Anthony Edwards scored 20 of his 33 points in the third quarter to fuel the host Minnesota Timberwolves to a 109-105 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday in Minneapolis.
Edwards was questionable to play Sunday due to a left knee contusion. The top overall pick of the 2020 NBA Draft certainly didn’t look hindered by the injury, as he made 10 of 16 shots from the floor and 11 of 12 attempts from the free-throw line.
Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns scored 17 points and Rudy Gobert recorded 15 points and 18 rebounds for his third straight double-double. Jaden McDaniels added 14 points for the Timberwolves, who have won two in a row and 16 of 18 games at home this season.
Minnesota shot 56.7 percent from the floor (38 of 67) and 50 percent from 3-point range (13 of 26).
The Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard contributed 26 points and nine rebounds and Norman Powell sank six 3-pointers to highlight his 24-point performance off the bench. Paul George scored 16 points and James Harden added 14 for the Clippers, who saw their three-game winning streak come to an end.
Harden and Powell each made a 3-pointer to trim Minnesota’s lead to 103-100 with 1:10 remaining in the fourth quarter. Gobert sank four free throws. Russell Westbrook responded with a 3-pointer but Edwards hit two more free throws to give the Timberwolves a six-point lead. Westbrook answered with two free throws to bring the Clippers within four points with 15.6 seconds to play before the team ran out of steam.
Edwards made two short jumpers, a mid-range jumper, two 3-pointers and eight free throws in the third to pace Minnesota to an 81-68 lead heading into the final quarter.
George and Powell each drained a 3-pointer to trim Los Angeles’ deficit to 89-80 with 7:32 left in the fourth quarter. Kyle Anderson halted that momentum by making a short floater and drilling a 3-pointer as part of the Timberwolves’ 8-0 run.
The Timberwolves bolted out of the blocks and raced out to a 21-8 lead before Los Angeles slowly began to chip away. The Clippers trimmed their deficit to 10 at the end of the first quarter and scored 26 of the first 41 points in the second to take a one-point lead before Edwards’ bucket with 23.4 seconds left gave Minnesota a 46-45 advantage at halftime.
–Field Level Media
