With the Minnesota Timberwolves leading by three in the final 20 seconds of regulation, Anthony Edwards dribbled out the shot clock, tried to cross up Celtics guard Derrick White and kicked the ball, picked it up and fired.
Splash.
Edwards finished with 39 points and zero turnovers to power Minnesota to a 119-115 victory at home against Boston on Saturday.
Was that play ugly? You bet. Minnesota doesn’t care at the moment. It had to win one of these games — because disaster nearly struck again.
The Wolves cranked up their defensive pressure in the second half to turn a 10-point halftime deficit into a 12-point lead with fewer than four minutes to play. Two minutes later, Boston tied the game on a Jaylen Brown triple with 98 ticks left on the clock.
It wouldn’t be a Timberwolves’ game if it wasn’t dramatic. Minnesota’s late-game execution has been the cause of ire of late, as the Wolves had booted three straight games they could’ve won.
Minnesota came down on the next possession Saturday and Edwards fired off a contested jumper that hit off the iron. But the loose ball went off Brown’s fingertips, allowing the Wolves to maintain possession.
The Wolves (11-8) dialed up an out-of-bounds play that resulted in an open corner triple for Mike Conley, which he hit, to put Minnesota up for good.
Timberwolves coach Chris Finch highlighted the defensive effort that put Minnesota in a position to win Saturday. The Wolves were sluggish on that end in the first half, surrendering 69 points to the hot-shooting Celtics (10-9).
But the screws were tightened over the last 24 minutes. Boston scored just 46 points over the final two quarters and went nearly a full quarter of game time without hitting a triple. Brown had 41 points to pace Boston, but 27 of those came in the first half.
“In the second half, we came to play,” Finch said.
As a result, Minnesota now has its first win of the season over an opponent with a winning record. It can go for its second such victory Sunday against San Antonio at 6 p.m. at Target Center.
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