Minnesota Timberwolves roll over Utah Jazz and safely into NBA playoffs

As the ending of Clippers-Warriors played in the background Sunday, the matchup that would ultimately decide the final order of seeding in the Western Conference, Anthony Edwards was asked if the Wolves had a preference of their playoff opponent.

“I don’t give a damn,” he said. “Whoever. We ready.”

The Wolves punched their guaranteed ticket to the playoffs after a tumultuous season with a 116-105 victory over the Jazz in Target Center. With a record of 49-33, they earned the No. 6 seed and will face the No. 3 seed Lakers, setting up a matchup with Luka Doncic and LeBron James.

Game 1 is Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in Los Angeles (Ch. 5).

The scouting reports, the breakdowns and the practices will come this week. On Sunday, the Wolves took a moment to reflect on how far they have come this season, one that included twists and turns, winning streaks and losing streaks, inexplicable losses and improbable victories. At least it all ended up in the playoffs, avoiding the play-in tournament.

“I told the guys, super proud of their body of work this year,” coach Chris Finch said. “We didn’t make a big trade in the middle of the season to sort things out. We didn’t fire coaches to try to sort things out. They sorted it out themselves. Those guys made the right adjustments and sacrifices, and they figured out who they needed to be as a team.”

The tanking, league-worst Jazz hung around probably a little too long for the team’s liking Sunday; the Wolves were only up 50-49 at halftime. But Edwards took it upon himself to get them going in the third quarter. The league’s decision to rescind an Edwards technical foul from Friday’s game against Brooklyn —therefore wiping out a one-game suspension Edwards would have received — turned out to be a huge decision.

Edwards’ seven three-point baskets gave him a league-high 320 for the season, passing former teammate Malik Beasley by one. This will be Edwards’ fourth postseason in his five NBA years, and he knew he didn’t want to end up back in the play-in tournament.

“That’s what my message was to the guys. We don’t want to play in the play-in, because I’ve been in both situations,” Edwards said. “We want to be fully prepared going into the playoffs. We want that whole week, we want to go against the scout team for those three, four days, live as hard as we can and be really prepared. Watch the film, read the playbook.”

They’ll have time to do that now; they will begin their series with the Lakers in Los Angeles either Saturday or Sunday. Donte DiVincenzo (16 points) said the team has stayed connected all season, and that’s why the Wolves are in the position they are.

BOXSCORE: Wolves 116, Utah 105

NBA standings

“We have a locker room full of good guys. We don’t have any bad guys in this locker room. Everybody likes being around each other, everybody likes hanging out with each other. When you have that, it makes it easier to communicate.”

When the Clippers beat the Warriors, there wasn’t much emotion in the Wolves locker room, just an acknowledgment that this is who is up next. Doncic was responsible for ending their season in the Western Conference finals a season ago, and though he’s on a different team now, the Wolves know what’s ahead of them.

“Game-plan awareness,” said Rudy Gobert, who had 19 points and 18 rebounds Sunday. “Whatever we decide to do, we’ve got to all be in the same boat. I think there’s going to be a lot of different coverages that we’re going to do. Being able to execute them and believe in them.”