On paper, this was a Friday evening prime time matchup, literally broadcasted on Prime.
When the two teams met two weeks ago, the Minnesota Timberwolves made the most dramatic overtime comeback in NBA history. Anthony Edwards wasn’t even active for that game, but he suited up today for the first time after missing 10 of the last 12 games. The Wolves may have been locked into the sixth seed in the Western Conference standings, but the Houston Rockets sat just above them at the fifth seed still with an opportunity to move up before the end of the season.
But then came the injury report.
Minnesota smartly opted to rest Naz Reid for the first time, while keeping Rudy Gobert, Julius Randle, and Bones Hyland in street clothes as well. Wolves fans hoping to avoid a postseason date with the Denver Nuggets were liking shadow-rooting for a Minnesota loss, as it would keep the dream alive for a different first round matchup*.
(*The Nuggets ultimately won their game midway through this Wolves game, eliminating the Rockets chances at the three seed.)
Back to the actual game at hand.
Kyle Anderson and Joan Beringer got the nod in the starting lineup and immediately made their presence known. The 32-year-old veteran, Anderson, dinked and dunked in seven first quarter points. Meanwhile, the 19-year-old rookie impressed with two big slams early, including snatching away a Rockets sidelines inbounds pass before traveling throwing in two of his six first quarter points.
Edwards was understandably rusty on both ends of the court early, going zero for three in his opening shift. However, one teammate who wasn’t cold was Terrence Shannon Jr. Fresh off a career-high 33-point performance, Shannon continued on this heater by swishing all three of his treys. The Wolves were laying waste to the Rockets defense, converting on 57% of their first half field goal attempts.
Unfortunately, Houston scored on 68% of their own looks.
Kevin Durant was doing what Kevin Durant does. The two-time Finals MVP was just having shooting practice, knocking in shots over Jaden McDaniels over and over. His 17-point first quarter was only outshined by Amen Thompson, who could’ve been mistaken as DeMar DeRozan tonight based on the amount of mid-range jumpers he was making. Thompson led the Rockets with 24 first half points of his own, on his way to a career-high 41 points on 17 of 22 shots.
The lack of defense from both clubs made for some riveting back-and-forth action. Neither team got more than two possessions ahead of the other in the first half. In the second half, Houston looked like were going to be the first team to seize control of the game. They built up a 10-point lead midway through the third quarter thanks to Minnesota’s soft interior defense and typical foul issues.
Outside of a springy dunk over Jabari Smith in the first half, Edwards only had seven points on two for six shooting. He missed his first two attempts in the third quarter, but then uncorked a flurry of jumpers and letting any Rockets defender know about it. Things were getting spicy, as Edwards notched a 12-point quarter to match Durant’s scoring efforts.
Edwards was still on a minutes restrictions, so it looked like Houston were in prime position to pump their lead back up against Minnesota’s second line. Unfortunately for the home team, as they have all season, they had a complete meltdown to start the fourth. They immediately committed three straight non-shooting fouls in the first minute, muting their defensive intensity.
Donte DiVincenzo took advantage, attacking Alperen Şengün and chipping in points in a row for Minnesota. Mike Conley also canned his third triple in as many attempts. McDaniels painted a defensive masterpiece all in one possession, stripping Reed Sheppard, blocking Jabari Smith, then corralling the rebound. But the player who stood out the most was Shannon, who contributing nine of his team-high 23 points in the quarter as well.
You already know that a poster dunk was part of it.
This was all just a setup for the final clutch time minutes of the game. Edwards returned to the game with 4:02 remaining and his team sporting a nine-point lead. Şengün, Durant, and Thompson led a swift 8-2 run to pull within just five points with still over two minutes remaining. Edwards stared down one of his favorite teammates of all-time, Josh Okogie, and went one-on-one against him. After bobbling the ball, he was called for an offensive push-off foul. Durant split a pair of free throws on the other end, giving Edwards another shot at Okogie.
This time, Edwards reminded us all who he was.
When you zoom out and look at this game, consider the following:
- Minnesota was without several key starters and rotation players
- Edwards was on a minutes restrictions
- Minnesota had nothing to play for (standings wise).
- Houston had something to play for (standings wise).
- Houston was playing at home
- Houston was at full-strength (minus Fred VanVleet)
- Houston was winners of eight in a row, with their last lost an all-time blunder against Minnesota
- Houston shot 60.9% from the field thanks to 86 paint points
- Houston shot and made more free throws than Minnesota
Yet the Timberwolves won by multiple possessions. It’s just one game, but it might be fair to ponder if the Wolves are indeed back.
NBA
Shoutout Joan for a perfect night from the field.
Minnesota packs their bags and heads back home for the final game of the season. They play host to the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday, April 12, at 5:30 PM CT, but more importantly, this is the game that Kevin Garnett returns to Target Center. If you haven’t gotten your tickets yet, they’re likely going to be hard to find. Will we get the return of the “KG Cam?“
This specific game will have no impact on the standings and playoff seedings. The Pelicans just got crushed by the Celtics while the Wolves will likely want no more than one half of action for their regular rotation players. This game will be broadcast on FanDuel Sports Network.
