It looked like the Timberwolves (9-3) were dead in the water when Matt Ryan drilled a 3-pointer to give the Pelicans a 14-point lead with 8:04 left in the game, but Karl-Anthony Towns put the team on his back and hit the winning shot with 5 seconds left to give Minnesota a 121-120 victory.
“I saw a lot of runway, so I tried to waste a little bit of time, get to my spot,” Towns said on Bally Sports North after the game.
Towns finished with 29 points, six rebounds and nine assists. The big man hit 10-of-11 shots and was 7-of-8 from the free-throw line. Anthony Edwards added 23 points while Rudy Gobert had 17 points and 11 rebounds.
Minnesota trailed by 15 in the first half and then briefly took the lead in the third quarterback before New Orleans opened up a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter.
Five straight points – on a steal and dunk followed by a 3-pointer – from Nickeil Alexander-Walker cut the Pelicans’ lead to 108-101. And after a bucket by Edwards, Towns grabbed an offensive rebound the next trip down the court and scored an and-1 to make it 112-106 with under six minutes to play.
A three from Edwards cut the deficit to one at 112-111 with 3:55 to play, and then he cut it to one again at 117-116 with another three with just under two minutes to play. Then with 1:26 to go Towns hit a deep three to give Minnesota the lead, 119-117.
Brandon Ingram hit a wild shot to tie the game at 119-119 and then Gobert had two free throws with 29.6 seconds on the clock on he missed them both. Edwards then bumped Ingram for his sixth foul and Ingram hit one of two for a one point lead with exactly 10 seconds to go. That set the stage for Towns’ game-winner, while Ingram missed his jumper as time expired.
BRANDON INGRAM TIES IT 119-119‼️ https://t.co/meynfQ8rn8 pic.twitter.com/Fi2BimcBto
— NBA (@NBA) November 19, 2023
The Timberwolves are off Sunday before hosting the New York Knicks on Monday to start a three game home stand, which also features the 76ers in Minneapolis on Wednesday and hte Kings in town on Friday.
