Minneapolis — Anthony Edwards scored 28 points, Naz Reid 23 and the Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the short-handed Toronto Raptors 133-85 on Wednesday to tie for first in the Western Conference. Rudy Gobert scored 11 points and grabbed 15 for Minnesota, which won by 48 points for the season's highest margin.
The Timberwolves started the day tied with Oklahoma City for second in the West, half a game behind Denver. Minnesota tied the idle Nuggets with six games left after its win.
“Taking care of business, taking advantage of a severely depleted team, and just kind of kept growing the lead,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. Playing against our own standard was the halftime challenge. Overall, I think guys played well with that throughout game.”
Toronto, which has lost 15 straight since March 3, got 16 points from Immanuel Quickley, Gradey Dick, and Javon Freeman-Liberty. Raptors lost 48 points, their most ever.
Our first quarter was competitive. We kept them from running in transition. As a half-court squad, they scored 23 points, according to Raptors coach Darko Rajaković. I believed we were growing exhausted as the game went on. We started turning over the ball. When we turned the ball over, everything opened up for them.”
Reid was hot from deep, shooting 6/10 on 3-pointers. Edwards went 5 for 12 on 3s after compiling to 0 for 19 from deep in his past three outings. “They felt the same as yesterday,” said Edwards, who missed all six deep shots against the Rockets on Tuesday. I had a couple ins and outs yesterday, so I knew today would be their day to fall.
Many injuries left Toronto with eight players. Bruce Brown (knee), RJ Barrett (knee), and Kelly Olynyk rested after playing in Tuesday's 128-111 loss to the Lakers. Gary Trent Jr. was a late scratch with back spasms.
The Raptors started Malik Williams in his NBA debut the day he signed a 10-day deal. This season, the former Louisville big man averaged 11.1 points and 9.3 rebounds for Sioux Falls of the G League. In his debut, Williams scored zero but had five rebounds and two blocks.
After defeating Houston 113-106 the night before, Minnesota guard Mike Conley relaxed. Edwards, Reid, and Jaden McDaniels sat for the entire fourth quarter as the Wolves led 91-60 after three quarters.
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