Monday’s Minnesota Twins’, Minnesota Timberwolves’ and Minnesota Wild’s games are not being played a day after Duante Wright was killed by police in a Minneapolis suburb.
The Twins were set to open a four-game series against the Boston Red Sox at Target Field, the Timberwolves were scheduled to face the Brooklyn Nets at the Target Center and the Wild were slated to host the St. Louis Blues at Xcel Energy Center.
The decisions were made after Mr Wright, a 20-year-old black man, was fatally shot on Sunday following a traffic stop in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center.
Shortly after the shooting, protesters descended on the Brooklyn Center Police Department and were met by a police contingent in riot gear amid scenes of unrest.
''Out of respect for the tragic events that occurred yesterday in Brooklyn Center, and following the additional details in this evolving situation, the Minnesota Twins have decided it is in the best interests of our fans, staff, players and community to not play today's game,'' the Twins said in a statement on Twitter.
In their own statement, the NHL team said: "The Minnesota Wild organization extends its deepest condolences to the family and friends of Daunte Wright."
A body camera video released on Monday by the Brooklyn Center Police Department showed Wright got out of his car during the traffic stop, but appeared to try to escape from the police officer’s attempts to handcuff him before getting back into the driver’s seat.
A police officer then shouted "Taser!" several times but fired a gun at Wright.
"It is my belief that the officer had the intention to deploy their Taser, but instead shot Mr Wright with a single bullet," Brooklyn Center Police chief Tim Gannon said, as per the New York Times.
"It appears to me, from what I viewed, and the officer's reaction and distress immediately after, that this was an accidental discharge that resulted in a tragic death of Mr Wright."
The Twin Cities region was the epicentre of the Black Lives Matter movement last year when George Floyd was killed in police custody.
The trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer charged with murdering Mr Floyd, is taking place in a courtroom less than 10 miles from where Mr Wright was shot.
"Yesterday's tragic event, involving the life of Daunte Wright, once again leaves our community mourning,” the Timberwolves said in a statement on Twitter.
'This defeat is on me', says Jokic after Nuggets collapse
Nikola Jokic accepted blame for the Denver Nuggets' dramatic collapse to the Minnesota Timberwolves, whose late surge saw them win 119-116.
Jokic's contribution of 26 points, 13 assists and nine rebounds put Denver up 116-109, after he had scored two free throws with two minutes and 30 seconds left.
But the visitors surmounted a comeback, and the Serbian missed the chance to bring the scores level at 119-119 with 2.3 seconds left on the clock.
The result leaves the Nuggets languishing near the bottom of the Western Conference with just two wins from their opening five matches, and Jokic took responsibility for his poor showing.
"We had 10 or eight points in the last, I don't know how many minutes. We didn't execute, I missed basically all of my shots in the last two or three minutes," he reflected.
"They scored easily, they had open looks. This defeat is on me. I need to do a better job of getting guys involved.
"Today, I didn't do a good job. I had a turnover, I missed two turnaround jumpers, so it was a bad sequence for me."
The Nuggets had started to put a run of form together with wins over the Brooklyn Nets and Toronto Raptors in their previous two matches, but will now face Utah Jazz feeling they need a win now more than ever.
The Timberwolves will be leaving far happier, with Anthony Edwards scoring 29 points during the victory. The guard credited the rivalry between the two teams for the grandstand finish.
"They know when they see us, they don't like us, and I'm pretty sure they know we don't like them,” Edwards said. "It's always a great game. I love going against those guys. Plus, they have got the best player in the league, so I look forward to it."
NBA: Cavaliers, Thunder remain NBA's lone unbeaten teams
Darius Garland scored 25 points, Donovan Mitchell added 22 and the Cleveland Cavaliers improved to 6-0 with a 120-109 victory Friday night over the Orlando Magic, who played their first game without injured All-Star Paolo Banchero.
The Cavs are the only unbeaten team in the Eastern Conference. The last time Cleveland started 6-0 was in 2016 with LeBron James when it lost to Golden State in the NBA Finals. The club's best start was 8-0 in 1976.
The early meeting between Orlando and Cleveland was a rematch of last season's tense opening-round playoff series won by the Cavs in seven games.
Banchero is expected to miss at least a month - and maybe longer - with a torn right oblique. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 draft was on an early tear, averaging 29 points with 8.8 rebounds and 5.6 assists before getting hurt Wednesday.
Orlando's Jalen Suggs scored a career-high 28 points and had eight rebounds and seven assists. Franz Wagner had 17 points.
The Magic hung around and were still within 10 late in the third quarter, when Cavs reserves Caris LeVert, Sam Merrill and Georges Niang all made 3-pointers in the final 2:17 to give Cleveland a 17-point lead going to the fourth.
Cleveland improved to 30-7 in Mitchell's last 37 regular-season games since January.
Thunder roll past Blazers to stay unbeaten
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 30 points in 28 minutes and the Oklahoma City Thunder remained perfect with a 137-114 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.
Jalen Williams added 22 points for the Thunder and Cason Wallace and Aaron Wiggins each had 13 off the bench as Oklahoma City improved to 5-0.
Jerami Grant led Portland with 17 points and Deandre Ayton added 14.
After the Blazers came back from down 17 to tie the game at 68 at the half, Oklahoma City outscored the Blazers 38-17 in the third quarter and Portland was never able to get back in it.
Wolves edge Nuggets in thriller
Anthony Edwards hit a go-ahead 7-foot floater with 25.7 seconds left, and Rudy Gobert iced the game with two free throws to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves past the Denver Nuggets 119-116.
Edwards scored 29 points, Gobert had 17 points and 14 rebounds and Julius Randle added 23 points and seven assists for the Timberwolves, who recovered from a 25-3 fourth-quarter run by the Nuggets.
Nikola Jokić had 26 points, 13 assists and nine rebounds and hit two free throws with 2:30 left to put Denver up 116-109, before Minnesota roared back. Jokic had a chance to tie the game at 119, but Gobert forced an errant corner 3-pointer with 2.3 seconds to go.
Aaron Gordon led the Nuggets with 31 points and 11 rebounds in a rematch of last season's Western Conference semifinal.
Michael Porter Jr. added 26 points for the Nuggets, who lost point guard Jamal Murray to the concussion protocol in the third quarter after colliding with Randle.
Christian Braun dunked over the 7-foot-1 Gobert with 5:14 left and got even closer to his face with a taunting scream that egged Gobert into grabbing Braun by the neck. The benches cleared, shouts were exchanged, and both players got a technical.
NBA: Edwards' late free throws lift Timberwolves over Kings
Anthony Edwards sank two free throws with 2.4 seconds remaining and the Minnesota Timberwolves spoiled Sacramento's opener by beating the Kings 117-115 on Thursday night.
Edwards was fouled by Domantas Sabonis on a drive with the game tied and calmly hit the free throws to give him 32 points.
Keegan Murray's 3-point attempt rimmed out at the buzzer for the Kings.
Julius Randle led the Timberwolves with 33 points in his second game after being acquired in a trade from New York this month.
Demar DeRozan scored 26 points to lead the Kings in his debut for Sacramento after being acquired this summer in a sign-and-trade from Chicago. Sabonis added 24 points and Murray had 23.
Edwards and Naz Reid hit back-to-back 3-pointers that started an 11-0 run for Minnesota that turned a five-point deficit into a 105-99 lead midway through the fourth quarter.
After going 13 for 41 from 3 in the opener, Minnesota shot 20 for 50 from long range against Sacramento. The 91 attempted 3s are the most ever for the Timberwolves in the first two games of a season.
Holmgren's all-around performance powers Thunder
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 28 points, Chet Holmgren added 25 as part of a stellar all-around game and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Denver Nuggets 102-87 in the season opener for both teams.
Holmgren proved to be a handful at both ends of the floor. He tied a career-high with 14 rebounds and had five assists and blocked four shots. Reserve Aaron Wiggins added 15 points.
It was an important divisional game right out of the gate. The Thunder and Nuggets both finished 57-25 last season, with the Thunder earning the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference by virtue of a tiebreaker.
Reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic had 16 points, 13 assists and 12 rebounds for his 131st triple-double.
Jokic's point guard partner, Jamal Murray, had 12 points on 4-of-14 shooting. Christian Braun added 16 points, while Aaron Gordon, fresh off signing a new contract extension, added 12 points. Denver missed 32 of 39 3-pointers.
New addition Russell Westbrook was held to six points on 2-of-10 shooting.
Doncic, Thompson pace Mavericks
Luka Doncic had 28 points and 10 rebounds, Klay Thompson added 22 points in his Dallas debut and the Mavericks beat the San Antonio Spurs 120-109 in the opener for both teams on Thursday night.
Kyrie Irving had 15 points for the defending Western Conference champions, who got eight assists from Doncic and seven rebounds from Thompson.
Thompson set a franchise record in a debut with six 3-pointers.
He scored 14 points after halftime and was 4 of 5 from long range, as Dallas went 13 of 21 from deep after making just 6 of 23 in the first half. The five-time All-Star and four-time champ with the Warriors also had seven rebounds and three steals.
Victor Wembanyama shot just 5 of 18 from the field for 17 points to open the young French phenom's second year with the Spurs. Jeremy Sochan and Julian Champagnie scored 18 apiece.
Chris Paul had three points on 1-of-6 shooting to go with eight assists and seven rebounds in his Spurs debut.
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