For a half, the Minnesota Timberwolves kept pace with the Washington Wizards, one of the NBA's faster teams. For a half — or most of a half — they controlled Wizards guard Bradley Beal, the NBA's scoring leader. For a half the Timberwolves used hustle and defense to make up for the loss of Malik Beasley, who began serving his 12-game suspension.
For a half.
Eventually, the host Wizards woke up. Beal finished with 34 points, with 17 coming in the third quarter, 21 in the second half. Russell Westbrook had 19 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists, and Davis Bertans had 19 off the bench as the Wizards handed the Wolves their seventh straight loss, 128-112, their third straight under new coach Chris Finch.
It was the seventh victory in eight games for Washington (13-18).
With the Wolves (7-27) up 67-63 with 8:28 left in the second quarter, the Wizards finished the half on a 34-14 run to go up 17, a lead that grew to 19 early in the fourth quarter.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 23 points and 11 rebounds for the Wolves, whose biggest lead was eight points. Anthony Edwards added 21 points, and Naz Reid scored 17 off the bench.
Down 19 early in the fourth quarter, the Wolves rallied to within 10 with just under 6 minutes left in the game but Bertans hit a 3-pointer. Then, after Towns missed, Garrison Mathews hit a 3 and the lead was back to 16.
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The Star Tribune did not travel for this game. This article was written using the television broadcast and video interviews before and/or after the game.
