So now it comes down to this:
The Timberwolves have to do something no NBA team has ever done. Friday night's 120-111 loss to Denver in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series Friday at Target Center — a game that once again came down to late-game execution — put the Wolves in an 0-3 hole in the best-of-seven series.
"I didn't think we'd be here," point guard Mike Conley said after the game, in which the Wolves pulled within three points early in the fourth quarter but never got within one possession again. "Honestly, I didn't think anybody in this room did.