The Timberwolves pursuit of the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference took another major step in the right direction Sunday in Denver.

Minnesota downed the Nuggets 117-108 for its third straight victory, and sixth in its last seven contests.

Naz Reid (11) of the Minnesota Timberwolves reacts to making a shot against the Denver Nuggets during the fourth quarter of the Timberwolves’ 117-108 win at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado on Sunday, March 1, 2026. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)

As has been the case for all of those victories, the Nuggets were down two of their top six players in the nationally-televised matinee, as both Aaron Gordon and Peyton Watson remained out with injuries.

That proved pivotal, specifically relating to the damage those absences do to Denver’s bench — which is where the Wolves won the game.

Minnesota got off to a sluggish start and trailed by nine after one. But the Nuggets opened the second frame without Nikola Jokic nor Jamal Murray. The Wolves responded by scoring the first nine points of the quarter, forcing Denver coach David Adelman to sub Murray back into the game.

But by then, momentum already belonged to Minnesota (38-23), who received a 15-point first half from Bones Hyland. The likes of Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle rode the wave upon their re-entry, and the Wolves led by eight at the break.

Jonas Valančiūnas, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Bruce Brown were Denver’s top three reserves on Sunday. Minnesota won their minutes by 15, 17 and 12 points, respectively.

On the flip side, Minnesota won Jaden McDaniels’ minutes by 20 points. He was excellent on both ends, limiting Murray’s effectiveness for the first three quarters while going 9 for 12 from the field for 20 points offensively.

Rudy Gobert had 15 rebounds and three steals while Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle combined for 13 assists.

Rudy Gobert (27) of the Minnesota Timberwolves runs down the ball as Julian Strawther (3) and Cameron Johnson (23) of the Denver Nuggets watch during the third quarter at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado on Sunday, March 1, 2026. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)

Jokic had 35 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists as Denver won his 37 minutes by four points, but the Nuggets (37-24)  struggled to find any production outside of their top two players. Denver went 6 for 22 from 3-point range.

All eight of Minnesota’s players who saw time Sunday finished with at least seven points on a day where it shot 54% from the floor and 39% from deep.

Naz Reid was slightly inconsistent, but he had a couple buckets in transition in the fourth quarter to help maintain necessary cushion. Donte DiVincenzo was excellent, tallying 17 points on the strength of five triples to go with five dimes.

Denver shot 56% from the field in the fourth quarter Sunday, but turned the ball over seven times, including a Murray giveaway with the Wolves leading by seven in the final three minutes that effectively put the game on ice.

The Wolves turned 14 Nuggets turnovers into 22 points on the day. In total, Minnesota tallied a gaudy 30 fast-break points.

The win moves Minnesota a game clear of Denver in the West standings, critical given the Nuggets hold the season-long tiebreaker. The Wolves and Rockets are now tied for the No. 3 seed in the conference.

Minnesota next hosts Memphis on Tuesday. It’s possible expected signee Kyle Anderson will be available for that game. It’s worth noting ahead of his arrival that Terrence Shannon Jr. nor Jaylen Clark saw minutes off the bench Sunday.

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Last month, Bill Guerin got to watch Wild star defenseman Quinn Hughes live out two of the general manager’s life-long dreams. First, Hughes won an Olympic gold medal in Italy. And a week later, Hughes was live from New York on a Saturday night.

“I told him that he crushed my dreams, because that’s always been, like, my show,” Guerin said on Sunday, looking back at Hughes’ cameo appearance, alongside his brother Jack and U.S. women’s team gold medalists Megan Keller and Hillary Knight, on the Saturday Night Live monologue.

When Guerin was a teenager in Massachusetts, he had an early morning paper route and was unable to stay up late for SNL, but would record it on a VHS tape, then watch the show over and over during the course of the week.

“I’d memorize all of the skits and things like that,” he said. “Eddie Murphy as Gumby and just classic stuff. So Quinn crushed my dreams, but I’m happy for him.”

Back in his full-time gig as the man other NHL general managers are calling in advance of Friday afternoon’s trade deadline, Guerin reflected back on the “torture” of overtime games versus Sweden and Canada, and the eventual thrill of the gold medal won by the American team that he assembled. He acknowledged there was controversy in some of the final players selections, but said the results in Italy speak for themselves.

“I like to feel that, you know, I was right,” he said. “I don’t look for that from anybody. Like, we won the gold medal. That’s enough.”

In the immediate aftermath of the finale versus Canada, the nation-wide celebration also touched off some controversy of its own. FBI director Kash Patel was recorded drinking and celebrating in the team locker room. They took a call from the President in which Donald Trump made a joke about the women’s team that was widely regarded as misogynist. Most of the men’s team went to the White House and attended the State of the Union address at the U.S. Capitol, prompting calls from critics that they were being used as political pawns.

“I’m not surprised at anything nowadays. Like, you know, honestly, I don’t know. I’m not surprised but I’m also not letting it bother me,” Guerin said of the backlash.

“You know what? We just won a gold medal. Nothing’s gonna ruin this,” he added. “I don’t care what people say or what they think…That’s one hell of a team. Those kids are all great people, good family men, and nothing that anybody could ever say would make me change my mind.”

With the Wild charging toward the playoffs and expecting much more than the first round exits that fans have seen for a decade now, Guerin said he has some salary cap room to do things, and would like to, if the offer is right. Specifically, he talked of a continued need to improve in the faceoff circle, which would mean adding a center. On Sunday it was revealed that hard-nosed winger Marcus Foligno will miss time with a lower body injury. While neither Guerin nor coach John Hynes would offer an update on the severity of Foligno’s injury or the timetable for his return, the general manager said the injury could potentially add an additional wrinkle to the trade deadline talks.

“We’ll figure that out,” Guerin said. “I think he’s tough to replace. Guys like him are hard to find.”

But unlike previous years where the Wild were hampered by bought-out contracts eating up eight figures of salary cap space, Guerin has more ability to make moves in 2026. And with the sights set on a deep playoff run, he sounds more than willing to do so.

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Dawn Plitzuweit’s basketball team had so much on the line Sunday in Champaign, Ill., she didn’t want her Gophers thinking about it.

Her team had done a lot of good work to put itself in position to finish fourth in the Big Ten, secure a double-bye in the Big Ten Conference tournament and perhaps even host the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament at Williams Arena. Discussing it before Sunday’s regular-season finale against Illinois wasn’t even necessary.

Minnesota point guard Amaya Battle (3) brings sets up a halfcourt set in the first half of the Gophers’ 78-73 victory at Illinois in the regular-season finale at State Farm Center in Champaign, Ill. (Keelen Barlow / Gophers Athletics)

“They already know,” Plitzuweit said, and emphasizing it, she added, “Just gets in your way. We just need to continue to put our nose to the grindstone.”

Ultimately, that’s what the 22nd-ranked Gophers did, gutting out a 78-73 victory at State Farm Center to finish the season 22-7 overall, 13-5 in the Big Ten, the Gophers’ best conference finish since the 2004-05 team went 12-4 before advancing to the NCAA tournament’s Sweet 16.

“It’s crazy how good (the Big Ten) is. It has to be celebrated,” Plitzuweit said on the Learfield broadcast after Sunday’s game. “This group has done a very good job.”

The Gophers finished tied with No. 17 Ohio State for fourth place in the 18-team Big Ten Conference with a 13-5 record, and earned the conference tournament’s No. 4 seed — and the first- and second-round byes for this week’s conference tournament in Indianapolis — that go with it.

The Gophers won’t play until Friday, against the team that emerges from a second-round game between the Buckeyes and the winner or a first-round matchup between Illinois and Indiana.

Further, the Gophers are in the running to open the NCAA tournament at Williams Arena as the Nos. 1-4 seeds will be awarded two rounds at home. Minnesota already has put in a bid, and before the Gophers tipped off on Sunday, the NCAA tournament projected Minnesota as a Top 4 seed.

“It’s rewarding,” Gophers post Sophie Hart told Learfield after scoring a team-high 17 points and pulling down six rebounds against the Illini. “We tried not to focus too much on it because we didn’t want to play the game today with too much weight on our shoulders. But we worked hard and stayed together. It feels fun. It just feels good.”

Illinois erased a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter to make it a tie game with 1 minute remaining, but the Gophers allowed only one more field goal — an Aaliyah Guyton 3-pointer as time expired — while going 8 for 8 from the line.

After committing a turnover, Mara Braun answered by hitting a 3-pointer to give Minnesota a 70-65 lead and stanch some bleeding with 2 minutes, 6 seconds remaining.

“That was a huge shot, a big-time shot that she made,” Plitzuweit said.

From there, the Gophers clamped down defensively, made their free throws and, as important, successfully inbounded the ball after a pair of timeouts.

That forced the Illini to foul, and Hart (two), Braun (two) and Tori McKinney made all eight of their free throws to seal the win.

Amaya Battle finished with 16 points and eight rebounds, and post Finau Tonga chipped with 11 points from the bench. Braun (11) and McKinney (10) also scored in double figures for the Gophers, who finished the conference season with 10 wins in their last 11 games.

Last season, the Gophers just missed out on an NCAA tournament bid before moving on to win the Women’s Basketball Tournament. Now they’re set to earn their first invitation to the Big Dance — by winning the conference tournament or with an at-large bid — and perhaps even host a pair of games.

“It’ll be fun,” said Hart, who played in the NCAA tournament at N.C. State before transferring to Minnesota. “Right now, our eyes are on the Big Ten tourney. The Big Ten is still March (basketball).

“It’s just fun. There’s a different vibe going on. Teams are hitting their stride, and we feel like we’re hitting our stride at the right time.”

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LAVAL, Quebec (AP) — Ann-Renée Desbiens made 17 saves for her fourth shutout of the season and the Montreal Victoire beat the Minnesota Frost 4-0 on Sunday to take the PWHL lead.

Montreal moved a point ahead of Boston in the standings. The Victoire have won five straight and eight of nine to improve to 9-3-0-5.

Maureen Murphy had a goal and an assist, Maggie Flaherty, Dara Greig and Laura Stacey also scored and Hayley Scamurra added two assists.

Montreal captain Marie-Philip Poulin returned after missing a game because of a lower-body injury sustained in the Olympics. She assisted on Stacey’s goal.

Nicole Hensley made 29 saves for Minnesota. The Frost (7-2-3-4) were playing their first game since the Olympic break.

Minnesota was 0 for 4 on the power play, including 54 seconds of 5-on-3 in the third period.

The Frost return to Canada next weekend for a game at Toronto at noon on Sunday. The game will be televised on FDSN.

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