It was almost another late collapse by the Timberwolves, but after blowing a 12-point lead in the final minutes, they found a way to seal the deal with a 119-115 win over the Boston Celtics Saturday afternoon at Target Center in Minneapolis.
Having suffered late-game meltdowns in losses to the Suns, Kings, and Thunder in the past week, Minnesota got a late three from Mike Conley to take a 113-110 lead, and then Anthony Edwards hit the dagger three with 14 seconds left for a 118-112 cushion.
Before the late threes, which bookended a pair of free throws by Edwards, the Celtics went on a 12-0 run to tie the game, rallying from a 110-98 deficit with 3:33 to play to tying the score 110-110 with 1:38 left.
During Boston’s rally, the Wolves had a turnover by Donte DiVincenzo and four consecutive missed threes by DiVincenzo, Julius Randle, Naz Reid, and Edwards. But on Edwards’ miss, Rudy Gobert grabbed the offensive rebound, and seven seconds later, Conley stopped the bleeding with a corner three ball.
It goes down as Minnesota’s first victory against a team with a winning record this season, as the Wolves improved to 11-8 while the Celtics dropped to 10-9.
Jaylen Brown led all scorers with 41 points, but the Wolves got 39 points from Edwards. Brown got his 41 points on 32 shots; Edwards needed only 24 shots to get to 39 points. He hit 5 of 11 threes and 10 of 11 attempts at the free-throw line.
The Wolves got 16 points, nine rebounds, and six assists from Randle, while DiVincenzo (15), Gobert (12), Reid (10), and Terrence Shannon Jr. (10) all scored in double figures. As a team, Minnesota hit 21 of 48 threes, led by five from Edwards, four from DiVincenzo, three from Randle, and two apiece from Reid, Conley, Shannon, and Jaden McDaniels. Rob Dillingham also hit a three in six minutes off the bench.
The Wolves will get some sleep Saturday night and then host the San Antonio Spurs (13-5) at 6 p.m. Sunday. Minnesota is 1-2 on the second night of a back-to-back this season, though both losses were to the Nuggets, when the Nuggets were playing on one and three days’ rest, respectively.
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