PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Anthony Edwards had 40 factors, together with 14 factors within the fourth quarter, and the Minnesota Timberwolves rallied to beat the Portland Path Blazers 109-107 on Tuesday evening.
Karl-Anthony Cities added 17 factors and 17 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who improved to 24-23 to surpass their win whole from all of final season (23-49).
It wasn’t till 2.9 seconds left within the recreation when D’Angelo Russell acquired the game-winning basket on a goaltending name in opposition to Portland’s Anfernee Simons. However Edwards sparked the comeback for Timberwolves, who trailed by as many as 13 factors within the first half.
“We have been lacking pictures and our protection simply wasn’t there at first of the sport,” he stated. “We made the sport more durable and it was I really feel like. So as soon as we locked within the recreation modified for us on our aspect.”
Edwards additionally had 9 rebounds, three steals and three blocks, and made 5 3-pointers in his fourth profession 40-point recreation.
“He has that mentality. He believes he can win any battle, any recreation, any matchup. We’ve seen a couple of of those kind of performances this season. Not solely did he have the 40, however once we wanted it most, he was making huge pictures,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch stated.
The Blazers’ Jusuf Nurkic had 20 factors and 14 rebounds for his sixth straight double-double, longest streak of his profession.
The Timberwolves trailed for a lot of the sport till pulling in entrance within the remaining moments of the third quarter. The 2 groups wrestled for the lead early within the fourth, however Russell’s 3-pointer put Minnesota up 102-95 with 4:26 left — the staff’s greatest lead of the sport to that time.
Norman Powell made a pair of free throws to drag Portland inside 106-104 with 54.3 seconds left. Russell then made one in all a pair of free throws, opening the door for CJ McCollum to tie the sport at 107 with a 3-pointer with 10.2 seconds left.
The Blazers have been again in Portland for a fast two-game homestand after an prolonged highway journey throughout which they went 4-2. Whereas on the highway, the Blazers noticed the return of McCollum, who missed 17 video games with a collapsed proper lengthy and the delivery of his first youngster.
Then on Tuesday, Powell returned to the courtroom after missed the final eight video games due to COVID-19 protocols and private causes. Portland remains to be lacking star guard Damian Lillard, who's out indefinitely after stomach surgical procedure.
The Timberwolves have been with out Patrick Beverly, who missed his second recreation with a proper ankle sprain.
Ben McLemore’s 3-pointer gave Portland a 34-26 lead within the opening half. The Blazers went into the break forward 63-55.
Portland was hampered within the third quarter when Nurkic collected his fourth foul and went to the bench. With out his protection, the Timberwolves closed the hole to 79-77 late within the quarter on Cities’ 3-pointer.
Edwards’ 3-pointer tied the sport at 82 and he adopted up with a layup that gave Minnesota the lead going into the fourth quarter.
“This complete recreation was an amazing studying expertise, clearly discovered quite a bit on the fly. Generally it’s going to be classes on good nights, generally classes on unhealthy nights. I feel you’ve simply acquired to show the web page and transfer towards tomorrow,” stated Simons, who completed with 17 factors.
It was the second of 4 conferences between the 2 groups this season. The Timberwolves gained the primary, 116-111 in Portland on Dec. 12. It was the primary time that Minnesota has gained twice in Portland in a single season,
TIP-INS
Timberwolves: The sport in opposition to the Blazers was the primary of a three-game highway journey. ... Minnesota was coming off a 136-125 victory at dwelling over Brooklyn. ... Edwards led all scorers with 19 factors within the first half alone.
Path Blazers: Nassir Little was main the Blazers with 20 factors when he appeared to injure his left shoulder with simply over eighth minutes left within the recreation. ... Portland introduced through the recreation that backup middle Cody Zeller underwent surgical procedure earlier Tuesday to restore a proper patellar avulsion fracture. The staff stated he’ll be reevaluated in eight to 10 weeks. Zeller was averaging 5.2 factors and 4.6 rebounds a recreation this season. ... Russell completed with 22 factors.
UP NEXT
Timberwolves: Go to Golden State on Thursday evening.
Path Blazers: Host the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday evening.
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