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Jon Krawczynski: MIN 116, PHX 104. Wolves grind out a really good win against a good team to go up by 3 games on the 7-seed. Randle: 32p, 7r Hyland: 22p, 5a Gobert: 19r Dosunmu: 19p, 5r McDaniels: 16p, 7r, 4a SloMo: 7p, 6a, 5r
After two long years in exile, Hyland was in the starting lineup thanks to both Anthony Edwards and Mike Conley sitting out. One reckless game could validate everything observers around the league had started to believe about Hyland, that he was talented but impulsive, that the scoring booms weren’t worth the busts caused by irresponsible decision-making and bad defense. He has always been a daring, confident player. It takes that kind of person to overcome all that he has faced to make it to the NBA in the first place. And here was a chance for him to show what he was made of, to prove to the league what he can do.
Hyland put the ball in his left hand, dropped his right shoulder and drove right through Keegan Murray’s chest on his way to a layup. Suddenly, a Timberwolves team that has often looked bored or uninspired during this regular season had an edge. There was a desperation in that moment, a hunger created by the struggle. “It’s like I see food at the rim,” Hyland said. “If I’ve got one-on-one in transition, I’m going right at him. It’s me and you, and I’m going to win that battle. That’s going back to never wanting to go back to how you grew up. That’s something I live with every day.”
Hyland stepped in, averaging 9.5 points and shooting 49 percent from 3 over the last 10 games — a huge boost for a team that hasn’t been able to create any dependable scoring off the bench other than Naz Reid. “I love having him on the team,” Wolves coach Chris Finch said. “He’s the same every day. He’s a super happy guy. He’s one of these guys who brings joy to the game in the way that he plays it.”
“Everything’s positive. I ain’t never seen him mad,” Wolves forward Jaden McDaniels said. “It’s just good to see him hooping.” The reason is both simple and devastating. Why would he allow something as trivial as playing time shake him when he has already lost so much more? “By the grace of God, I was able to have a second chance at life,” Hyland said. “So why not come in and smile every day and put a smile on people’s faces? Because my life was almost taken, so you never know what someone else is going through.”
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The smell has never left Hyland’s nose. There are times during the basketball season when it isn’t as noticeable, when the grind of the game and the hunger to establish himself in this league serve as a scented candle in his living room of trauma. This time of year, there is no escaping it. His nostrils are filled with the pungent smoke that engulfed his childhood home and claimed the lives of his grandmother and 11-month-old cousin in 2018. The moisture in his mouth evaporates as memories of the fire resurface, putting him right back in his burning bedroom, the blaze pushing him to jump out a second-story window and tear his knee up as he hit the brick stairs below. Every year, as the March 25 anniversary of the fire approaches, Hyland starts to feel the heat on the back of his neck. “It still rings in my head,” Hyland says. “I can still smell and taste the flames.”
A few stalls down from him in the Wolves locker room was Bones Hyland, who has been traded twice in his career. He knows the impact the trade deadline can have on a team. “I don’t worry about it, like I already been traded two times, so I'm used to the feeling,” Hyland said. “Coming from a guy who probably never got treated before it’s tough, So they don't know where they gonna go, or they probably gotta unpack they whole house now, move on to a different, new team. It's a tough feeling, for sure.”
Bones Hyland: Lmao yeah right
Lmao yeah right 😂😂👎🏽 https://t.co/qoQM03Oxgv
— Bones Hyland (@BizzyBones11) January 19, 2026
Dane Moore: Thought that might have been the Wolves best game of the season outside of their win over OKC - Had a serious, detailed approach all night - The 3 best players all had good games in the same game (Ant had 33, was potent offensively; Randle had 23-10-4, filling in where Ant needed; Gobert had 13 and 12, was a force all night) - Overcame Gobert foul trouble without cratering defensively - Good ball and body movement for the majority of the night (even against the Miami zone) - Naz and Bones gave real sparks off the bench - DiVincenzo didn't shoot well but clearly impacted the game (was a team-high +24) - Not much from McDaniels or Clark (but MIA doesn't really have a point of attack guy that McDaniels and Clark are typically sent at) Wolves 125, Heat 115
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Dane Moore: Mike Conley will miss his second consecutive game with achilles tendinopathy on Sunday against Sacramento, the team says. Anthony Edwards, who missed the Wolves’ last game with right foot soreness, is listed as questionable for Sunday. Bones Hyland, who started in Edwards place on Friday, is listed as questionable for Sunday with the right knee contusion that knocked him out of Friday’s game.
Jon Krawczynski: Bones is questionable with a bruised knee
Anthony Edwards on Bones Hyland, who had 14 points and closed the game: “That's my boy. I've been a fan of him for the last 3 years... Sometimes you can just see, some people are just meant to be a star... I may not know the criteria to being a star. But if I think I do, I think he's one of em.”
During the draft combine that year, the Nuggets interviewed Hyland, and at one point Hyland said he “rapped one of my songs for them.” Ever since that moment, he said, he and Connelly formed a connection. “We just had a different connection, a real close connection,” Hyland said. “... Just that belief he has in me. He’s always had my back. That’s a guy I’m really appreciative of. Every time I see Tim, it’s always a big hug. I’m very thankful for him just believing in me.”
