MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Timberwolves were without five of their seven primary players for a significant portion of their historic extra-period comeback to defeat the Houston Rockets.
They opted for concentration rather than despair.
With a match-ending 15-0 surge, the Timberwolves overturned a 13-point deficit for a 110-108 triumph over the Rockets. No other NBA squad has surmounted such a substantial overtime disadvantage since the league commenced documenting minute-by-minute actions with the 1997-98 season.
“They battled through considerable hardship. We ought to have secured a win in regulation. We merited victory in that game. We were the superior squad throughout the evening, and we afforded them an opportunity to seize it from us, but we reclaimed it immediately,” remarked coach Chris Finch.
After squandering an 11-point advantage with 3½ minutes remaining in regulation and contending with disproportionate foul rulings all night, the Timberwolves found themselves behind by 13 points with under two minutes gone in the extra period Wednesday.
Prominent player Anthony Edwards was sidelined for a fifth consecutive game due to a knee ailment. Crucial reserve Ayo Dosunmu was out, too, with a tender calf. Jaden McDaniels, who contributed 25 points and impressive defensive effort on Rockets star Kevin Durant, began limping in the final moments of the fourth quarter and was forced to exit. Rudy Gobert, who delivered a resilient 14 points, 14 rebounds, and five blocks, committed his sixth personal foul.
Then, at the commencement of the extra period, Naz Reid was removed from the game after expressing his dissatisfaction with referee Scott Foster for an offensive infraction ruling. The spectators at Target Center were gradually departing.
But after Alperen Sengun’s slam elevated the Rockets’ lead to 108-95, culminating an astonishing 26-2 surge, the Timberwolves declined to surrender on this crucial match for Western Conference postseason standing.
“You just have to approach it one play at a time. The most vital aspect is remaining present,” said Julius Randle, who took on the responsibility of guarding Durant with Kyle Anderson after McDaniels left the court.
Mike Conley, who received an uncommon opening assignment with Edwards and Dosunmu out of commission, netted a three-point shot with 2:45 left. Anderson tapped in Randle’s missed layup, provoked a foul on Sengun, and completed an old-fashioned three-point opportunity. Then the Timberwolves compelled an eight-second turnover by preventing the Rockets from progressing beyond midcourt.
Donte DiVincenzo drove in for a close-range shot off a pass from Anderson to reduce the gap to five points. Randle secured Sengun’s missed attempt near the basket before outmaneuvering him for a layup on the other end to draw the Timberwolves to within 108-105 with 1:34 left.
DiVincenzo evened the contest with a 3-pointer. Sengun failed to convert a jump shot. Then Randle drilled a pull-up attempt with 8.8 seconds remaining to seize the advantage.
“We’ve got genuine contenders in here, individuals eager for the trial. It’s not our initial instance of doing something like that,” said Randle, who tallied 24 points, all after halftime. “When it becomes challenging, we unite as a collective. It elicits our peak performance.”
Following this triumph, the Timberwolves (45-28) maintained a half-game deficit to Denver (46-28) for the fourth position in the Western Conference. They extended their lead to 1½ games over Houston (43-29) and, crucially, balanced the season’s matchups at one win each. The Wolves will meet the Rockets away from home on April 10.
Even though they attempted 63 shots from the restricted area and received merely 10 free throws as a result, the Timberwolves managed to secure a win. Even after Randle was assessed a foul on Durant on his drive with 3.3 seconds left, dispatching him to the charity stripe with the Rockets a perfect 23-for-23 in the game at that point. He missed, then purposely misfired the subsequent attempt to endeavor to retain the ball.
“I’m so gratified that we persevered. We had numerous chances to become greatly disheartened tonight,” Gobert said. “Primarily, we successfully surmounted those challenges. That’s the guiding principle for our team. We want to secure a league title, so we know challenges will arise. We know it’s going to manifest in various forms.”