Mike Conley poured in a team-high 18 points, and Rudy Gobert added 16 points and 20 rebounds as the Minnesota Timberwolves were at their best late in a 102-94 win over the hapless San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday in Minneapolis.
Minnesota won its sixth consecutive game and improved its league-leading record to 16-4.
The game was tied going into the fourth quarter. After the teams traded the lead throughout the first three minutes of the final period, Minnesota went in front for good on Troy Brown Jr.’s 3-pointer with 9 minutes to play.
The Timberwolves then forged a 13-2 run punctuated by back-to-back dunks by Rudy Gobert, the latter with 4:58 remaining, to their advantage to 91-79.
The Spurs never got closer than seven points the rest of the way, dropping their 15th straight game.
Anthony Edwards added 17 points for Minnesota, Karl-Anthony Towns racked up 14 points and 10 rebounds and Naz Reid contributed 15 points off the bench.
Devin Vassell led the Spurs with 22 points, with Keldon Johnson adding 21 points and 10 rebounds and Zach Collins and Victor Wembanyama each scoring 12 points. Wembanyama also had 10 rebounds.
Minnesota carried a 25-22 lead after the first quarter on the strength of Gobert’s dunk with 43 seconds remaining in the period. The Timberwolves ran their advantage to six points, at 31-25, with 9 minutes to play in the second quarter before San Antonio rallied, going up 38-36 on Vassell’s reverse dunk at the 5:22 mark of the period.
The Spurs increased their advantage to eight points on Johnson’s cutting layup with 1:46 remaining in the half and got another layup from Johnson at the buzzer to carry a 53-46 edge into the break.
Vassell led all scorers with 12 points in the half, while Collins and Johnson scored 10 points each for the Spurs. Conley and Reid paced the Timberwolves with 10 points apiece before halftime.
Gobert’s dunk with 9:25 to play in the third quarter tied the game at 53, and he dunked again on the ensuing possession to give the Timberwolves the lead. The front changed hands twice before San Antonio retied the game at 71 on Vassell’s dunk with 1:03 left in the third.
–Field Level Media