The Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the Phoenix Suns Sunday night to advance to the second round of the NBA Playoffs for the first time since 2004. The Wolves swept the series 4-0, which makes them an interesting answer to a future Minnesota sports trivia question.
As it turns out, the Wolves are the first team in Minnesota pro sports history to sweep a best-of-seven playoff series for games to none.
The Minneapolis Lakers, Minnesota Twins, Minnesota North Stars, Minnesota Lynx and Minnesota Wild have combined to play in 60 best-of-seven-game series and the Wolves’ win in four was the first.
The Lakers played in Minnesota from 1949-1960 and played in seven best-of-seven series. While they did sweep a lot of best-of-three series, they never swept a best-of-seven.
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The Twins came to Minnesota in 1961 and have since played in six best-of-seven series. While they did sweep the best-of-three series against Toronto last year, they’ve never done it in a best-of-seven.
The North Stars played in Minnesota from 1967 to 1993 and played in 23 best-of-seven series. They swept and handful of best-of-five series but never a best-of-seven.
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The Lynx have existed since 1999 and the sheer fact the WNBA doesn’t do best-of-seven series is likely the only reason the team hasn’t done it yet.
Finally, the Wild has played in 16 best-of-seven series since joining the league as an expansion team in 2000. The have never swept any series in team history and are just 4-12 overall in playoff series.
Before this season, the Wolves had played in seven series that were best-of-seven and had never posted a sweep.
The Timberwolves Just Did Something No Minnesota Team Had EVER Done!
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