The Timberwolves went without their injured All-Star big man and their ailing All-Star coach and lost 113-104 in overtime Friday night at Cleveland.
Timberwolves get to overtime vs. Cavaliers but come up short in 113-104 loss
Rudy Gobert’s technical foul in the final minute proved costly, as it gave Cleveland a trip to the free-throw line to tie the score.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
March 9, 2024 at 7:51PM
The Cavaliers’ 12-4 run in overtime pushed them to a seven-point lead — their biggest all night — from which the Wolves could not recover. They were outscored 16-7 in the OT, 10 of them from big Jarrett Allen on the visitors’ second night of back-to-back games.
The Wolves were missing not only recently injured Karl-Anthony Towns but also guard Monte Morris and Chris Finch, who did his pregame media session but didn’t feel well enough to coach the game.
Assistant coach for the past three years, Micah Nori became acting head coach and worked extra time in his first time calling the shots in a loss that dropped the Wolves (44-20) out of first place in the Western Conference, a half-game behind Oklahoma City (44-19).
Naz Reid shot 7-for-11 on three-pointers, scored a career-high 34 points and made a big blocked shot with 3.8 seconds left in regulation time that forced overtime.
But the rest of the team went 1-for-19 on threes without Towns beside them. Anthony Edwards went 0-for-7 and Mike Conley 0-for-5.
“I mean, shoot, if either of them makes one throughout the thing,” Nori told reporters afterward. “Those guys are going to make shots. I don’t know if it was legs on a back-to-back. Obviously, without KAT — who shoots 40 percent and takes a good number of them — we’ve got to find some guys who are going to knock ‘em down. You’ve just got to keep shooting.”
The Wolves played the second of back-to-back games for the fourth time in their past nine games, all since the All-Star break. They fell to 7-3 on the second of back-to-backs this season.
The night before in Indianapolis, Edwards scored 44 points and blocked the tying layup at the final buzzer with a freakishly athletic lefthanded blocked shot that went viral on social media.
One night after he went to the locker room twice injured before his big block, Edwards stayed on the court on a night he scored 19 on 7-for-27 shooting. He didn’t score in the fourth quarter or overtime at all.
The Wolves led 97-96 and had the ball when center Rudy Gobert was called for his sixth foul, fouling him out of the game. Gobert then received a technical for making a gesture to official Scott Foster — Gobert rubbed his fingers together, making a money sign as if implying Foster was being bribed.
The technical resulted in a free throw that Darius Garland hit to tie the score.
“We’re up 97-96, we’ve got to be better,” Nori said. “A technical foul with 27 seconds to go is quite honestly unacceptable. That’s not who Rudy is. At the end, you’ve just got to be smarter.”
Gobert told the Associated Press: “My reaction, which I think was the truth, but it wasn’t the time to react that way. It cost my team the game. It was an immature reaction. It’s not just one call. Everyone makes mistakes, but when it’s over and over and over again, of course it’s frustrating.”
The Wolves played on for the second consecutive game without Towns, who tore the meniscus in his left knee and will need surgery to repair it. He will be reevaluated in four weeks. Kyle Anderson started for the second night in a row.
“We’re always going to miss Karl, especially when it’s a game like this, a back-and-forth,” Nori said. “He’s always going to find a way to score in the post or make a big shot. We’re filling by committee, if you will.”
The Cavaliers, coached by former Gophers player and Wolves assistant coach J.B. Bickerstaff, played without star Donovan Mitchell because of a bruised knee, Evan Mobley because of an injured ankle and Max Strus because of a knee strain.
A game filled with runs — including Cleveland’s 16-2 and 23-11 and the Wolves’ 17-4, all before halftime — turned into a blow-by-blow exhibition after halftime. The Cavs stayed close by getting to the free-throw line 18 times in the third quarter alone. The Wolves’ biggest lead all night was nine points; Cleveland’s was the nine-point lead it ended with.
It was the second game in the Wolves’ six-game road trip, which now heads for games against the Lakers and Clippers in California and two more in Utah before they come home.
The Star Tribune did not send the writer of this article to the game. This was written using a broadcast, interviews and other material.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 32 points and was an assist away from a triple-double, Damian Lillard added 25 and the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Atlanta Hawks 110-102 on Saturday to earn a spot in the NBA Cup championship game.
