Timberwolves move back atop West after 133-85 win over Raptors
Naz Reid #11 of the Minnesota Timberwolves dunks the ball in the first quarter of the game against the Toronto Raptors at Target Center on April 3, 2024 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. ((Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images))
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The Minnesota Timberwolves are back atop the Western Conference with six regular season games to play after a 133-85 win over the Toronto Raptors Wednesday night at Target Center.
The Timberwolves improved to 53-23 on the season, the second-best regular season record in the history of the franchise. They’re back to the No. 1 seed in the West after Oklahoma City lost to Boston Wednesday night, and Denver faces the L.A. Clippers Thursday night. The Timberwolves and Nuggets have identical records, but Minnesota currently holds the tiebreaker.
The Timberwolves are having their best season in 20 years, and beat a depleted Raptors’ squad that sat 10 players and dressed just eight. Minnesota led 58-42 at half and pulled away with a 33-18 third quarter.
"Taking care of business, taking care of a severely depleted team. That was the challenge at halftime was to play against our own standard," Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said after the win. "Guys I thought for the most part did a great job of that all game long."
They have Naz Reid and Anthony Edwards to thank for the win. Reid had 18 of his 23 points in the first half. Edwards had gone three straight games without making a three-pointer, and ended an 0-for-19 skid from the perimeter by going 5-of-12 Wednesday night. He finished with 28 points, six assists and three rebounds.
"I love the fact that he took 12 of them just to try to shoot himself back into some rhythm. That was really good to see. I thought he stayed within the flow of the game, I was happy with him being that aggressive tonight," Finch said.
"Hell yeah, hell yeah. It felt the same as yesterday, yesterday I had a couple ins and outs, so I knew today was going to be the day that it was going to fall," Edwards said.
Minnesota’s 53 wins is second-best in franchise history, and it needs to win five of its last six to match the 2003-04 squad, led by Kevin Garnett, that had 58 regular season wins. That Timberwolves team also went to the Western Conference Finals.
The Timberwolves are closing in on being no worse than a No. 3 seed for the playoffs, now 4.5 games ahead of the Clippers with six to play. Minnesota is 28-10 at Target Center this season. They head west for their next two games against the Phoenix Suns and L.A. Lakers.
"For us it’s all about playing in our best rhythm. We talked about what playing on our home court means for us. We’ve got a couple games coming up here that are really meaningful. They’re possible playoff opponents, those teams are fighting for their lives, it’s going to be a great test for us. The more that we can go through those things all the way to the end, the better for us."