Minnesota Timberwolves rally to beat Memphis Grizzlies
Sign up now: Get the biggest sports news in your inbox
Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards dribbles against the Memphis Grizzlies in the second quarter at Target Centre on Jan 18.
PHOTO: REUTERS
MINNESOTA – The Minnesota Timberwolves have been relentless this National Basketball Association season, and they showed again on Jan 18 why they are top of the Western Conference.
Coming off a three-game winning streak, the Timberwolves started slow but poured it on in the fourth quarter, surging to a 118-103 home victory over the Memphis Grizzlies to maintain their lead over Oklahoma City Thunder, who beat the Utah Jazz 134-129.
Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards shook off a slow start of his own, scoring 26 of his 28 points in the second half. That included 12 in the fourth quarter, when Minnesota outscored Memphis 37-17.
“I just came out slow,” Edwards, who has been battling a knee injury, told broadcaster TNT.
“I just wasn’t ready to play tonight but I saw that if I didn’t bring it to the second half, we weren’t going to be able to win the game. So I decided to just pick it up. I wasn’t ready to play early, so I had to find it.”
The Timberwolves led for less than five minutes in the first three periods at Target Centre, so the fourth period was crucial.
“It felt to me as long as we just keep it close, we can find a run,” their coach Chris Finch said.
Minnesota centre Rudy Gobert added 17 points, 10 rebounds and six blocked shots and Naz Reid had 20 points off the bench to help the team claw out the victory over the injury-depleted Grizzlies, who are without star Ja Morant for the rest of the season and juggling a raft of other injuries as well.
Jaren Jackson Jr scored 36 points and Luke Kennard drilled five three-pointers on the way to 18 points for Memphis.
The Timberwolves improved to 30-11, two games ahead of the Thunder, who silenced the Jazz with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander contributing 31 points, six rebounds and six assists.
Oklahoma City led throughout but the Jazz, who came in on a six-game winning streak, pushed them to the finish at Delta Centre.
Jalen Williams scored 11 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter and all five Thunder starters scored in double figures as Oklahoma City snapped a two-game skid.
“We’re not feeling 100 per cent... against the hottest team in the league coming in. We probably didn’t have a fastball physically, but we had our fastball mentally and competitively,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said.
The Jazz had trimmed the deficit to four points with less than a minute left, but Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren blocked a lay-up attempt and after the Jazz failed on two tries, he sealed the victory with a free throw.
Collin Sexton scored 31 points and Lauri Markkanen added 26 for the Jazz.
Elsewhere, the Indiana Pacers beat the Kings 126-121 in Sacramento, despite the continuing absence of injured playmaker Tyrese Haliburton.
Bennedict Mathurin scored 25 points to lead seven Pacers players in double figures.
In New York, Jalen Brunson scored 20 of his 41 points in the fourth quarter to propel the Knicks to a narrow 113-109 victory over the Washington Wizards.
Brunson, who scored 30 points in his return from a two-game injury absence on Jan 17, added eight rebounds and eight assists.
Julius Randle had 21 points for New York and Donte DiVincenzo and O.G. Anunoby scored 19 apiece to help the Knicks overcome 17 turnovers.
The Chicago Bulls, with 24 points from both Nikola Vucevic and DeMar DeRozan, dominated early and held on late to beat the Raptors 116-110 in Toronto.
“We knew they’re a team that never gives up, it’s not going to be a pretty game with them. They play very physical and they play a lot of different ways defensively as well. So we just knew we had to stick with it,” Vucevic said. AFP