Timberwolves 117, Nets 91: No Sleep for Brooklyn

The Wolves win comfortably, but Anthony Edwards received his 18th technical foul, setting up a potential suspension in the season finale on Sunday.

Just one night after their most pivotal victory of the season over the Memphis Grizzlies, the Minnesota Timberwolves took on the Brooklyn Nets as 21-point favorites.

The stakes for the game were clear, if the Timberwolves win their last two games of the year, both against tanking teams, they will clinch a top-six seed and avoid the Play-In tournament. If they lose either game, they will almost certainly end the season as the seventh or eighth seed.

As has often been the case with the Wolves, they started the game off slow, falling down 9-2 in the opening minutes. The poor play would turn around quickly as Minnesota ended the first quarter outscoring Brooklyn 26-7 to take a 12-point lead.

The second quarter followed a very similar script. The Wolves played poorly to open the quarter, allowing the Nets to cut the lead down to six before the Wolves built it back up to 17. The Timberwolves would finish the half up 64-52.

The most consequential play of the first half came midway through the second quarter when Anthony Edwards received his 18th technical foul of the year. Unless the technical is rescinded by the league, Edwards will be suspended for the Wolves’ regular-season finale against the Utah Jazz on Sunday.

Coming out of the halftime locker room the Timberwolves took control of the game in, with Rudy Gobert dominating the interior and Julius Randle raining down 3-pointers. The pair combined for 20 points in the quarter, allowing the Wolves to take full control of the game.

The Wolves outscored the Nets by 13 points to give them a 25-point lead heading into the final quarter.

The Wolves’ offense sputtered most of the fourth quarter, scoring just 19 points, but their defense kept the game from becoming close as the Nets never cut the lead to below 18 as the Timberwolves took care of business 117-91.

Gobert dominated in the paint the entire night, tying his career-high of 35 points. Rudy made 13 of his 17 shots to go along with nine made free throws and 11 rebounds. Randle also had a solid game, scoring 21 points including five 3-pointers. Keon Johnson led the way for the Nets with 20 points, six assists, and five rebounds.

---

Key Takeaways

Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

Edwards’ Potentially Suspended

For the second time this season, Ant is looking at a possible suspension due to technical fouls. In the second quarter, Edwards received his 18th technical foul of the season, which unless rescinded by the league, would mean Edwards would be suspended for the Wolves final game against Utah.

Ant spoke to the media after the game and knew exactly what the first question would be, why he received the technical foul.

“I tried to play good defense. They called a foul. I said, what was the f’ing foul and he gave me a tech. I hope they look at it and rescind it so I can play in a couple days”

Timberwolves coach Chris Finch expressed a similar sentiment about the situation when asked after the game if he got about why Ant got the technical.

“I did not really good a good or clear explanation of why the technical occurred. It didn’t seem like there was any egregious or overly demonstrative or anything like that.”

The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski conducted a pool report with Crew Chief Bill Kennedy about why Edwards was assessed a technical foul

“Anthony Edwards was assessed a technical foul for use of profanity directed toward an official.”

It is difficult to determine whether or not the technical will be rescinded or not. Edwards seemingly only using the f-word a single time does not seem to warrant a technical, but Edwards leading the league in technicals may not give him much benefit of the doubt when it comes to these types of incidents with the officials.

The Timberwolves should be able to defeat the Jazz even without Edwards, but the potential absence of the Wolves’ best player would open the door to the possibility of a catastrophic Wolves loss on the final day of the regular season.

Rudy Gobert Dominates

Gobert has often excelled against opponents who don’t have the size to defend him in the paint or keep him off the glass. That was certainly the case tonight where Gobert tied his career high with 35 points with the other game coming in March of 2017 for the Jazz against the New York Knicks.

Gobert spoke after the game about being successful in games against lesser opponents, something the Wolves have desperately needed this season.

““I just want to win. That’s a great compliment, a habit of winning. I like that. But yeah, I know how those games, I know how sometimes in this league it can be a challenge for us, and I know that my approach for me to set the tone on both ends puts us in great position to be successful.”

The past few weeks, Gobert has been playing by far the best he has all season. He is back to playing at a Defensive Player of the Year level while having possibly the best offensive stretch of his career in Minnesota.

Similar to a season ago, the Wolves will need these types of performances from Gobert, especially offensively, to reach their playoff ceiling. If this recent stretch of games is any indication, Gobert and the Wolves may be finding their stride at the exact right time of the year.

---

Up Next

The Timberwolves close out the regular season on Sunday at Target Center against the league-worst Jazz. With a win, the Wolves will clinch a top-six seed and possibly the 4th or 5th seed depending on outcomes across the NBA.

Every team in the Western Conference plays at the same time, 2:30 PM CT with the Wolves game airing locally on FanDuel Sports Network.

---

Game Highlights