Minnesota Timberwolves End 14-Year Drought, Clinch NBA Playoffs Spot

The Minnesota Timberwolves will be featuring in the NBA playoffs for the first time since 2004 after a dramatic 112-106 win over the Denver Nuggets at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Wednesday night.

In an all-or-nothing game with the two sides vying for the final No. 8 seed in the Western Conference to make the playoffs, it was the Wolves who came away with the victory in overtime as the sold-out home crowd erupted at the end of the game.

Despite an eight-point deficit at halftime, the Nuggets fought back and were on the offensive with the game tied at 101-101 only for Taj Gibson to steal the ball from Nikola Jokić with less than two seconds of regulation time remaining as the game went to overtime.

The Wolves were then able to remain strong offensively in a low-scoring overtime period as they closed out the game and ended the longest drought for an NBA team not to make the playoffs.

Jimmy Butler ended the game with 31 points, five assists, five rebounds, a steal and a block while Karl-Anthony Towns recorded 26 points, two assists and 14 rebounds. In addition, Andrew Wiggins and Jeff Teague contributed with 18 and 17 points respectively.

"We’ve been at it for a long time," Wiggins said after the game. "This is what Flip [Saunders] first wanted when I came here, it was all about the playoffs, making the playoffs, and we’re finally there now. I know he’s up there proud and I know everyone in Minnesota is happy."

Meanwhile, Timberwolves CEO Ethan Casson was pleased to have delivered on his promise of a "new era" with the unveiling of a new team logo in April last year. This season, attendance has also increased by 15 percent while there were 16 sellouts, including Wednesday night's win over the Nuggets.

"We are thrilled to say that we have delivered on our commitment to our fans to usher in a new era of Timberwolves basketball," Casson said, as per NBA.com. "We want to thank the fans for their incredible support, which has led to one of our more successful seasons in recent team history, both on and off the court."

"A new level of excitement begins as we reintroduce NBA playoff basketball to Minnesota. We look forward to Target Center being electric, providing our team the ultimate home-court advantage," he said.

The Wolves finished their campaign with a regular season record of 47-35 and will now face the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, the Houston Rockets, in the first round of the playoffs.

No dates and times have been released as of now but head coach Tom Thibodeau's side could play as early as Saturday this week meaning they only have a couple of days to celebrate and prepare.