🎵 Up the chimney and through the smoke, on the Timberwolves' heads Ja dunks 🎵

Good morning.

Let’s basketball.

Scores

Hawks 94, Heat 97 (MIA wins 3-1) — Jimmy Butler sat with knee problems, Kyle Lowry is still out and the Miami Heat still shut down Trae Young (11 points, 2/12 shooting, 6 assists and 6 turnovers). Trae never wants to see Miami again. Disaster series. I think it’s going to be a summer of change for Atlanta, for better or worse. John Collins in particular, I think the time has come. Danilo Gallinari. Clint Capela might be on the market, too.

Victor Oladipio stays ready. Got the start, got 35 minutes, got a team-high 23. After what he’s been through, I love this for him.

Erik Spoelstra should get some sort of special lifetime achievement Coach of the Indeterminate Time Period award. He’s never won C.O.Y. and won’t finish top three this season despite the No. 1 seed amid tons of player absences. But he’s pure greatness. He just coached his team to a close-out victory with this starting lineup: All-NBA level Bam Adebayo, Max Strus, Gabe Vincent, P.J. Tucker and Oladipo (60 games played over the past three years).

Full highlights.

Timberwolves 109, Grizzlies 111 (MEM leads 3-2) — This series is so tense! It’s almost too much to bear. Minnesota didn’t give up two 25-point leads in this one … but they did lead by 13 in the fourth. But before we get to that! Ja Morant did this at the end of the third quarter.

Damn dude. Damn.

Morant wasn’t going down 3-2 in his own house. Not to this team.

Patrick Beverley, king of the inappropriately timed celebration, did it again.

Yep, Ja went Ja down the stretch. 18 in the fourth, capped off with this.

It feels like Memphis is going to close out this series and the Timberwolves will spend the summer convincing themselves that they were the better team that just needs to mature and learn how to close games. Meanwhile, 22-year-old Ja Morant knows how already. So good luck next time.