Labor Day Weekender

Timberwolves Top 10 Plays of Last Season

The Timberwolves official twitter account posted their Top 10 Plays of the 2015-2016 Season. Good memories, fun times. I don’t understand how the Rubio game-winning buzzer beater in OKC isn’t #1, but to each their own. What was your favorite play of last season?

Lynx In Action

The Lynx defeated the Washington Mystics at Target Center on Friday night, improving their record to 23-5. This was a very close game, with the Lynx ahead by only one point with 1:20 remaining. In the end, Washington fell behind by two possessions and had to start fouling, and the Lynx were able to convert at the line and walk away with a 75-69 victory. Maya Moore once again led the way with 27 points, 6 rebounds, and shot 12-13 on free throws. Moore also had the “dagger” shot which was hilariously awesome.

Sylvia Fowles had a monster game of her own with 15 points 17 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 2 steals. Wow.

The Lynx play at home again on Sunday against the Connecticut Sun (tipoff at 6:00 P.M. CST). Then they head out for a two week long, four game road trip with games at L.A., San Antonio, Chicago, and Indiana before heading home for their final game of the season on September 17th against the Atlanta Dream. The Lynx have already secured a playoff spot, but a strong finish down the stretch here could lock up the #1 seed position in the conference, which they currently share in a tie with the LA Sparks (who also won on Friday night). Without a doubt, the matchup in LA on September 6th will be important in determining playoff positions for the two best teams in the Western Conference. That game will be televised on ESPN2 (8:00 P.M. CST).

Quick Hitters

Here are a few links to some other random NBA happenings:

Darren Wolfson interviews Sam Mitchell on ESPN 1500 podcast

Tristan Thompson is dating a Kardashian

Masai Ujiri signs multi-year extension as Raptors POBO

Darren Collison pleads guilty to misdemeanor domestic violence charges

Noah Vonleh expected to be ready for season after successful thigh surgery

Dwight Howard for some reason thinks practicing 19 footers is going to improve his FT shooting

Canis Cookin’ Out

There is honestly not a whole lot else to talk about basketball-wise right now. On the bright side, it’s a three day weekend, and no Labor Day weekend would be complete without a cookout. Normally, for me this would entail burgers and corn on-the-cob, but I decided that this year I’m going to make ‘Murica great again by trying my hand at a traditional Indian dish.

Grilled Swordfish Tikka

Ingredients:

2 tsp finely grated ginger

2 tsp crushed garlic

¹⁄₄ tsp ground turmeric

¹⁄₂ tsp red chili powder

2 Tbsp malt vinegar

¹⁄₄ tsp garam masala (Indian spice blend - you can make your own using AverageJer’s excellently detailed recipe and technique here)

2 Tbsp toasted chickpea flour

1/8 tsp carom seeds

2 Tbsp mustard oil

6 swordfish portions (roughly 5-6 oz pieces)

Combine all ingredients except the fish pieces. Rub the combined mixture over each fish portion and set aside to marinate for 30 minutes. Lightly brush each fish piece on both sides with vegetable or sunflower oil and cook for two minutes on each side (either on the barbecue or over medium high heat on the stove).

Serve those mofos with a side of:

Green Chutney

Take a large handful of mint leaves, 1 cup coarsely chopped cilantro, ¹⁄₂ red onion (chopped), 4 spicy green chilies (seeded and chopped), 1 Tbsp lemon juice, 2 tsp grated ginger. Run all of that through a food processor with a little bit of salt and pepper to taste. Done.

When all is said and done, you should theoretically have something that looks somewhat like this:

Should be tasty, but we’ll see. More fun than a hot dog. What are you all cooking up for the weekend?

Elavator’s Music

This weekend I’m going to feature Compton product “Boogie” and the entirety of his excellent 2015 mixtape “The Reach”

Til next time y’all. Have a great Labor Day weekend. This is an open thread.