The Minnesota Timberwolves have fallen one game under .500 (35-36) and missed a golden opportunity to move into a tie with Golden State in the Western Conference playoff race after a 139-131 loss to the Chicago Bulls in double overtime Friday night.
As disappointing as the result was, Minnesota’s bigger concern is the health of Anthony Edwards. The 21-year-old star screamed in pain after suffering a sprained ankle with just under four minutes left in the first quarter. He was originally listed as questionable only to be ruled out at the start of the second half.
An update on his condition wasn’t provided, but Edwards did spend the second half in street clothes on Minnesota’s bench.
Without Edwards, the Timberwolves put up a great fight but in the end they couldn’t stop DeMar Derozan and Zach Lavine, who finished with 49 and 39 points, respectively.
Mike Conley scored 28 points (including eight 3-pointers), Jaden McDaniels had a career-high 25 points and Rudy Gobert had 21 points, 19 rebounds and five blocks before fouling out in overtime. Kyle Anderson had a triple-double for Minnesota with 11 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists.
The final minute of the fourth quarter was whacky. After Rudy Gobert missed two free throws the Timberwolves were still leading 113-11 with 54 seconds to play. Chicago wasted its first chance with a rare 8-second violation because DeRozan was too slow to get the ball across half court.
But after a missed 3 by Conley, DeRozan drove by Anderson and made tough left-handed layup with Gobert in his face.
Tied 113-113 with 20.8 seconds to go, Minnesota opted for the final shot and Anderson was called for a double-dribble with 0.1 seconds on the clock. They never attempted a shot and the game went to overtime.
At the end of overtime, Minnesota led 123-121 when the Bulls missed a shot and Naz Reid grabbed the rebound. All the Wolves had to do was wait for the Bulls to foul and ice the game with free throws, but Taurean Prince raised up the court and turned it over with a bad pass, allowing the Lavine to tie the game with a layup in transition.
Minnesota now goes overnight to Toronto for a Saturday night game against the Raptors.
