The thrill ride that is the Minnesota Timberwolves had it all Friday night.
An icy start, an electric third quarter, an amazing comeback.
Another loss.
Down 19 in the second quarter and 16 early in the third, the Wolves had a 25-1 run from early in the third to early in the fourth — one that included an incredible baseline drive and dunk by Anthony Edwards at the end of the third quarter – to take an eight point lead early in the fourth.
But up six with 3:40 left, the Wolves were outscored 11-0 the rest of the way in an 86-81 loss to Toronto at Target Center.
Playing on the back end of back-to-back nights, with Kyle Lowry not playing, the Raptors got 31 points from Norman Powell, 12 from Fred VanVleet and 11 off the bench from Terence Davis. It was Davis' 3-pointer with 30.8 seconds left, that put the Raptors up for good.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 19 points and 13 rebounds for the Wolves, Malik Beasley had 13 and Jordan McLaughlin scored 11.
It was the Wolves that looked like the team playing on the back end of back-to-backs in the first quarter. The Toronto defense held Minnesota to 5-for-22 shooting in the first. So it was somewhat surprising they were only down 28-15 when the quarter ended.
Seven players scored in the first 12 minutes for Toronto, which opened the game with a 7-0 run. The Wolves battled back to pull within two three times, the last time on Jarred Vanderbilt's dunk with 8:32 left in the quarter.
The rest of the quarter: Toronto.
The Raptors outscored the Wolves 17-4 the rest of the way, with Powell scoring eight points.
The Wolves didn't exactly warm up in the second quarter, making just 9 of 23 shots and 2 of 11 3-pointers. Still, Minnesota cut three points off the Toronto lead, pulling within 45-35 at the end of a very defensive-minded first half.
How?
The Wolves offense was struggling, but the defense was there. The Wolves held Toronto to 6-for-23 shooting in the second quarter, holding everyone not named Powell to just three points in the quarter. Powell, though, scored 14.
The Raptors went up 38-19 on Powell's 3-pointer with 7:25 left in the half. The rest of the way it was Wolves, 16-7. As the Raptors were finishing the half making just three of their final 16 shots, the Wolves worked their way back, with Towns scoring four, Beasley five and Ricky Rubio five. Rubio's corner 3-pointer with 3:24 left in the half was just the second make in 21 3-point attempts at that point.
Things changed in the third.
Down 16 after VanVleet hit a 3-pointer with 8:23 left in the third quarter, the Wolves turned it on, outscoring Toronto 23-1 the rest of the quarter.
The move coincided with coach Ryan Saunders inserting Jake Layman into the lineup. He had five points in the ensuing 16-0 run that tied the game. But the Wolves weren't through. By the time Edwards had slammed the ball home, gotten fouled and made the free throw with 10.2 seconds left, the Wolves were up six entering the fourth.
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The Star Tribune reporter did not attend this game. This article was written using the television broadcast and video interviews before and/or after the game.
