MINNEAPOLIS _ Jeff Teague's knee was sore. During warmups, Tyus Jones' right foot got sore. Jimmy Butler's soreness was far less specific.
But none of them played.
So, in front of a crowd that looked to fill Target Center about half-way, against the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night, coach Tom Thibodeau went with a makeshift starting lineup and hoped the Wolves would make do.
All they did was make history.
Derrick Rose, did, anyway. His two free throws with 13.8 seconds left gave him 50 points and gave the Wolves a 128-125 victory.
It was amazing, frankly. Enough that Karl-Anthony Towns' 28 points and 15 rebounds was something of an afterthought.
Rose's career regular season high was 42. His previous career high was 44, in 2001, his MVP season. As the clock wound down Rose's Wolves teammates rushed the court and surrounded him as the fans chanted MVP.
Rose scored 13 points in the first quarter, three in the second, an amazing 19 in the third and 15 more in the fourth. Time and again he charged into the lane, going right at Jazz center Rudy Gobert.
The Wolves, who won for the second straight time, led by five entering the fourth quarter, but the Jazz scored the first six of the quarter to set the stage for a back-and-forth final quarter.
Afterword, being interviewed on the court, Rose said, simply, that he worked his butt off.
"I play my heart out," he said. "My teammates told me before the game just to play my game."
Rose drove and scored on Gobert with 54 seconds left to give the Wolves a one-point lead. He scored again with 30 seconds left and scored with 13 seconds left to give the Wolves a three-point lead.
With the game tied at 121, Jazz center Gobert hit one of two free throws. At the other end Rose drove into the lane, faked Gobert, stepped back and scored with 54 seconds left. Fouled at the other end, Gobert made one of two free throws with 36.9 seconds left tying the game.
Out of a time out, Rose drove and scored again with a push-hook with 30 seconds left. At the other end, out of a time out, Gobert missed. Towns got the rebound and hit one of two with 20 seconds left for a two-point lead.
But it was Roses two free throws moments later that iced the game.
Andrew Wiggins had 19 points, Taj Gibson and Josh Okogie 10 each. Six players scored in double figure for the Jazz, led by Donovan Mitchell, who had 26.
Showing energy on defense and a willingness to share the ball on offense, the Wolves took it to the Jazz to start the game, finishing the first quarter on an 18-7 run to lead 32-25.
Rose had a nice bounce pass in the lane to Towns and an end-to-end pass to Gorgui Dieng after one of his two rebounds. It was a team effort, with Towns scoring seven in the quarter, Gibson and Okogie four. The Wolves shot nearly 60 percent, while holding the Jazz to 3-for-10 shooting on 3-pointers.
If the first quarter belonged to Rose, the second was for Wiggins and Towns. Wiggins had 12 points in the second quarter including two 3-pointers. Towns had two treys of his own as the Wolves built on that first-quarter lead.
After going 13-for-22 in the first quarter, the Wolves were 13-for-24 in the second hitting five 3-pointers as the lead grew as big as 13 before the Jazz scored the final four points of the half to pull within 65-56.
The third quarter was an amazing battle between Rose and Mitchell. Rose hit nine of 11 shots, scoring 19 points in the quarter _ which he ended with 35 points. Mitchell had 16 for Utah, which came back to take a brief lead in the quarter. With the game tied at 90, the Wolves finished the quarter on an 11-6 run and led 101-96 entering the fourth.
