Chet Holmgren spent a lot of time at Target Center growing up. Well, under it, at least. Holmgren grew up roughly two miles from the home of the Timberwolves and Lynx, and would take the bus or the train downtown to play at the Lifetime Fitness Center located just below the arena.

“So I’ve been in this area a lot over my years. It brings back some memories, I guess,” the Oklahoma City rookie center said after Tuesday’s loss to the Timberwolves. “Kind of seeing everything when you’re driving by, it’s like, ‘I used to live here,’ which is kind of weird to think about, I guess.”

But something he’s grateful for.

“This is my first time playing at home in my home city, which is a blessing,” the Minnehaha Academy alum said. “There’s only 30 NBA cities in the world, and I was lucky enough to grow up in one of them, so it’s obviously a cool moment.”

Holmgren had a large contingency of friends, family and followers in the building for the game against the Timberwolves. Many of them stuck around after the game and were there to greet Holmgren and to exchange hugs and hellos as he re-emerged into the arena bowl after showering and changing.

“Obviously, it’s great having people that support you and have supported you for a long time at the game watching and getting to see all the faces that you haven’t seen in awhile,” Holmgren said. “You’d always like to come out with a win in that situation, but it doesn’t lessen the impact or feeling that seeing everybody has.”

Visiting guests

Minnesota repeatedly recalled Josh Minott, Leonard Miller, Wendell Moore Jr. and others, and sent them back to the Iowa Wolves — the team’s G-League affiliate — throughout the week. Why? Because Iowa had a gap in its schedule, with no games for a full week.

So the Iowa Wolves players made the trip from Des Moines to Minneapolis for a few days to work out at the NBA team’s facilities and even catch the Timberwolves’ game Tuesday against Oklahoma City. So the send-downs just allowed Minnesota’s players who bounce back and forth between the two clubs to practice with Iowa.

Iowa is 2-6 to start the season. Its next game is Saturday at home against the Indiana Mad Ants.

Durable force

Anthony Edwards missed Thursday’s home game with Utah because of a hip pointer. That marked just the 14th missed game of the 22-year-old’s career in four NBA seasons.

What’s more impressive is it’s only Edwards’ eighth game sidelined with an injury, as six of his absences were due to health and safety protocols during the 2020-21 season heavily impacted league-wide by COVID-19.

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