A team that’s struggled all year to close games, Minnesota found a way to do so when it needed it most Friday in Minneapolis.

Tied 103-103 in the final five minutes of a game in which it could never create separation, Anthony Edwards delivered two minutes of brilliant offense.

First, the guard hit a 3-pointer over a mild contest to put Minnesota back in front. A minute later, he drove to collapse the defense before kicking out to Naz Reid, who buried a triple of his own. Then with Minnesota up five with 2:30 to play, Edwards maneuvered his way through the lane for a layup.

Finally, with Minnesota up six and just more than a minute to play, the guard hit a long jumper to effectively put the game on ice. His mini surge powered the Wolves to a 116-104 victory at Target Center.

Minnesota leads the best-of-seven series 2-1. Game 4 is Sunday afternoon in Minneapolis.

While Edwards was generating buckets, the Lakers were doing nothing of the sort on the other end.

With Luka Doncic battling a stomach flu, LeBron James carried the load for much of the night for Los Angeles. He finished with 38 points but couldn’t put any pressure on the rim down the stretch. Minnesota repeatedly doubled Doncic and James in the closing minutes, leaving Rui Hachimura open.

Hachimura missed a pair of wide open 3-point attempts and turned the ball over.

Edwards finished with 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.

Minnesota trailed by four at the half, but the Timberwolves had more juice than the Lakers in the third frame, delivering a series of second-effort plays that felt as though they’d turn the tide heavily in Minnesota’s favor and allow the Wolves to build a cushion.

But the Lakers seemingly had a response every time, usually in the form of a triple.

Minnesota led by two heading to the fourth and extended the lead to seven midway through the frame, only to have James bury a couple triples.

Julius Randle was largely excellent for Minnesota. He was aggressive offensively and pushed the pace whenever the opportunity presented itself. That was where Minnesota did much of its damage on a night where it again struggled in the half court for the final three quarters.

Minnesota made five of its first six shots to open the game using an egalitarian approach that benefited from the the attention the Lakers constantly pay to Edwards.

Jaden McDaniels was the primary attacker early. He was excellent throughout, finishing with a team-high 30 points while defending the ill Doncic.

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After waiting a few hours on Friday night to make their next pick in the 2025 NFL draft, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah decided the Vikings could wait a little bit longer.

Maryland wide receiver Tai Felton runs a drill at the NFL football scouting combine in Indianapolis, Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

In a small trade shortly before they were set to be on the clock, the Vikings flipped No. 97 (third round) and No. 187 (sixth round) to the Houston Texans in exchange for No. 102 (third round) and No. 142 (fifth round). The move helped upgrade some draft positioning, even if it didn’t necessarily add more draft capital.

When the Vikings finally got their turn, they turned in their card quickly and selected Maryland receiver Tai Felton at No. 102. There’s a lot to like about the selection as Felton, 22, should be able to contribute for the Vikings as soon as he steps on the field.

“Everybody was really excited about him,” senior vice president of player personnel Ryan Grigson said. “There’s a lot that this player can do and he has the mindset to come in and do whatever it takes to get on the field.”

Not only does he have the requisite size to play the position with his 6-foot-1, 185-pound frame, Felton also the speed to take the top off the defense, evidenced by him running the 40-yard dash in 4.37 seconds.

Asked to describe his game, Felton pointed to his speed, as well as his ability to make plays when the ball is in his hands.

“I’m going to make defenders miss,” Felton said. “My intentions are always to go score.”

Though he has predominantly played outside throughout his career, Felton has shown the ability to work inside as he’s risen up the ranks. He will need to get stronger to have success at the next level.

The stats from last season speak for themselves as Felton led Maryland with 96 receptions for 1,124 yards and nine touchdowns.

It’s not hard to imagine Felton fitting in nicely in a room that features Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and Jalen Nailor, among others. He should also be able to help out in various spots on special teams.

It will be interesting to see how the Vikings approach the rest of the draft. They could simply stick and pick at No. 139 and No. 142. They could also try to add more picks by trading back once again.

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Pablo López returned on Friday night, and so, too, did the Twins’ offense.

Shut out in action during their rain-shortened loss a day earlier, the Twins erupted for a season-high 11 runs in support of López in their 11-4 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Friday night at Target Field.

Leadoff hitter Edouard Julien started the Twins’ offense off on the right foot, drawing a walk to lead off the bottom of the first inning. Two more baserunners reached — Luke Keaschall was hit by a pitch in the wrist area and later departed the game and Trevor Larnach walked — before Carlos Correa’s sacrifice fly brought Julien home and gave the Twins their first lead of the game.

It was one of four walks on the day for Julien, who scored three runs. As a team, the Twins took advantage of their free baserunners with five batters who walked — plus one who was hit by a pitch — coming around to score.

There were plenty of hits to speak of, too. Larnach, Byron Buxton and Mickey Gasper collected two apiece. For Gasper, his fourth-inning single was the first RBI of his career and came as part of a six-run inning for the Twins.

Julien’s bases-loaded walk forced in a run in the fourth and Buxton’s sacrifice fly brought home another before Gasper’s hit. Larnach then broke open the game with a three-run home run, his third in his past four games. Buxton also hit a home run in the win, along with a triple.

All the run support was more than enough for López, who was pitching in his first game since April 8, when he strained his right hamstring.

López (2-1) gave up two runs in his five-inning outing, including one in the second that tied the game up at the time. He allowed a second run in his last inning of work on an RBI single from Angels star Mike Trout. But otherwise, it was a strong return for the Twins’ top starter.

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The Houston Texans wanted Aireontae Ersery bad enough on Friday night that they traded up to get the Gophers’ mammoth left tackle.

The Texans gave the Raiders their 58th and 99th picks in exchange for Las Vegas’ 48th, and in that early second-round slot, Houston selected Ersery, the Big Ten offensive lineman of the year.

The 6-foot-6 and 330-pound all-Big Ten tackle extended the Gophers’ streak of having a player picked in the opening two rounds to six straight drafts.

Safety Antoine Winfield started the streak by going to the Buccaneers in 2020. He was followed by receiver Rashod Bateman (2021, Ravens), defensive end Boye Mafe (2022, Seahawks), center John Michael Schmitz (2023, Giants) and safety Tyler Nubin (2024, Giants).

The Gophers haven’t had that long of a string of high-end picks since World War II, 1940-45.

Ersery was incredibly durable, starting the final 38 games of his collegiate career before opting out of the Duke’s Mayo Bowl in January. In 2024, he allowed only one sack across 398 pass-blocking snaps. He gave up two sacks in 381 reps in 2023 and two sacks in 325 in 2022.

NFL Network commentator Daniel Jeremiah said Ersery was “one of the more polarizing players” in this year’s draft. “Some people thought could go at the bottom of the first round,” the draft analyst said. “Other teams had third- and fourth-round grades on him.”

Ersery displayed athleticism, including a 5.01-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine, but Jeremiah said there were concerns about his ability to bend while dealing with twitchy edge rushers.

“This is a massive human being here; outstanding size,” Jeremiah said on TV. “And he’s got an anchor. You want to try to rush through his chest, you are going to have problems. The issues show up when he goes against the more-athletic guys who can redirect him and get him going one way and have to turn back the other way.”

But Ersery more than held his own in his stiffest test of the season, against Penn State edge rusher, Abdul Carter, who went No. 3 overall to the Giants on Thursday. Ersery won the overwhelming majority of the one-on-one reps against Carter in their Big Ten matchup in Minneapolis in November.

Ersery and Schmitz are very different linemen, but Gophers offensive line coach Brian Callahan sees similarities in the meteoric development of each player.

Both were three-star recruits receiving few — if any — scholarship offers from Power Five conference schools. Schmitz, who went 57th overall two years ago, was going to Western Michigan before he followed head coach P.J. Fleck to Dinkytown.

Coming out of Kansas City, Mo., Ersery only had other major offers from Kansas and Kansas State.

“We’re a blue-collar mentality in terms of what we do here, particularly on the O-line,” Callahan told the Pioneer Press last week. “I take a lot of pride in both of those guys. … I think the work ethic piece, they are different body types, different players, but the how, as we call it, our effort, is always going to be something that sticks out for them.”

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