UPDATE (8:48pmCST): The game has been cancelled and as of right now, there is not a makeup game scheduled, though it sounds as though it will be played in Minnesota (the Wolves do get a home game vs. San Antonio this season!). The Spurs players have already left on a bus and the Timberwolves players are gathering their things from the arena and they'll be gone shortly as well. UPDATE (8:40pmCST): The official word from the NBA is that a generator malfunction produced the smoke in the arena. According to Zgoda, Flip Saunders told the team party that the game is off and they're to get their stuff to leave, the Wolves players went back into the arena shortly thereafter. Just before 8:40, the NBA on ESPN sent out a tweet that said the lights in the arena are back on and the key is to get the ventilators running to extract as much smoke as they can from the arena. An escalator has reportedly caught fire in the Mexico City arena where tonight's Timberwolves-Spurs game was supposed to take place. The cause of the fire sounds as though it was a short in one of the arena's escalators.
Reports started to flood in around 7:30 this evening--one hour before the game was set to tip. Coupled with the fire, there was a power outage in the arena. Luckily they hadn't let fans into the 'bowl' and it was a quick evacuation. @WolvesRadio (Alan Horton the voice of the Wolves on WCCO) said via Twitter that the players had been rounded back onto the buses and the entire arena was being evacuated. The refs followed a short time later--up the loading ramps and out of the building. @JerryZgoda of the Star Tribune reported via Twitter that Adelman, Flip Saunders and Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich were huddled up together talking on the walkway to the ramp leading out of the arena. Shortly thereafter they left the arena towards the buses together. In a quote from Pop (via Zgoda): Nobody should be breathing what's in the arena, let alone players exerting themselves, says game should be played in Minny on off day. Zgoda reported a short time later that they're attempting to clear the smoke in the arena within 30 minutes--that was at 8:01pmCST. In a quote from TWolves CEO Chris Wright (via Zgoda), he says that the earliest the arena could be ready is 10:15, the other option is playing tomorrow night. Zgoda also added that he heard from an NBA official that David Stern really wants to play this game, tonight! Zgoda also added that he overheard the Spurs team doctors say that there's no way to play in the arena tonight. It sounds as though the teams are pushing hard to not play tonight. I'm writing this in the chronological order that the tweets are being sent out. As of 8:31, the only update is that the NBA wants to play, but it's obviously a matter of getting that smoke cleared.
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Cody D. AndersonA Wolves fan bringing you Gameday Recaps all season long! 2014-15 Game ArchivesGameday Archives
December 2015
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