In a battle of Western Conference contenders, the Minnesota Timberwolves and Houston Rockets faced off in an epic showdown at Toyota Center on Friday night. The Timberwolves, who were 15-14 going into the game, desperately needed a win to get back on track and they managed to pull it off with a one-point clutch victory (113-112).
As the 2nd seed in the West, the Rockets are always a tough matchup but the Timberwolves were able to keep up with them all night long. Throughout most of the game, the score was pretty close and both teams had several stretches of highs and lows. In the end, however, thanks to some clutch play and key contributions from their core players, the Timberwolves got the win and inched closer to a top-six seed in the West.
Julius Randle led the Timberwolves in scoring with 27 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists on 10-16 shooting. Anthony Edwards dropped 24 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists on 9-17 shooting. Donte DiVincenzo had his way off the bench with 22 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists in 37 minutes of action.
For the Rockets, Alperen Sengun led all scorers with 38 points, 12 rebounds, and 1 assist on 16-25 shooting. Amen Thompson finished with 20 points, 11 rebounds, and 1 assist on 9-12 shooting. Fred VanVleet totaled 18 points, 7 assists, and 6 rebounds on 6-16 shooting while Jalen Green contributed 14 points, 6 assists, and 2 rebounds on 5-15 shooting.Â
It remains to be seen how these teams will finish in the standings when it’s all said and done but it wouldn’t be surprising if they met in the postseason. For the Timberwolves, while the season has been underwhelming as a whole, they showed some positive signs tonight that could point toward a major comeback.
Anthony Edwards Took Over Down The Stretch
Young star Anthony Edwards was phenomenal tonight on all fronts. Besides finishing with an impressive stat line (24 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists on 9-17 shooting), Edwards stepped up down the stretch to lead a Timberwolves comeback to win the game.
In true superstar fashion, he put the scoring burden on his shoulders and took on all of the pressure to hit that final shot. Fortunately for the Wolves, the shot went in and it sealed a critical win for them against a top team in the West.
This season, with averages of 25.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game on 44.5% shooting. Edwards is living up to his status as a star for his team but he may need more games like tonight in order to help his team match the success of previous years.
Julius Randle Finding His Place
As one of the new additions from the Karl-Anthony Towns trade, Julius Randle is still getting used to his new surroundings and it hasn’t been the smoothest transition so far. Tonight, however, he showed how valuable he could be for the Timberwolves as a consistent two-way player.
In 36 minutes, Randle finished with 27 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists on 10-16 shooting. Randle was aggressive all game long and was making use of the additional space without Rudy Gobert or Jaden McDaniels clogging up the paint.
It’s one of Randle’s best games with the Timberwolves and while it was far from a perfect match, it was enough for them to win the game while missing some of their most important players. The reality is when Randle and Edwards are going off, the Timberwolves are tough to beat and we saw that in full display against the Rockets.
21 Threes For Minnesota
The Timberwolves have been struggling on offense lately but they found something tonight even despite the absence of several key players. For the game, the Timberwolves scored 113 points on 50.6% shooting but it was beyond the arc where they really thrived.
7 different players hit threes tonight, including Julius Randle (5-6), Anthony Edwards (4-8), Mike Conley (1-4), Donte DiVincenzo (6-10), Nickeil Alexander-Walker (3-7), Josh Minott (1-1), and Naz Reid (1-5). As a team, the Timberwolves went 21-43 from beyond the arc (48.8%).
Their red-hot shooting powered them to the win and while it did take a last-minute run in the fourth quarter, the shooting was enough for them to close the gap when they needed it the most. If they can keep this shooting display going, it won’t be long before the Timberwolves are back in the top six in the West.
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