Anthony Edwards scored 13 of his 32 points in the final 5:38 as the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Portland Trail Blazers 113-106 on Wednesday in Minneapolis.
Rudy Gobert had 17 points and 12 rebounds to help Minnesota emerge victorious in a game that featured 11 ties and 13 lead changes. Luka Garza added 14 points and Taurean Prince scored 11 after missing the past 20 games due to a right shoulder injury.
Damian Lillard led Portland with 27 points, while Jerami Grant added 26, Anfernee Simons had 16, Shaedon Sharpe chipped in 13 and Jusuf Nurkic had 10 points and eight rebounds before fouling out.
Minnesota led by four entering the fourth quarter and took control in the final minutes behind Edwards, who has scored 30-plus points in three of his last four games.
Edwards scored nine straight points to put the Wolves ahead 105-100 with 3:08 remaining. Lillard’s trey cut the lead to 109-103 with 1:36 left before Edwards answered with a layup on the next possession.
The Wolves bolted to a 25-12 lead before Portland closed the first quarter on a 12-4 run to cut the deficit to 29-24.
Garza scored 11 points in the first quarter for Minnesota, which had lost its first two meetings against the Blazers this season.
The Wolves held Lillard to seven points on 1-of-6 shooting in the first half and carried a 60-53 lead into the break. Grant had 20 points to lead all scorers.
Portland took its first lead since the game’s opening minutes when Grant converted three foul shots early in the third quarter to put the Blazers ahead 64-63.
Grant, who exited the game late in the third quarter with a left quad contusion, returned midway through the fourth and finished with five rebounds and three steals for the game.
Minnesota, which snapped a six-game losing streak with a win over the Denver Nuggets on Monday, shot 51.3 percent from the field and 9 of 24 (37.5 percent) from 3-point range.
Gary Payton II sat out with a right ankle sprain for Portland, which shot 44 percent from the field and 9 of 29 (31 percent) from beyond the arc.
–Field Level Media
