It almost felt like the Warriors were begging to be knocked out on Thursday night at Target Center. They exited the locker room at halftime trailing by 17 points and seemed more than willing to lay down if they were forced to eat another haymaker.

Instead, the Timberwolves gave them life, putting forth a stretch of play unbecoming a true contender.

Is that being too hard on the Timberwolves considering they ended up winning the game by 24 points?

Not if the ultimate goal is truly winning an NBA title.

The fact that the Timberwolves earned a 117-93 win over the Warriors to even the series at 1-all is more or less irrelevant when looking at the bigger picture. Frankly, if Steph Curry is unable to return from a strained hamstring, this should be the expected outcome moving forward.

As far the Timberwolves are concerned, the rest of the Western Conference Semifinals should be viewed through the lens of, “Is this getting us ready for the rest of the playoffs?”

There were far too many times throughout the game when the answer to that question was a resounding, “No.”

You might be able to get away with mental lapses against the Warriors when they are playing without their best player.

You won’t be able to get away with mental lapses against the Oklahoma City Thunder or the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals.

That doesn’t mean there weren’t stretches of brilliance from the Timberwolves over the course of the 48 minutes of play. They deserve credit for responding the right way after such an embarrassing effort roughly 48 hours earlier.

Not only did the Timberwolves start the game on a 13-0 run, which took the edge off in the early stages, they followed it up with a separate 12-2 run to take complete control. They also closed the game with an impressive finishing kick that emptied both benches well in advance of the final buzzer.

Some other bright spots for the Timberwolves included Julius Randle and Jaden McDaniels, who finished with 24 points and 16 points, respectively, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who was outstanding while chipping with 20 points off the bench.

It also can’t be overstated how important it was that Anthony Edwards was able to shake off a sprained ankle. After going down in a heap and being unable to put any weight on his leg as he made his way back to the locker room, Edwards emerged from tunnel after halftime to a massive ovation, then went on to finish with 20 points.

That alone should’ve given the Timberwolves enough energy to deliver the knockout blow rather than momentarily let the Warriors back into the fight with some unforced errors on both ends of the floor.

The offensive execution stagnated. The defensive intensity waned.

Luckily for the Timberwolves, the Warriors are vastly undermanned, so they ended up getting away with it in the end.

As the final seconds ticked off the clock, everybody in attendance basked in the glory of what ended being a blowout. Some chants of “WOLVES IN 5” erupted from pockets of the home crowd.

If anything is clear by now at this point in the series, it’s that the Timberwolves might not even need their best for that to be prophetic.

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The Golden State Warriors came out like bandits to open the third quarter of Game 2 on Thursday, pulling to within seven of the Timberwolves early in the frame at Target Center.

Then Minnesota proceeded to respond with a massive run to reclaim a 20-point advantage by quarter’s end. It should come as no surprise that success came against Golden State’s bench.

The Timberwolves obliterated Golden State’s thinned out second unit en route to a 117-93 victory to even the Western Conference semifinals series at 1-1. Game 3 is at 7:30 p.m. Central on Saturday in San Francisco.

“We had three or four real sloppy turnovers, and then it got loose on the other end, got soft there with some of our communication and our switches,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said of the start of the third quarter. “Guys were frustrated, but we re-focused pretty quickly.”

Minnesota came out with its hair on fire on Thursday, jumping out to an immediate 13-0 advantage. From there, much of the Wolves’ damage was done against the likes of reserves Pat Spencer and Moses Moody. Warriors coach Steve Kerr played all 14 of his healthy bodies in the first half of Game 2 as he looked for answers as to how Golden State can put together 48 minutes without the axis of its offense in Stephen Curry, who will miss at least a week with a hamstring injury.

It wasn’t a total waste of time, as Kerr found a bunch of options that didn’t work.

There was a point in the fourth quarter Thursday in which the Warriors trailed by 15 in a game in which it had lost Spencer’s 10 minutes by 17 points. Golden State won Brandin Podziemski’s 33 minutes on Thursday. It lost the 15 he didn’t play by 25.

Minnesota entered the series with a significant depth advantage, which has only been exacerbated by Curry’s absence. Now, Golden State has to find 36-plus additional minutes to fill with guys stepping into roles they aren’t meant to fill.

The Wolves did an excellent job making the Warriors pay for that Thursday.

Julius Randle flirted with a triple-double, tallying 24 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds.

“Great all-around game from him, just what we needed,” Finch said.

Anthony Edwards — who briefly left the game in the second quarter with an ankle injury, only to return to open the second half — tacked on 20 points and nine rebounds. Nickeil Alexander-Walker emerged from a shooting slump to drill four 3-pointers as Minnesota shot 43% from deep as a team.

“We were able to keep finding a rhythm,” Finch said. “I think we were able to find a rhythm tonight much better offensively.”

The Wolves’ half-court offense still struggled for large portions of the game, but it was rarely pressed as Golden State couldn’t find a way to put points on the board. Minnesota led 37-19 midway through the second quarter.

The Wolves found offensive success via the fast break (18 points), the offensive glass (16 second-chance points) and off the Warriors’ 19 turnovers (which turned into 20 points).

Golden State can’t afford to lose any of those areas, particularly not while hemorrhaging points with its second unit on the floor. With the Warriors star guard not in the current equation, Minnesota simply has far too much for the Warriors to handle.

With Curry not expected back until at least Game 5, Kerr will now have to decide if he wants to over extend his top five remaining players to take a swing at splitting Golden State’s two upcoming home games.

If he chooses to do so, Minnesota’s challenge will be to win anyway.

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A proposal to create a new oversight office for state government agencies passed with overwhelming bipartisan backing Thursday in the Minnesota Senate. But with time dwindling in the legislative session, it’s unclear whether the bill will reach the governor this year — or if he’ll sign it.

Support for a state Office of Inspector General has gained traction at the Legislature this session amid calls for greater oversight after the state lost hundreds of millions of dollars to pandemic-era fraud schemes.

In the Feeding Our Future scandal, for instance, prosecutors have alleged that a group of scammers used nonprofits to make off with about $250 million from a federally funded school meals program, claiming reimbursements from the state for millions of meals never served. A total of 70 individuals have been charged in the case with the ringleader found guilty earlier this year.

Aimee Bock, founder and executive director of the nonprofit organization Feeding Our Future, arrives at the Minneapolis federal courthouse with her attorney, Ken Udoibok, right, on Wednesday, March 19, 2025, in Minneapolis, Minn. (Kerem Yücel/Minnesota Public Radio via AP)

If the Senate bill becomes law, a new state oversight office would be able to shut down payments when there is a credible suspicion of fraud and conduct an investigation. The office would have subpoena powers, and the Senate on Thursday adopted an amendment adding law enforcement capabilities.

The Democratic-Farmer-Labor-majority Senate passed its inspector general bill 60-7, with some DFL holdouts concerned about how state fraud enforcement efforts might interfere with federal benefits like Medicaid. They also had concerns about due process for organizations suspected of fraud.

Similar proposals exist in the tied House, though they have not gained the same level of traction with just under two weeks remaining in the legislative session.

DFL Gov. Tim Walz has said he supports efforts to combat fraud, though it’s not completely clear where he stands on the Senate bill. At an related Thursday bill signing, he said he’s open to the idea but questioned whether it was the most efficient way to combat fraud.

Fraud a big issue this session

Addressing government fraud has been a politically potent issue at the Capitol this year, with Republicans and DFL lawmakers alike sponsoring bills to prevent future large-scale waste, fraud and abuse in government.

House Republicans created a new committee specifically aimed at highlighting and addressing the issue, and have advanced several proposals aimed at fighting problems in the future.

Democrats say they’ve already taken significant action and that the perpetrators of Feeding Our Future and other schemes are being held accountable in court. They point to a 2023 bill approving new oversight staff at state agencies, and Walz’s January executive order creating a fraud investigation unit at the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

That hasn’t stopped a bipartisan push in the Senate to do more. The lead sponsors on the Senate inspector general bill are Sen. Heather Gustafson, DFL-Vadnais Heights, and Sen. Michael Kreun, R-Blaine.

They argue that while some agencies have their own oversight offices, Minnesota would benefit from an office insulated from politics with its own enforcement capabilities. Right now, governor-appointed commissioners appoint their agencies’ inspectors general.

“We have already made significant strides in fighting fraud in Minnesota, but today filled a gap that was desperately missing,” Gustafson told reporters at a press briefing following the vote. “We needed to be able to be more proactive. For years, we’ve been able to do quite a bit of fraud prevention work, but we are always still a little bit reactive.”

Minnesota already has a nonpartisan Office of Legislative Auditor, which conducts independent oversight investigations of state agencies and programs. While its work is valuable to understanding problems in state government, it often identifies them after they’ve occurred, Gustafson said.

Some Minnesota government agencies, like the Department of Education, have their own oversight officials. Under the bill, they’d be shifted to the central Office of Inspector General. There’d be about 30 staff funded by just under $9 million.

As part of a compromise, the Department of Human Services would be the primary authority on investigating Medicaid fraud, Gustafson said. That came due to agency concerns about how a state fraud investigation might interfere with federal rules.

Backers say the new office would be insulated from politics by requiring a supermajority to confirm leadership and giving it its own enforcement powers.

Under the Senate bill, an advisory panel composed of an equal number of DFL and GOP lawmakers would recommend a list of appointees to the governor.

Once the governor chooses someone to fill the position, they would need to be confirmed by a three-fifths majority of the Senate.

‘Not ready for prime time’

While many hailed the bill’s passage as a bipartisan accomplishment, holdouts said they had concerns about due process in cases where the office decided to cut off funding for suspected fraud.

They also had concerns about how enforcement actions might interact with federal programs,. Sen. John Hoffman, DFL-Champlin, said state actions could lead to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services interrupting funding for programs in Minnesota.

“It’s going to make headlines, but you didn’t do your due diligence,” he said ahead of the vote. “Although it’s a great front page of a newspaper article, it’s not ready for prime time. Vote no.”

The state Department of Human Services had raised concerns about this with lawmakers in the past, and, for Hoffman and others, the bill in its present shape didn’t do enough to address them.

“I thought that things were clear — that that we needed to be careful about how we grant a new entity authority over programs that affect vulnerable people in our state,” said Sen. Melissa Wiklund, DFL-Bloomington, the chair of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee.

Backers said their amendments to the bill on Thursday addressed those concerns in part by requiring a federal response to the state before it proceeds with enforcement actions.

The Senate’s inspector general bill is just one of several fraud-related measures moving through the Legislature this year. Others include a GOP-backed proposal to create stricter reporting requirements for fraud in state agencies and new protections for whistleblowers.

The last day of session is May 19.

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With a $250,000 donation and support from alumni, Macalester College will offer housing and meal plans to international students between semesters as federal changes leave many concerned about their ability to return to the U.S. if they leave for the summer.

In an email to alumni requesting donations on Tuesday, Macalester College President Suzanne Rivera, said that the school has started a fund to provide free room and board for international students that can support 65 students as of Tuesday. As of fall last year, Macalester enrolled 321 international students from 85 countries and 2,138 total students.

President Suzanne Rivera (Macalester College)

“Throughout the semester, we’ve been in touch with our international students to protect their safety and support their well-being in light of the rapidly changing visa landscape,” Rivera wrote. “Many of them are scared, and we’re worried that our visa holders may not be able to get back into the United States to continue their education if they go home for the summer. For this reason, we’ve pledged to offer housing and meal plans for international students who need a safe place to stay between semesters.”

Rivera urged alumni to contribute to the fund, with a goal of raising an additional $250,000 by the end of the month to help Macalester provide housing and food, as well as stipends so students can take unpaid internships. Most are not authorized to work in the U.S., she wrote, and college officials plan to provide $6,250 stipends to at least 12 students.

She also encouraged alumni with local organizations that can provide students with internships or volunteer opportunities to connect with the school or for alumni to spend time with international students, such as taking them to sporting events or hosting them for a meal.

“Contact your elected officials and tell them how you feel about threats to students, and attacks on academic freedom and autonomy at American colleges and universities,” Rivera also wrote.

Monitoring policy changes

At least 1,220 international students in the U.S. have had their visas revoked or legal status terminated since late March, according to the Associated Press, with some colleges cautioning international students against travel abroad.

In addition to creating the fund, Macalester officials are monitoring federal policy changes, working with those affected by them and engaging with national associations and coalitions, Rivera wrote in the email to alumni.

Macalester College has joined the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration and other organizations on an amicus brief in AAUP v. Rubio and in April, Rivera signed a statement opposing “undue government intrusion in the lives of those who learn, live, and work on our campuses,” according to the statement, along with other college leaders.

“I want to be very clear: at Macalester, we remain committed to the principle of academic freedom, the rights of free speech and assembly, and the importance of respecting different perspectives, points of view, identities, and experiences,” Rivera wrote.

Macalester leadership initially went to the college’s trustees for contributions before turning to its alumni network, Rivera said Thursday.

Students also stayed during pandemic

It’s not the first time the college has had to look into summer housing and resources for international students, Rivera said. When Rivera first began at Macalester in 2020, international students also stayed on campus over the summer during the pandemic when international travel was restricted.

“But that summer, there were federal relief funds that the college was able to access in order to meet the financial demands of that unbudgeted expense,” she said. “But right now, in this moment, there is no federal source of funds to support these students, and that’s why we’re looking to philanthropy to help support the unbudgeted expense of giving our international students a safe place to stay over the summer.”

Macalester has a history of commitment to global citizenship and internationalism and the response from alumni has been gratifying, she said.

“But I can tell you that we’ve been really encouraged by how many people have signaled to us that they felt this was the right thing to do and consistent with our mission and values,” Rivera said. “… And we take really seriously our obligation to support them and take good care of them while they’re here. And none of us anticipated at the start of the school year that we would be facing these particular challenges with regard to international students and their visa status.”

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