Playing without Karl-Anthony Towns, the Minnesota Timberwolves put up a fight against the Brooklyn Nets but came up short in a 110-105 loss on Friday night.
After learning that Towns wouldn’t play after bruising his tailbone in Wednesday’s loss to Washington, the Timberwolves built an 11 point lead in the first quarter but let Brooklyn get back into it thanks to a rash of turnovers.
The turnover bug specifically struck Anthony Edwards, who had eight of Minnesota’s 18 turnovers on the night. Despite his struggles to hold onto the ball, he still scored 17 points and put on a show with a breakaway slam in the second quarter.
A1 IS SO SPECIAL.
🐜🐜🐜 pic.twitter.com/PLC1DeNRsU
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) December 4, 2021
With Edwards unable to take over the game, the Timberwolves had to rely on others to step up in KAT’s absence. That included Naz Reid, who got the start and put up 19 points and seven rebounds.
Naz Reid.
Naz Reid.
Naz Reid. pic.twitter.com/bfe5KcIQnY— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) December 4, 2021
The Timberwolves also received a spark from D’Angelo Russell. While Russell scored a team-high 21 points against his former team, he also added 11 assists that kept Minnesota in the game.
don’t sleep on DLo’s passing 🤯 pic.twitter.com/a1i2qPDblu
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) December 4, 2021
Although the Nets held a seven-point lead in the fourth quarter, the Timberwolves battled back to make it a three-point game with under a minute to go.
In the end, the Nets had too much firepower. Patty Mills knocked down four 3-pointers on his way to a 23-point night and Kevin Durant put up a game-high 30 points including a step-back jumper with 11.1 seconds remaining to put the Timberwolves away.
The Timberwolves (11-12) will try to get back in the win column when they host the Atlanta Hawks on Monday night.
