The Minnesota Timberwolves are playoff bound again.
After winning what amounted to a meaningless game, while resting almost all of their regulars, Sunday night at Target Center, the Wolves know their postseason opponent. And it's a very, very familiar one.
Minnesota willl travel to Denver for their first round matchup with the Denver Nuggets beginning Saturday afternoon. It'll be the third time in four seasons the two teams meet in the playoffs.
The Wolves had been locked into the sixth seed for the last several days, so the highlight for fans Sunday at the regular season finale was the return of Wolves legend Kevin Garnett, who made a special appearance at the game, a 132-126 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans.
The Hall of Fame forward and all-time franchise leader in nearly every major statistical category walked into the arena with Timberwolves co-owners Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez after player introductions, receiving a roar from the crowd and patting his heart with his hand. After giving current star Anthony Edwards a bear hug, Garnett took his courtside seat.
Garnett, who had a falling out with previous owner Glen Taylor after his career was over, reached an agreement last year with the team to serve as an ambassador. His No. 21 jersey will be retired at a later date.
The Timberwolves (49-33) sat nine of their top 10 players, giving fan favorite Joe Ingles a token start in a 15-point, 10-assist performance. Rookie forward Joan Beringer had 24 points, 12 rebounds and seven blocks.
Jeremiah Fears had 36 points and 10 rebounds, and Derik Queen added 30 points with a career-high 22 rebounds for the Pelicans (27-55), who got productive rookie years from their two first-round draft picks amid another injury-affected season. Fears played 82 games, and Queen played 81.
Also on Sunday, Denver — which ended the regular season on a 12-game winning streak — topped San Antonio to lock up the No. 3 seed and earned a date with the No. 6 seeded Timberwolves.
