Anthony Edwards scored a career-high 51 points on 17-for-29 shooting from the field, leading the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 130-121 win over the visiting Washington Wizards on Tuesday.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker added 23 off the bench for Minnesota (55-24), which has won four of its last five games. Rudy Gobert collected 19 points and 16 rebounds and Mike Conley scored 15 points.
The Timberwolves share lead the Western Conference lead with the Denver Nuggets, who beat the Utah Jazz 111-95.
Corey Kispert led the Wizards (15-65) with 25 points, followed by Jordan Poole’s 24. Anthony Gill, Deni Avdija and Patrick Baldwin Jr. each tallied 15 for Washington, which fell for a fourth straight time. Johnny Davis added 10 points off the bench.
After Minnesota trailed by 10 at halftime, Conley and Edwards began the third quarter with back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the deficit to 70-66.
At the 7:40 mark, a pair of Kispert free throws extended Washington’s lead to eight, before a 7-0 Minnesota run was stamped with Gobert’s three-point play with 6:07 left, cutting the Wizards’ lead to 83-82.
Trailing 89-87, Alexander-Walker tied the game on a layup, followed by Edwards’ triple which gave Minnesota its first lead with 2:04 left in the third.
The Timberwolves ended the third quarter on a 7-2 run, taking a 99-94 advantage into the fourth quarter.
From there, Gill’s hook shot cut Washington’s deficit to 104-103 at the 8:31 mark, but Minnesota blew the game open with a 12-0 run, taking a 116-103 lead on Gobert’s free throw with 5:06 left.
Avdija did hit a jumper to cut the deficit to 10 with 4:10 remaining, but McDaniels’ layup and Edwards’ triple pushed the Timberwolves’ lead to 15 with 3:32 to go.
In the first quarter, Washington got out to an early 15-point advantage, as Poole’s triple gave the Wizards a 22-7 lead at the 6:47 mark.
Washington’s lead was extended to 21 with 1:04 left on Advija’s step back 3-pointer, before Nickeil Alexander-Walker’s dunk and a Gobert free throw trimmed Minnesota’s deficit to 44-26 entering the second quarter.
Poole opened the second quarter with a jumper, but the Timberwolves answered with a 12-1 scoring run that was stamped with McDaniels’ triple, cutting the Wizards’ lead to 47-38 with 8:19 left.
Trailing by 12, Alexander-Walker’s three-pointer began an 8-0 scoring run, cutting Minnesota’s deficit to 53-49.
A 17-11 run to finish the first half gave the Wizards a 70-60 halftime advantage.
Poole led Washington with 17 first-half points, while Edwards paced Minnesota with 21.
–Field Level Media
