NFL
By: Zachary Draves
Iowa Wolves of the NBA G League came out howling and what better time than before Halloween.
The affiliate of the Minnesota Timberwolves kicked off their preseason home opener with a trick or treat theme night at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.
Their opponents were The NBA G League Ignite, a developmental basketball team out of Walnut Creek, California.
Plenty of buzz has been circulating around the talents of newcomer #9 Leandro Bolmaro from Argentina. 
(Courtesy: The Observational)
The 21-year-old is coming off from playing three years for FC Barcelona of the Spanish League and splitting time between that and the Euro League.
He is said to be a playmaker who can do all things and then some.
He was originally drafted by the New York Knicks in 2020 until his draft rights were handed over to the Timberwolves as part of a three-team trade.
Safe to say he is now being raised by Wolves.
(Courtesy: Twitter)
Right from the start, Iowa came out ready to play and began things off with a 12-0 run which included the opening basket by Leandro followed by a three.
Ignite didn’t make a bucket until the 7:12 minute mark of the first quarter of a three-pointer.
The Wolves were in complete control at both ends of the floor and seemingly couldn’t be stopped.
(Courtesy: Twitter)
Their execution on offense was too near perfection with great ball movement, good open looks, hard drives to the hole, and getting up and down the court with much ease.
The first quarter ended with the Wolves way ahead at 35-14.
The second quarter began with the Ignite sort of crawling their way back and playing with much more energy but not enough to break through the deficit.
The Wolves continued their onslaught and built the lead to thirty-three at the 6:30 mark.
The dominating performances came from Leandro with 14 points and #15 Ade Murkey of Denver Colorado with 16 points and the Wolves going into the half steamrolling at 65-34.
For much of the third quarter, Ignite was doing all they could to hold their own and came out much better on both ends of the floor hitting shots, getting good rebounds, and getting to the free-throw line when needed. Whereas the Wolves largely coasted their way through and got outplayed big time.
As a result, the thirty-one-point lead was amazingly cut to fifteen, making it a ball game.
The fourth quarter began with the continued diminishing of the Wolves lead and their struggling to get in a groove.
Their lead was cut to eight at the 6:00 minute mark.
A crucial three by Leandro to put them up by twelve at the 5:20 minute mark momentarily halted any fears of a miraculous comeback although there was plenty of basketball to play.
A couple of good shots, good rebounds, and another Leonardo masterpiece from beyond the arc helped the Wolves stave off what was destined to be one of the most amazing comebacks you’d ever have seen even in the NBA farm system.
The final score was 98-87.
(Courtesy: Youtube)
Even with the loss, you have to give it to the Ignite for trying to equalize the clear balance imbalance being that they are an experimental team.
The Wolves official season opener is Saturday, Nov. 6 against the Sioux Falls Skyforce at Wells Fargo Arena at 7:00 PM CST.
