The Minnesota Timberwolves were able to notch their second win in a row with a 108-104 victory over the New York Knicks. Aside from keeping them afloat in the Western Conference Playoff race, Friday night's nailbiter also marked a sign of promise moving forward.

The victory over the Knicks gave their Timberwolves their 42nd win of the 2017-18 NBA season. According to FanRag's Zach Harper, they have not enjoyed a winning season since former NBA star Kevin Garnett was still in Minnesota:

Wolves win their 42nd game. First winning season in franchise history that didn’t involve Kevin Garnett. Still a stunning stat to me but also believable at the same time.

Garnett led the Timberwolves to a 44-38 record in the 2004-05 NBA season. Although he was nothing short of spectacular throughout the year, Minnesota had still missed out on the playoffs for the first time in eight years. That said, it may have been one of the early signs that his time with the Timberwolves was coming to an end.

Minnesota has since endured over a decade of mediocrity. Fortunately, they may be on the verge of making a return to the postseason. The Timberwolves had started to show some promise with the drafting of forward Andrew Wiggins and center Karl-Anthony Towns. However, they officially kickstarted their comeback with the acquisition of shooting guard Jimmy Butler prior to this season.

Unfortunately, they now find themselves in a similar situation during Garnett's time all those years. The West has proven to once again be a juggernaut which means a number of teams with winning records may be excluded from the postseason. However, the Timberwolves find themselves in control of their own destiny coming down the final stretch of the season as the current seventh seed.