Anthony Edwards scored 28 of his season-high 37 points in the second half as the host Minnesota Timberwolves pulled away down the stretch and set a franchise record for points in a 150-126 rout over the slumping Chicago Bulls Sunday night.
After starting out 3 of 10, Edwards made 10 of 15 shots after halftime when Minnesota outscored Chicago 79-61. He also added a career-high 11 assists to go along with seven rebounds.
D’Angelo Russell returned from missing two games with a left knee contusion and scored 20 of his 28 points during Minnesota’s 71-point opening half after being listed as questionable. Russell shot 10 of 14 for the game and made seven of the club’s 23 3-pointers. He also dished out eight assists.
The Timberwolves won their second straight without Rudy Gobert (sprained left ankle) and lost Naz Reid to a neck injury in the first half. Even without Gobert, Reid and Karl-Anthony Towns, they had no problem eclipsing the previous record of 149 set March 14 at San Antonio.
Reserve Nathan Knight added 16, Jaden McDaniels contributed 15 and Austin Rivers chipped in 14 off the bench as the Wolves shot a blistering 65.5 percent. It was their third-highest field goal percentage in team history.
DeMar DeRozan led six Bulls in double figures with 29 points, but the club fell apart again in the second half, absorbing its fourth straight loss and falling to 3-8 in the past 11 games. Nikola Vucevic added 23 and Zach LaVine finished with 22 as the Bulls shot 52.3 percent.
After allowing 13 straight points, the Bulls erased an eight-point deficit with a 14-4 run over the final 3:18, and Coby White’s 3-pointer with 20.7 seconds left put Chicago up 34-32 after the first quarter. Russell’s sixth trey opened a 65-52 lead with 3:21 remaining, and the Wolves settled for a 71-65 lead by halftime.
Edwards dominated the third quarter with 19 points, hitting seven of his eight shots, including a buzzer-beating 32-foot 3-pointer to give the Wolves a 113-97 lead. DeRozan’s layup sliced the lead to 118-108 with 8:22 left, but 3-pointers by Edwards, Knight and Rivers gave Minnesota a 127-109 edge a little over two minutes later.
The Wolves set their record for points on a jumper by Bryn Forbes with 25.6 seconds left.
–Field Level Media
