Rudy Gobert matched his career-high with 35 points as the Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the visiting Brooklyn Nets 117-91 on Friday night in Minneapolis.
Gobert also had 11 rebounds while fellow frontcourt veteran Julius Randle added 21 points — including 5 of 6 on 3-point attempts — as Minnesota (48-33) overtook the Memphis Grizzlies in the Western Conference standings and edged closer to a playoff berth.
Entering the final day of the regular season on Sunday, the Timberwolves sit seventh in the standings but are tied with the sixth-place Golden State Warriors. They are also one game behind the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Clippers, who occupy the fourth and fifth slots.
The team that finishes seventh out of the group will knocked into the play-in tournament.
The only concern for the Timberwolves was a technical foul called against superstar guard Anthony Edwards — his 18th of the season — with 6:29 remaining in the first half.
That leaves Edwards, who was held to nine points, poised to be suspended for Minnesota’s regular-season finale against the Utah Jazz on Sunday.
Any player who acquires 16 technical fouls in a season receives an automatic one-game suspension. An additional one-game ban is then applied for every two technicals a player receives thereafter.
Keon Johnson scored 20 points for Brooklyn (26-55). Trendon Watford contributed 15 and Jalen Wilson had 14.
The Nets were left to rue another terrible start, shooting just 7 of 21 from the floor that included 2 of 13 from 3-point range, while coughing up six turnovers to fall behind 28-16 after the first quarter.
Wilson and Johnson combined to lift Brooklyn in the second frame before Edwards’ technical for showing dissent at referee Ray Acosta briefly threatened to derail the Wolves.
The Nets closed to 47-41 before Minnesota reasserted control and increased its advantage to 64-52 at halftime.
The Timberwolves maintained that momentum in the third by hitting 12 of 16 shots — including 8 of 8 in the paint — to outscore Brooklyn 28-16 and stretch their lead to 98-73 with a quarter to play.
Randle hit 3-of-3 threes for the period while Gobert (11 points) was regularly proving too much to handle inside.
With the result beyond doubt in the last frame, the main focus was whether Gobert could match or exceed the 35 points he scored for the Utah Jazz against the New York Knicks on March 22, 2017. The 12-year veteran matched his previous best with his seventh dunk — an alley-oop finish from Nickeil Alexander-Walker’s feed — before subbing out with 3:22 left.
–Field Level Media
