Rudy Gobert left the the game with groin soreness. Jaden McDaniels picked up his fifth foul early in the third quarter. Karl-Anthony Towns and Jordan McLaughlin are still out with calf injuries. Against the odds, the Timberwolves rallied from a 14-point deficit in the third quarter and took down the Cavaliers 110-102 Saturday night in Minneapolis.
Naz Reid was outstanding. Jaylen Nowell provided some fire off the bench. Luka Garza was a force in limited minutes in the second half. And Anthony Edwards was a beast to fuel Minnesota to its sixth win in seven games – this one coming on the second night of a back-to-back against a team with the fifth-best record in the NBA.
Edwards had 26 points, six rebounds and seven assists.
Reid scored 17 points off the bench and Nowell added 16. Garza had nine points in ten minutes off the bench, seven of them in a second-half surge that helped Minnesota come back from 14 points down in the third quarter.
Minnesota had Gobert for only 13 minutes before he left with a sore groin. D’Angelo Russell had only nine points in 21 minutes, with head coach Chris Finch electing to stick with Nowell over Russell down the stretch.
The Bally Sports North broadcast team noted how Russell was set to check in in the fourth quarter until Nowell hit a pull-up jumper and drew a foul, prompting Finch to call Russell back to the bench. Russell was nothing but supportive of the move, according to BSN analyst Jim Petersen.
The win gets Minnesota back to .500 at 22-22 ahead of Monday’s matinee (2:30 p.m.) game against the Utah Jazz.
