AUSTIN, TEXAS – In order to keep their chances of a top-eight finish alive, the Timberwolves needed to overcome one of their biggest flaws — an inability to beat teams at the bottom of the standings.
After a season full of head-shaking, inexplicable losses to the worst teams in the league, the Wolves finally did as they should in setting a franchise record for points with a 151-131 victory over San Antonio in Austin, where the Spurs played their last two home games.
The Wolves improved to 6-10 on the season against the bottom five teams in the league, and it's one of the main reasons why they find themselves in such an important game Sunday and not higher in the standings. At a minimum, Sunday's winner in their game against the Pelicans at Target Center will finish eighth in the Western Conference headed into this week's play-in tournament.
That is significant because it would give the Wolves two games to win one to make the playoffs, instead of needing to win two play-in games should they fall to the No. 9 seed. The Wolves were officially eliminated from reaching a top-six seed when the Clippers beat Portland, but they could still move up to the No. 7 spot and play host to the first play-in game — as they did last year — with a Lakers loss to Utah on Sunday.
"We've been playing playoff games for a long time now," coach Chris Finch said. "Every game has felt like a playoff game, but for sure there's a lot at stake tomorrow. We're at home. It's all we can ask for and it's going to be a toughie."
For a change, the Wolves didn't have a "toughie" Saturday, even if it looked like they might at the start. The score was tied 35-35 after one quarter before the Wolves got some separation on the scoreboard in the second and then bludgeoned San Antonio with a 39-23 third quarter.
In the second quarter, the team's bench had one of its strongest stretches of late as Taurean Prince (15 points) and Nickeil Alexander-Walker (16) overcame some tough shooting stretches of late for a 15-4 Wolves run that put them up double digits.
The Wolves then went 10-for-12 from three-point range in the third quarter with Jaden McDaniels (16 points) hitting all four of his attempts from deep. The Wolves hit a season-high 24 threes. Anthony Edwards had one of his best offensive games in a while with 33 points while Karl-Anthony Towns added 22 points, eight assists and eight rebounds.
The Wolves led by as many as 33 and the blowout allowed Finch to rest his starters the second half of the fourth quarter.
Edwards has battled a sprained right ankle and a team-wide illness that has affected several players. These past few games Edwards has looked more like his old self, and he feels that way too.
"I feel like I'm back to myself, the young guy in the locker room who bring all the energy," Edwards said. "... I mean, it was a little frustrating, for real, because I couldn't play how I wanted to play. I wasn't having the best games. I wasn't feeling like myself out there. It was just something I had to go through."
Getting Edwards back to himself is paramount for the Wolves, who have now won their past two games after dropping their previous three. If they can extend that win streak to four, they will earn a playoff berth for a second consecutive season. Multiple players said they are trying not to think about the added importance of Sunday's game, but it's too hard not to do so.
"All of them mean a lot, so I don't expect us to come on any different than we did today," Prince said. "We'll just be more locked in and continue to build."
