Down 114-111 with 1.5 seconds to play, Timberwolves backup center Naz Reid caught an inbound pass, turned and buried a high-arcing 3 at the buzzer to force overtime. But the jubilation inside Target Center ended in a frustrating 124-123 Minnesota loss to the Brooklyn Nets.
Naz Reid game-tying 3 pic.twitter.com/4k5lUXiY3O
— Timberwolves Clips (@WolvesClips) March 11, 2023
In overtime, back-to-back buckets from Jaden McDaniels and Anthony Edwards gave Minnesota a 121-118 lead with under 90 seconds go play, but Mikal Bridges and Dorian Finney-Smith had 3s on each end of an Edwards airball and the Nets led 124-121 with 36.5 seconds left in overtime.
Edwards scored on strong drive and then Minnesota got a defense stop, getting the ball out of a timeout with 8.6 seconds left and trailing 124-123. Brooklyn used a foul they had to give with 5.6 seconds left and then Conley missed a 3 as time expired, sending the Wolves to a loss that is difficult swallow.
Minnesota (34-34) falls to eighth in the Western Conference, though they’re only a half game behind the Mavericks (34-33) and Warriors (34-33) and one game behind the fifth-place Clippers.
The Clippers, Warriors and Mavericks are all in action Saturday.
- Clippers vs. Knicks at 3 p.m .
- Mavericks at Grizzlies at 7 p.m.
- Warriors vs. Bucks at 7:30 p.m.
Edwards scored 19 points in the first half but then didn’t score again until there was just under seven minutes left in the fourth quarter. He entered overtime with 28 points and finished with 32 points.
Rudy Gobert had 26 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals, and Kyle Anderson stuffed the box score with 15 points, 11 assists and 7 rebounds.
Bridges led the Nets with 34 points, and Spencer Dinwiddie had 29 points and 11 assists.
The Timberwolves led by eight points at the half before getting outscored by Brooklyn 37-20 in the third quarter. Minnesota then had to rally from eight points down in the fourth quarter just to force overtime.
Up next: Timberwolves at Atlanta Hawks, Monday at 6:30 p.m. CST
