Patrick Williams scored 35 points and rookie Ayo Dosunmu added 26, both career highs, as the Chicago Bulls ended a four-game losing streak with a 124-120 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves in Minneapolis to close out the regular season for a pair of teams headed into postseason play.
Troy Brown Jr. added 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Bulls (46-36), who already were locked into the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs and are scheduled to face the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round.
Nathan Knight scored 17 points for the Timberwolves (46-36), who already had clinched the No. 7 spot in the Western Conference and will face the Los Angeles Clippers in a play-in game on Tuesday.
Jaylen Nowell added 15 points for Minnesota, which had a franchise-record 85 points from the bench.
The game was lacking star power, with the Bulls able to overcome the absences of their top three scorers: DeMar DeRozan (rest), Zach LaVine (sore left knee) and Nikola Vucevic (rest).
The Timberwolves played without leading scorer and rebounder Karl-Anthony Towns (rest) and leading assist man D’Angelo Russell (non-COVID illness). Minnesota was further depleted when defensive-minded guard Patrick Beverley received two technical fouls in the second quarter and was ejected.
The Bulls jumped on top quickly, grabbing a 10-point lead at 17-7 less than five minutes into the game and leading 33-21 after one quarter. Chicago led by as many as 28 points in the first half, while shooting 58.1 percent from the field, and led 70-47 at halftime.
Minnesota rallied in the second half to pull within 116-115 on a 3-pointer by Jake Layman with 1:42 remaining before Chicago finished off the victory.
Anthony Edwards, the Timberwolves’ second-leading scorer at 21.5 points per game, was held to eight points in 18 minutes, one game after setting a career high with 49 against the San Antonio Spurs.
Derrick Jones Jr. had 12 points for Chicago, while Tony Bradley had 11. Naz Reid was the only Minnesota starter in double figures with 14 points, while Josh Okogie had 13 points, Leandro Bolmaro had 11 and Layman finished with 10.
–Field Level Media