Anthony Edwards scored a career-high 51 points on 17-for-29 shooting from the field, leading the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 130-121 win over the visiting Washington Wizards on Tuesday.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker added 23 off the bench for Minnesota (55-24), which has won four of its last five games. Rudy Gobert collected 19 points and 16 rebounds and Mike Conley scored 15 points. The Timberwolves lead the Western Conference by a half-game, pending the result of the Denver Nuggets-Utah Jazz game later Tuesday.
Corey Kispert led the Wizards (15-65) with 25 points, followed by Jordan Poole’s 24. Anthony Gill, Deni Avdija and Patrick Baldwin Jr. each tallied 15 for Washington, which fell for a fourth straight time. Johnny Davis added 10 points off the bench.
After Minnesota trailed by 10 at halftime, Conley and Edwards began the third quarter with back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the deficit to 70-66.
At the 7:40 mark, a pair of Kispert free throws extended Washington’s lead to eight, before a 7-0 Minnesota run was stamped with Gobert’s three-point play with 6:07 left, cutting the Wizards’ lead to 83-82.
Trailing 89-87, Alexander-Walker tied the game on a layup, followed by Edwards’ triple which gave Minnesota its first lead with 2:04 left in the third.
The Timberwolves ended the third quarter on a 7-2 run, taking a 99-94 advantage into the fourth quarter.
From there, Gill’s hook shot cut Washington’s deficit to 104-103 at the 8:31 mark, but Minnesota blew the game open with a 12-0 run, taking a 116-103 lead on Gobert’s free throw with 5:06 left.
Avdija did hit a jumper to cut the deficit to 10 with 4:10 remaining, but McDaniels’ layup and Edwards’ triple pushed the Timberwolves’ lead to 15 with 3:32 to go.
In the first quarter, Washington got out to an early 15-point advantage, as Poole’s triple gave the Wizards a 22-7 lead at the 6:47 mark.
Washington’s lead was extended to 21 with 1:04 left on Advija’s step back 3-pointer, before Nickeil Alexander-Walker’s dunk and a Gobert free throw trimmed Minnesota’s deficit to 44-26 entering the second quarter.
Poole opened the second quarter with a jumper, but the Timberwolves answered with a 12-1 scoring run that was stamped with McDaniels’ triple, cutting the Wizards’ lead to 47-38 with 8:19 left.
Trailing by 12, Alexander-Walker’s three-pointer began an 8-0 scoring run, cutting Minnesota’s deficit to 53-49.
A 17-11 run to finish the first half gave the Wizards a 70-60 halftime advantage.
Poole led Washington with 17 first-half points, while Edwards paced Minnesota with 21.
–Field Level Media