Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle scored 24 points apiece, and the Minnesota Timberwolves held on for a 112-101 win over the Toronto Raptors on Saturday night in Minneapolis.
Donte DiVincenzo added 16 points off the bench for Minnesota, which won its home opener. Rudy Gobert finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds.
Gradey Dick scored 25 points on 9-for-16 shooting to lead Toronto. Scottie Barnes had 20 points, eight rebounds and six assists, and Ochai Agbaji scored 19.
The Timberwolves shot 47 percent (39 of 83) from the field and 37.8 percent (14 of 37) from 3-point range. The Raptors shot 45.6 percent (41 of 90) overall and 34.5 percent (10 of 29) from beyond the arc.
Toronto committed 20 turnovers, compared with 13 for Minnesota.
The Raptors closed the gap to seven points on a dunk by Barnes with 1:21 to go.
Edwards answered with a 3-pointer on the next possession to make it 108-98. Gobert blocked Barnes’ layup attempt on the next possession, and Edwards capitalized on the other end with a layup to build the lead back to 12.
Minnesota entered the fourth quarter with an 89-72 advantage.
A basket by Randle put the Timberwolves on top by 22 points with 5:30 left in the third quarter. Toronto cut the deficit to 15 points in the final minute, but DiVincenzo made a jumper with 2.5 seconds remaining to push the lead to 17.
The Timberwolves led 56-44 at the half.
DiVincenzo provided an early highlight when he drained a 3-pointer from 31 feet with 2:02 remaining in the first quarter. He noticed the shot clock winding down and drilled a deep shot from right of the Timberwolves’ logo.
DiVincenzo connected again, this time on a 28-footer, with 29.6 seconds remaining in the first quarter. His second shot from long distance gave Minnesota a 32-16 edge.
The Timberwolves increased their lead to 40-22 with 8:26 left in the first half. Nickeil Alexander-Walker made a 3-pointer off an assist from Naz Reid.
Toronto scored the next seven points to pull within 11. The run included a layup by Jakob Poeltl, a three-point play by D.J. Carton and a basket by Dick.
–Field Level Media