Anthony Edwards scored 34 points and hit seven 3-pointers at the Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the short-handed San Antonio Spurs 134-122 on Wednesday two split a two-game series between the teams in Minneapolis.
Minnesota did not record an offensive rebound in the contest. However, the Timberwolves didn’t need to crash the boards, as they outshot San Antonio 65 percent to 45.3 percent and nailing 20 of 34 3-point attempts.
The Timberwolves led by 15 points at halftime but by just eight after three quarters. San Antonio pulled within 123-114 on Doug McDermott’s three-point play with 4:33 left. Minnesota clinched the win when Edwards reeled off six straight points in the paint over a 47-second stretch beginning with two minutes to play.
Jaylen Nowell added 23 points off the bench for Minnesota, with Karl-Anthony Towns scoring 21 points, Jaden McDaniels hitting for 20, D’Angelo Russell tallying 12 and Rudy Gobert contributing 10 points. Edwards and Russell each had nine assists.
Keldon Johnson paced the Spurs with 27 points. McDermott added 19, Keita Bates-Diop scored 15, Tre Jones hit for 13, Jeremy Sochan and Jakob Poeltl had 12 apiece and Josh Richardson pitching in 11. Poeltl (10 rebounds) and Richardson (10 assists) completed double-doubles.
The Spurs, which had a three-game win streak snapped, played without guards Devin Vassell (knee) and Joshua Primo (back), who got hurt in the Monday win over Minnesota.
The Timberwolves led just 28-26 before running off an 11-2 spurt to end the first quarter and take an 11-point advantage after 12 minutes of play.
Edwards, who had just nine points in the Timberwolves’ loss on Monday, scored 16 points in the period. Minnesota hit 10 of 13 3-point attempts in the first quarter.
The Spurs clawed to within 52-45 on Johnson’s 3-pointer with 6:37 to play in the second period and were as close as 57-48 at the 5:25 mark. However, Minnesota pushed the margin to 15 points by the break.
Edwards led all players with 18 points in the half while McDaniels had 13 points for the Timberwolves. No San Antonio player reached double figures in the first half.
–Field Level Media