WALDRON GRAIN & FUEL

03/10 04:59 CDT The Timberwolves are focused on a push toward the NBA playoffs. And the World Baseball Classic, too The Timberwolves are focused on a push toward the NBA playoffs. And the World Baseball Classic, too By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer A huge game awaits the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night. It'll happen in Houston, even though the Timberwolves will be in Los Angeles. There will be no dunks, no traveling, no 3-pointers. No halftime, either. No shot clock, but there will be a pitch clock. And there will be fouls. Well, foul balls. These are fun times for the Timberwolves. They're in the thick of an airtight Western Conference playoff race, but they're getting a neat and probably unexpected diversion --- the World Baseball Classic. Minnesota assistant coach Micah Nori's son is Dante Nori, and he's been a breakout player for Italy in that tournament. Italy plays the U.S. on Tuesday night, a game that starts a couple of hours before the Timberwolves take on the Los Angeles Lakers. "I will be watching the Timberwolves," Micah Nori said. "But at 6 o'clock Pacific time, I will be focused on the Italians and the Americans in the WBC, for sure." Make no mistake, the Timberwolves are focused on the stretch run and trying to lock up the best possible playoff seed. But that doesn't mean head coach Chris Finch, co-owner Alex Rodriguez --- the slugger who knows a thing or two about baseball --- and others within the organization can't stop and cheer for one of their own, even if it does mean paying attention to a different sport. "My family is obviously locked in on it, but so is our organization," Micah Nori said. "It sounds crazy, but so many guys are locked in. Our head coach is a big fan, and I can't tell you how many people send videos or pictures of them watching Dante's game. It means a lot. It is a welcome distraction, if you will, one that has you just get away from the grind a little bit." Dante Nori is 5 for 7 through his first two games of the tournament, with a two-homer game in Italy's win over Brazil on Saturday. His father says that by the time Dante was 4, he figured his future was in baseball. As the story goes, Dante would try to play on his toy basket and Micah would swat his shot away and put the baseball bat in his hands instead. Dante says the baseball-over-basketball realization actually happened around the time he was in middle school and realized he wasn't going to get past 5-foot-9. "It was a very easy choice," Dante Nori said. "Just keep the cleats on and play baseball." Having Dante wear Italia across his chest for this tournament is a big deal to the family. But it's not exactly a stretch that Micah Nori --- someone who could easily be an NBA head coach one day --- has a kid who excels in baseball. And really, baseball has basically been the family sport. Fred Nori, Micah Nori's father, played three years of college baseball at Indiana before spending a few seasons in pro ball. Micah Nori also played baseball at Indiana, batting a team-best .365 as a senior. Butch Carter got him into basketball as an advance scout with the Toronto Raptors, but he wound up leaving that role to return to the Hoosiers as a coach. Micah Nori returned to the NBA four years later and has been in the league ever since. "Being around all these great NBA players your whole life, it helps you out listening to them, seeing their work ethic, seeing what they had to do to get there," Dante Nori said. "And then the standpoint of getting to rep that name --- Italia --- across your chest, you're playing for your ancestors, you're playing for your family, especially my grandpa Fred. Him getting to watch is really special. All of that, it's just all coming together. It's sweet." It's not lost on the Nori family that one of the guys running the Wolves right now was a 14-time All-Star, three-time MVP, a World Series champion and someone who hit 696 home runs in his career. Yes, A-Rod is a fine guy for Dante Nori to have in his corner. It's just another illustration of how, for the Timberwolves and the Nori family, the worlds of baseball and basketball are meshing perfectly together right now. "Alex has been great the few times that Dante and he have crossed paths when Dante was in Minnesota, even when he was in high school," Micah Nori said. "Alex is always taking time to give Dante some advice. And I think that's been huge. Just the fact that Dante has been fortunate enough to grow up in professional locker rooms, he realizes that they're just people but he sees the work ethic. And that's why I think he gets to the WBC and just focuses on playing his game. He's not distracted or overwhelmed by it all." ___ Around The NBA analyzes the biggest topics in the NBA during the season. ___ AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba