My brother and I used to frequent the nosebleed sections of the Target Center before I started working for the Timberwolves and Lynx. We bought a flex pack for the 2015-16 season then would randomly make our way back to the arena for random matchups we wanted to see.
However, I decided to go all out and buy lower-level tickets for his belated 22nd birthday gift in 2018. Ricky Rubio (absolutely terrible game to watch Rubio in hindsight) was coming to town and neither of us had Halloween plans so I chose the Oct. 31 game against the Utah Jazz. Plus, the Wolves were wearing my favorite classic black trees jerseys.
But the appeal of the game was downgraded 10ish hours before tip-off.
I believe this was one of the first games — if not the first — Jimmy Butler sat out due to “general soreness” while the Wolves were negotiating trade deals to please the player my brother and I once adored. Tyus Jones (another one of my brother’s favorites and everyone’s for that matter) and Jeff Teague were also ruled out for the game due to injuries.
It soon felt like I had chosen the wrong game to splurge on. Then Derrick Rose happened.
Say what you want about Rose, but that man objectively balled that night.
Rose got off to a solid 13 points on 50% shooting from the field and I remember being slightly impressed but not overly dazzled at this point. Don’t worry, we’ll get there.
There were quite a few early turnovers, but Josh Okogie brought the energy Butler once provided when he was promoted to the starting lineup and tasked with defending Donovan Mitchell. Mitchell was also a player I knew my brother would be excited to see, but Okogie held him to just five points on 2 of 8 shooting.
I think my brother was wondering if he should invest in an Okogie Prince-themed jersey at this point. The answer is always “yes.”
Mitchell improved throughout the game, but the Wolves stayed afloat because of Rose.
Rose was 1-for-5 in the second quarter, which, of course, adds to just how unbelievable his second half was, but he had one of the wildest shots where he faded on one leg and tossed a shot up over Rubio before catching his balance near the game’s photographers. That is the moment we should have known it’d be a spooky night.
The Wolves held a nine-point lead heading into the third, and I specifically remember covering my face with my hands as Rose continued to attempt circus shots over Rubio and Rudy Gobert. The shielding wasn’t necessary for nine of those 11 shots, however.
Karl-Anthony Towns, who added 11 points in the third, had quite a few screen assists that quarter and Gobert, the self-proclaimed king of screen assists, would sink back in the paint ready to contest the shot attempts of Rose, someone 10 inches shorter than him. Mind you, Gobert went on to be named the league’s Defensive Player of the Year at the conclusion of this season.
But height and defensive talent don’t matter when it comes to Rose wizardry.
I didn’t hear this the night of the game, but I appreciated all the Halloween puns Dave Benz had that night when I went back and re-watched it. “It’s been all treat and no trick,” Benz said. Good stuff.
Rose and Towns combined for 30 points that quarter but didn’t get much help from the supporting cast. Mitchell found his rhythm and led a Jazz comeback that gave Utah a one-point lead with just over three minutes remaining in the third quarter, but another Rose-over-Gobert floater led a slight charge that gave the Wolves a 101-96 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Target Center was obviously impressed with Rose at this point given he was up to 35 points and shooting 50% from beyond the arc, but I don’t think the absurdity of the moment began to sink in until the game got down to the wire.
As I re-watched this, I was thinking, “Why is CJ Williams getting minutes and running the point to start the fourth?” and I was probably thinking the same thing in the arena. Rose’s play was so invincible that I couldn’t comprehend how tired he must have been. But with Rose out, the Jazz took a 9-0 run thanks to Jae Crowder and Gobert’s defense.
Rose returned out of the timeout and Jim Petersen recalled having coins thrown at him by Jazz fans when he’d play in Utah. Wild stuff.
Andrew Wiggins hit his third 3 of the night to tie the game and get the crowd excited again, but Rose had probably his worst spurt of the night and committed three turnovers to give the Jazz a two-possession lead. Rose had four turnovers this quarter and was noticeably disappointed with himself after each one despite having 35 points in the first three quarters of the game.
Rose made his first bucket of the quarter before Anthony Tolliver picked off the Jazz’s inbound pass and found an open Rose in the paint. Rose went down hard on his shot attempt, hit his head but recovered. Did he ever.
The crowd was on its feet now and Rose received “MVP” chants as he went to the free-throw line. Those “MVP” chants always seem over the top to me, but that night they felt special for the 2011 MVP who was giving us a vintage D-Rose game seven years later.
With his next field goal, Rose was just one point shy of his previous career-high of 44 points. This was his first 40-point game since March of 2011. And we were in awe of 42 points at the time.
The game was tied with about a minute to go, and this is where my brother, the biggest Towns fan I know, started to get annoyed by Rose’s dribbling and was hoping he’d look to dish to Towns instead of playing hero ball. But Rose continued to make him bite his tongue as he gave us a classic Rajon Rondo fake-pass bucket. I still have a video on my phone that perfectly encapsulates the absurdity of the moment.
The Jazz went on to get a foul call against Tolliver, but Gobert missed one of his free-throws and the game was tied at 123-123 with 36.9 seconds to go. Out of the timeout, Rose dribbled to the rim and absolutely dangled Dante Exum, this time hitting a fadeaway floater. One day I’ll rank all of his crazy shots from this game.
Thirty seconds left, two-point Wolves lead, two Rose points away from 50.
Rose’s 50 came at the free-throw line where he gave the Wolves their final 128-125 lead and plenty to celebrate.
I went home and wrote about the game until 5 a.m. for the old blog I used to write for. That post detailed what a breathtaking night it was for Rose but you have to consider the greater context to fully appreciate what that night was like in Target Center.
The Wolves had been lambasted by Butler throughout October and were constantly in the national basketball news because of Butler’s antics. But that night, the Wolves, thanks to Rose, had some positive news to share with the basketball world and were headlining ESPN for all the right reasons.
Rose needed that game, and so did Wolves fans. And now I’m stuck with giving my brother incomparable birthday gifts for the rest of my life.
Fox Sports North will re-air this game at 6 p.m. CT on Sunday, April 12.