Minnesota was sloppy all night, turning the ball over on 20% of their possessions in the first half and falling behind by double digits in the third quarter.
After a third-quarter brawl and five ejections, the Wolves were outscored 19-7 over the next four-plus minutes to find themselves trailing 102-80 with under nine minutes to play.
Key shots from Matt Ryan, Luka Garza and D’Angelo Russell during a fourth-quarter rally weren’t enough for the Wolves to complete a second straight comeback as the they lost 127-120 to Orlando.
Austin Rivers and Mo Bamba trading punches, Rivers walked over the Magic bench pic.twitter.com/mqsndd3szz
— CJ Fogler 🫡 (@cjzero) February 4, 2023
Russell continued his hot streak. leading the Wolves with 29 points on 9-of-19 shooting, including 6-of-15 from 3. But he also had six turnovers to go along with his 10 rebounds and six assists.
Garza, in just 10 minutes of action, scored 17 points – all of them in the fourth quarter. He found himself playing a bigger role after Rivers, Taurean Prince and Jaden McDaniels were ejected during the melee that also saw Orlando’s Mo Bamba and Jalen Suggs tossed from the game.
Orlando is now 21-32, but although they own one of the worst records in the NBA they have risen to the challenge against some of the best teams in the league, having beaten the Boston Celtics three times and finding ways to win against the 76ers, Warriors and Pelicans.
The loss drops the Wolves 28-27 overall and they slid into eight place in the Western Conference, though they’re only one game behind the Mavericks and Clippers for fourth and fifth place.
Minnesota wraps up its six-game homestand Sunday at 6 p.m. against the Nuggets.
