offensively. Prized offseason acquisition Brad Beal went 6 for 6 from deep en route to 36 points. Grayson Allen was 8 for 11 from the field. Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, frankly, didn’t have incredible days. And it didn’t matter.

Because Minnesota’s size can’t seem to lineup man to man against Phoenix’s plethora of scorers. The Wolves’ path to victory in the first-round series will be to out-size Phoenix. They did to some extent Sunday. Jusuf Nurkic was in foul trouble for much of the night. Rudy Gobert drew one foul after another. The center helped Minnesota make mini runs in the second half. But every Wolves’ burst was greeted by another Phoenix made shot to stem the tide.

If nothing major changes in the playoffs, the Wolves may be making another early-round exit.

The Lynx stacked their roster in free agency, signing the likes of Courtney Williams and Alanna Smith, while trading for Natisha Hiedeman.

So the needs to add to the roster via Monday’s WNBA Draft isn’t entirely pressing for Minnesota.

“Obviously, we were really aggressive in free agency. We landed well with some players that gave us depth and balance. So we feel good that we have a long list of draft prospects here that are quality players and can help us, no matter what,” Lynx general manager Clare Duwelius said. “And I think their role, given that we’ve added some talent across the board on our roster, they’ll be in a really unique situation where they can just come in, do what they do, do what they’ve done to get themselves in this position. We’re happy with the work that we did in the offseason.”

Whoever that player is will be added at No. 8 on Monday, as things currently stand. Because Minnesota swapped the No. 7 pick with Chicago for the No. 8 pick.

Minnesota also added a second-round pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft and forward Sika Koné from the Sky, while Chicago also received the rights to forward Nikolina Milić. The Lynx also will get the option to swap first-round picks with Chicago in 2026 should they choose to do so.

Those are the types of moves — adding potentially valuable future resources to slide down a spot today — that you can make when you’re comfortable with where your current roster stands.

“We added a lot of good pieces that are going to be really great for Phee, K-Mac, Dorkha, Diamond and obviously they’re working really hard right now,” Duwelis said. “We feel really good about that progress, but there’s always more than can be done.”

And, even at No. 8, there are pieces Minnesota can nab. LSU forward Angel Reese could be available there, as could Australian guard Isobel Borlase, Utah wing Alissa Pili or Syracuse guard Dyaisha Fair.

Frankly, Minnesota was likely outside the range of selecting a surefire star at No. 7. There’s probably not a Napheesa Collier to be found in the middle of this year’s first round. But that doesn’t mean the Lynx can’t still get a quality player at No. 8.

“The strengths of the draft class — it is a strong one. I think  — is a lot of solid, quality post” players, Duwelis said. “We talk about the floor and the ceiling of players a lot. You know what these players,top prospects, especially where we’re drafting … you know exactly what they’re going to give you every night.

“I think that’s fun in trying to figure out exactly what you want to plug into your roster. I think there’s a lot of quality posts and then, yeah, just trying to see those things that translate to the W, exactly.”

The Lynx also hold the No. 31 pick in the draft.

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DETROIT — Almost every reliever in the Twins’ bullpen played a pivotal role on Saturday in the team capturing a pair of wins. On Sunday, that group got some reinforcements when its top left-hander, Caleb Thielbar, returned from the injured list.

But Thielbar’s return didn’t go quite to plan and the Twins bullpen, which had allowed just nine runs this season heading into Sunday, gave up four in the eighth inning, leading to a 4-3 loss in the series finale at Comerica Park.

Thielbar, brought in to protect a three-run lead, first allowed a solo home run to Javier Báez. Carson Kelly followed with a one-hopper to short that Willi Castro couldn’t corral. A Riley Greene single ended Thielbar’s season debut.

Enter Griffin Jax, the team’s most reliable arm out of the pen.

Jax got Mark Canha to ground to third, but the ball ate up Kyle Farmer, who tried to backhand it, and went into left field, scoring a pair of runners and tying the score. Spencer Torkelson followed with an RBI single, and all of a sudden, the three-run lead that the Twins had been protecting most of the day had gone up in flames.

That sent the Twins to a loss on a day when starting pitcher Bailey Ober did all he could in the six-plus innings he pitched. Ober was ahead in the count much of the day and economical with his pitches. He retired 14 straight batters at one point before a Torkelson double in the seventh inning ended his day.

The Twins led since the second inning when designated hitter Ryan Jeffers knocked in a pair of runs with a bases-loaded single. Catcher Christian Vázquez provided the Twins’ other run of the day, hitting his first home run of the season a couple of innings later.

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OF NOTE

Irene Folstrom

The Minnesota Department of Public Safety announced Irene Folstrom as Tribal Affairs director. Folstrom is a member of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, where she most recently led the band’s government relations work.

ADVERTISING/PUBLIC RELATIONS

The Imagine Group, a Shakopee-based provider of visual communications for business, announced that Don McKenzie has been appointed chief executive officer; McKenzie has been chair of the board since 2021 and assumed the role of acting CEO in September of 2023. … Goff Public, a St. Paul-based PR firm, announced the promotion of Sara Swenson to principal; Swenson is vice president of public relations and has worked at Goff Public since 2009.

AGRICULTURE

Midwest Dairy, a St. Paul-based checkoff organization representing dairy farmers in a 10-state region, announced Corey Scott of Marine on Saint Croix as CEO. She succeeds Molly Pelzer, who is retiring.

ARCHITECTURE/ENGINEERING

Golden Valley-based engineering and consulting firm WSB, announced the hires of James Bainbridge as chief financial officer and Jupe Hale as senior director of municipal services.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

Securian Financial, St. Paul, announced that Darryl Jackson has been elected to the board of directors. Jackson is vice president of Financial Services and Fixed Operations for Hendrick Automotive Group. … Nepsis, a Savage-based financial adviser and investment management firm, announced the hire of Trenton Hazen as retirement plan specialist. Hazed previously was with Northwestern Mutual. … The Minnesota Credit Union Network, the state’s trade association for credit unions, announced that Julia Havens, Riverview Credit Union, and Dan Stoltz, Blaze Credit Union, were inducted into the 2024 Credit Union House Hall of Leaders in Washington, D.C.

GOVERNMENT

Minnesota’s Department of  Commerce announced the promotion of Sydnie Lieb to assistant commissioner of regulatory affairs for the Division of Energy Resources; Lieb previously was Commerce’s Director of Regulatory Affairs.

HEALTH CARE

Elk Ridge, an Anthem Memory Care community in Maplewood, announced Rose Bullers as community relations director. Bullers previously was sales director for NorBella Senior Living in Savage and Prior Lake, and also was sales manager for Brookdale Senior Living in Edina.

HONORS

Enterprising Women magazine announced if has appointed Melissa Harrison, CEO of Allee Creative, a St. Michael, Minn.-based marketing consulting agency, to its Enterprising Women Advisory Board.

LAW

National law firm Spencer Fane announced the additions of Ian Rubenstrunk to the Financial Services practice group, and Kathleen (Kaela) Brennan to the Litigation and Dispute Resolution practice group as an of counsel attorney, both in the firm’s Minneapolis office. … Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services, St. Paul, announced the following staff additions: Valerie Perkins, housing staff attorney in the SE Region, and Yousra Elkhalifa as a consumer law staff attorney in St. Paul. … Robins Kaplan, Minneapolis, announced that Anthony Froio has been elected chair of the executive board and managing partner. Froio succeeds Ronald Schutz, who has chaired the executive board since 2019, and Steven Schumeister, who has served as managing partner since 1997.

MANUFACTURING

SkyWater Technology, a Bloomington-based semiconductor foundry, announced the appointments of Dennis Goetz and Joseph Humke to its board of directors. Goetz is CFO with Pohlad Cos., Minneapolis; Humke is executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary of Graco Inc., Minneapolis. … Reell Precision Manufacturing, a Vadnais Heights-based maker of small-package motion control technology for business-to-business shipping, announced Dane Anderson as chief financial officer.

MEDIA

Artful Living, a Minneapolis-based lifestyle quarterly, announced Amy Synnott as editor-in-chief, succeeding Kate Nelson, who will transition to editor-at-large. Synnott has held senior editorial positions at ELLE Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, and Glamour.

SPONSORSHIPS

The Minnesota Twins announced Eden Prairie-based recreational vehicle and watercraft maker Winnebago Industries as “Official Outdoor Adventure Partner,” which will include displays of Winnebago products at Target Field.

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