MINNEAPOLIS — With Karl-Anthony Towns out indefinitely because of a right calf strain, the Timberwolves will take any win, any way they can get it, no matter how it looks.
Both the Wolves and Grizzlies played some ugly basketball for most of Wednesday night, and that played into the short-handed hands of the Wolves, who came away with a 109-101 victory.
Anthony Edwards led a late fourth-quarter charge after Dillon Brooks helped fire him up with a little war of words after Brooks fouled Edwards with 3 minutes, 13 seconds remaining.
Following that, Edwards scored eight points and assisted a Rudy Gobert alley-oop as the Wolves opened up an 11-point lead. Edwards finished with 29 points, 17 of those in the fourth quarter.
Brooks was later ejected arguing with officials as Edwards egged on the crowd to cheer. A few moments later, so was Ja Morant (24 points).
Towns' wasn't the only injury the Wolves were dealing with headed into Wednesday. They were also down Jaden McDaniels (illness), Taurean Prince (shoulder) and Jordan McLaughlin (left calf), all of whom figure to get significant time when healthy. So coach Chris Finch got creative with his lineups, including the starting group, which featured rookie Wendell Moore Jr. making his first NBA start.
The Grizzlies played down to their level of competition with 27 turnovers as they helped the Wolves work through their issues offensively. Jaylen Nowell and Edwards provided most of the scoring. Nowell finished with 24 points and was one of the Wolves' main sources of offense early in the game along with Edwards.
