Seemingly en route to taking another giant leap toward securing home-court advantage in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs, the Timberwolves wasted 36 minutes of great work with a colossal fourth-quarter collapse on Tuesday in Milwaukee, falling 110-103 to the Bucks.

The Wolves were out-scored 40-13 in the fourth quarter as their five-game winning streak came to a screeching halt.

Minnesota led by 24 in the second half and by 20 early in the fourth quarter, but that deficit was erased entirely on a triple from A.J. Green to knot the score with three and a half minutes to play.

The game nearly went off the rails moments later, as Kevin Porter Jr. and Rudy Gobert got into a quarrel that resulted in double technical fouls for Porter Jr. and Gobert and an additional tech whistled on Gary Trent Jr. Anthony Edwards hit the ensuing free throw to put Minnesota back in front for his first point of the frame.

But Edwards turned the ball over on Minnesota’s next possession, which resulted in a Bucks’ transition dunk. The next possession ended in the exact same fashion, and the Bucks went up three.

Minnesota (46-33) was bamboozled by Milwaukee’s zone defense as the Wolves were timid and directionless on the perimeter. Soft passes were routinely deflected or intercepted.

Naz Reid and Donte DiVincenzo played integral roles in Minnesota building such a large advantage Tuesday. The duo combined for nine triples off the bench, six of which came from DiVincenzo. Minnesota largely limited Giannis Antetokounmpo thanks to a strong defensive effort from Julius Randle. The all-world forward finished with a triple-double, but had just 22 points on a night where he struggled mightily from the free-throw line.

But all that still wasn’t enough to build a cushion big enough to sustain such a meltdown. Minnesota went 4 for 20 in a fourth quarter in which it committed eight turnovers.

The Bucks closed with Antetokounmpo and four bench players — Bobby Portis, who was making his return after a 25-game suspension, Gary Trent Jr., Porter Jr. and Green.

The latter three players drove the bus on Milwaukee knocking off Minnesota prior to the all-star break when the Bucks, who are without Damian Lillard for the foreseeable future, beat the Wolves at Target Center. They were pivotal again Tuesday in delivering a major blow to Minnesota’s hopes of landing a top four seed.

The Wolves were set to be the No. 4 seed in the West with a win Tuesday. Instead, Thursday’s game in Memphis looks like a must win if Minnesota is even to avoid the play-in tournament.

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Just before facing Royals star Bobby Witt in a crucial moment in the bottom of the fifth inning Tuesday night, Twins ace Pablo López exited the game with what the Twins are calling hamstring tightness in his right leg.

López, who has never missed a start with the Twins since joining them in 2023, walked off with head athletic trainer Nick Paparesta after a brief conversation after appearing to grab and stretch his right leg.

Manager Rocco Baldelli handed the ball to right-hander Cole Sands to face Witt with runners at first and second and two outs, and the score tied 1-1.

After Sands warmed up entirely on the game mound as is customary, Witt walked to load the bases. Sands went to a full count on Vinnie Pasquantino, who lined a fly ball to fairly deep right for the third out on the 10th pitch of the at-bat.

Sands left after a pair of stressful at-bats, giving way to right-hander Jorge Alcalá in the bottom of the seventh.

López allowed a run and three hits with a walk, striking out six over 4⅔ innings. Facing 19 batters, he threw 78 pitches, 50 for strikes. López, the club’s Opening Day starter for three seasons, has a 1.62 ERA in 16⅔ innings this season.

He matched Royals left-hander Cole Ragans, almost pitch for pitch, with Ragans striking out 11 through six innings.

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Stillwater Area School District officials next year will be changing how science is taught at the elementary-school level in order to increase time spent on literacy instruction.

Beginning next year, science will be taught by specialists at the elementary level. Art and media instruction, currently taught by specialists, will be integrated into classrooms, said Caitlyn Willis, the district’s executive director of elementary education.

The change, presented by Willis and others during a school board workshop on Tuesday night, is needed as the district has adopted a new literacy curriculum that requires an additional 40 minutes of literacy instruction each day. There are currently 80 minutes of daily literacy instruction, Willis said.

Moving science to the specialist schedule will “give teachers time to focus on implementing the district’s new literacy curriculum and improving how students are taught to read,” said Carissa Keister, the district’s chief of staff and director of communications.

The school’s media centers will continue to remain open and staffed full time with paraprofessionals, and students will still be able to check out books, Keister said.

The district will retain two K-12 media specialists who will be in charge of the media collections across the district; the others will be able to bid into open jobs within the district.

The district’s art specialists at the elementary-school level also will be able to bid into open positions. The district will hire one K-5 art coordinator, who will help embed the arts standards into the classroom.

“We’re not getting rid of art,” said Gina Doe, principal of Afton-Lakeland Elementary School. “We value it. We just need to think differently and just structure it and move it around. These things are all being taught, they’re just being taught in a different way, which can be hard to make that change. … It’s still happening, just in a different way.”

Derek Berg, principal of Stonebridge Elementary, also spoke in favor of the change.

“We are not abandoning these things, but we are retooling them, and we’re doing them in a different way,” he said. “We do have an emphasis on literacy. We are adopting a new literacy curriculum, and we can’t ignore the fact that there is an increase in minutes that are required. It would be inappropriate if we did nothing.”

The change is expected to help close a $5.4 million gap expected for the 2025-26 school year, district officials said. Among the issues contributing to the deficit: unfunded state mandates; uncertainty about state funding; a drop in student enrollment; rising costs due to inflation, and the expiration of federal grants.

One unfunded state mandate is the READ Act, which required the district to purchase the new $800,000 literacy curriculum.

Since state funding is given out on a per-pupil basis, a drop in enrollment means less revenue for the district. K-12+ enrollment as of this month is down 56 students compared to last year at this time; preliminary projections for 2025-26 show a possible 54-student decrease.

Staffing levels are being adjusted to reflect projected enrollment, including a reduction in classroom teaching positions to match student numbers. According to a chart presented Tuesday, that includes six elementary full-time equivalents and 1.45 secondary FTEs. School and district support staff positions also are being reduced.

Three secondary social workers, whose salaries had been covered by federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief money, COVID-related funding that has run out, will be eliminated, said Mike Funk, the district’s superintendent. District officials are working with Family Means to provide counseling services external to the district, he said, “but I want to acknowledge that that is causing some stress on the system.”

Between probationary releases and budgetary reductions, the district will be laying off around 35 people “that represent a mix of full- and part-time staff,” Keister said

Additional reductions will be made to employee-benefits contributions and in curriculum materials and apps not aligned to core instruction.

Stillwater is not alone in its need to make budget cuts, Funk said. Districts throughout the metro area are facing a combined budget shortfall of more than $280 million, according to a recent survey conducted by the Association of Metropolitan School Districts.

The school board is expected to vote on the budget on June 17. It is possible that district officials may need to consider additional items for “priority-based budgeting reductions” prior to that, Keister said.

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The Gophers football team has a nickname for an entire side of the ball for the first time: the “havoc” defense.

It’s actually an acronym (HAVOC) that’s fittingly constructed because new coordinator Danny Collins has been with head coach P.J. Fleck  — a fan of wordplay — since Collins started his coaching career with Fleck at Western Michigan in 2015.

Fleck promoted Collins, the Gophers’ safeties coach last season, to defensive coordinator after Corey Heatherman took the same role at Miami (Fla.) in January. Collins also follows Joe Rossi, but Collins is the first to outwardly set out principles for how he wants his unit wants to play.

The H is for how much effort the defense will play with; the A is for an attacking style; the V is for violence; the O is for playing together as one; and C is its level of competition.

In other words, Collins wants his defense to be “controlled chaos.”

Collins said his advantage over bringing in another coordinator from an outside programs is his knowledge  of the U’s existing personnel. “I know exactly how they play the game and how exactly we can plug them into a scheme to create that HAVOC defense,” he said.

Fleck added that the majority of the defensive scheme — a base 4-3 front — will remain the same under Collins, but both of them think the U can be more flexible than in previous years.

“I think this has the opportunity to be one of the most versatile defenses that we have had here,” Collins said after Tuesday’s practice. “Guys flying around different fronts, guys all over the place, different types of packages. … I think the versatility will be huge for us this season.”

Two of the key pieces are first-team all-Big Ten safety Koi Perich and honorable mention all-conference defensive lineman Anthony Smith.

“(Collins) knows the defense so well, and he’s tweaked it so well,” Smith said. “I’m so excited to be in the defense.”

Five ball, corner pocket

Quarterback Drake Lindsey had a handful of highlights during Tuesday’s practice, including connections in the corner of the end zone with Le’Meke Brockington, Javon Tracy and Jalen Smith.

“I think Drake is playing at a really high level,” Fleck said Tuesday. “I’ve got to give him his dues (through practice No. 9 of spring ball). Probably higher than any younger player I’ve ever had at that position.”

Jalen Smith, a redshirt freshman from Mankato, is one of the most-improved players on the team, Fleck said. Collins added that a defensive candidate for that distinction would be safety Garrison Monroe, a redshirt sophomore from Shakopee.

Briefly

The highlight of Tuesday’s practice was a one-handed catch from Purdue transfer tight end Drew Bieber. It came in the corner of the end zone from backup quarterback Max Shikenjanski. …. Key injured players: CB Jai’Onte McMillan, OL Kahlee Tafai, RB Fame Ijeboi and WR Malachi Coleman. DL Riley Sunram has returned to practice after being limited; CB ZaQuon Bryan left Tuesday’s practice. … Roman Voss and a few family members were at the U on Tuesday as the Gophers continues to recruit the No. 1 prospect in the state of Minnesota in the 2026 class. The athlete from Jackson County Central recently received offers from Alabama, Oklahoma and Southern Cal. … Former quarterback Max Brosmer attended practice while wearing a Vikings shirt. … Approximately 175 former U players took part in an alumni event held last week. …. UCLA transfer Logan Loya is a candidate for punt returner. … LB Joey Gerlach and CB Naiim Parrish had pass break-ups on consecutive plays Tuesday, each drawing praise from Fleck. … LB Matt Kingsbury had some bright moments, as well.

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