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Anthony Gharib, ESPN
The Minnesota Timberwolves are in the Western Conference semifinals after a four-game victory over the Phoenix Suns.
The Timberwolves finished the regular season with a 56-24 record, their most wins since the 2003-04 season. It also marked Minnesota’s third straight playoff appearance, the first time since 2004. The Timberwolves series against the Denver Nuggets begins Saturday.
Anthony Edwards led Minnesota by averaging 31.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 6.3 assists against the Suns.
Edwards had 40 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists in the series, securing the Game 4 victory against Phoenix. He became the second player with 40 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in a series victory at age 22 or younger, the other being Magic Johnson in the 1980 NBA Finals, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
Minnesota’s series victory came nearly 20 years after their previous playoff win – April 30, 2004. Here’s a look back at what the world was like the last time the Timberwolves advanced in the postseason.
Minnesota wolves are puppies
There are some members of the team who may be too young to remember the franchise’s last playoff victory.
Edwards was months away from turning 3, while Karl-Anthony Towns was 8. Jaden McDaniels, one of the Timberwolves’ key youngsters, was 3. The Timberwolves’ oldest player, Mike Conley, was a sophomore in high school.
For context, Conley’s age at the time — 16 — is just two years younger than the combined age of four of Minnesota’s top five postseason scorers: Edwards (2), Towns (8), McDaniels (3). and Nickeil Alexander-Walker (5).
Usher owns the Billboard Hot 100
Ten years before his Super Bowl LVIII halftime performance, R&B singer Usher had two of his tracks in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. “Yes!” with Lil Jon and Ludacris was number one, while “Burn” was number four.
“Yes!” it spent 47 weeks on the chart, including 12 at number one, Usher’s longest run at the top. It won a Grammy for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration and was nominated for Record of the Year. “Burn” spent 30 weeks on the charts, eight of which were at number one, and was nominated for two Grammys – Best R&B Song and Best Male Vocal Performance of R&B.
“Mean Girls” hits the box office
One of the most iconic films of the 2000s, released on the same day the Timberwolves advanced to the second round. “Mean Girls” grossed $24.4 million domestically in its opening weekend and $86 million throughout its run. The film has been reworked for a January 2024 release.
The original film took home three MTV Movie Awards: Best Female Performer (Lindsay Lohan), Best On-Screen Team and Best New Female (Rachel McAdams).
The Patriots dynasty began to grow in early 2004. They defeated the Carolina Panthers 32–29 in Super Bowl XXXVIII, their second championship in three years and first of two in a row.
Tom Brady threw for 354 yards and three touchdowns, while Deion Branch had a game-high 10 catches for 143 yards and a touchdown. Jake Delhomme had 323 passing yards and three touchdowns for Carolina, both postseason career highs.
A record at the time, Super Bowl XXXVIII had 144.4 million viewers tune in.
Facebook is just over 1 month old
Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook on February 4th, when he was a sophomore at Harvard.
Originally called Facebook, it had 1 million users by the end of the year, which led Zuckerberg to drop out of school. Facebook is now one of the most used social media sites in the world, with approximately 3 billion users.
