Anthony Edwards tied his season high with 44 points, hit a game-clinching three-pointer with 1:11 left and made a spectacular block at the buzzer to give the short-handed Minnesota Timberwolves a 113-111 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night.
Edwards flew out to reject a last-second layup from the Pacers’ Aaron Nesmith, hitting his head on the rim as time expired. He screamed, flexed his muscles and thumped Rudy Gobert’s chest in celebration.
Gobert added 18 points and 14 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who played without All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns. Minnesota moved into first place in the Western Conference, a half-game ahead of Oklahoma City.
“His shooting was next level,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said when asked about Edwards. “Even when we double-teamed him, he got away from us. Listen, he’s a great player and that’s why every second, every minute of every game counts.
Edwards was masterful in Minnesota’s second straight victory, accounting for the team’s final eight points while making 18 of 35 from the field with three three-pointers and six rebounds in a back-and-forth game that none of the no two teams led by more than five on the field. Last 20 minutes.
Pascal Siakam scored 24 points and Tyrese Haliburton added 23 points and 13 assists for the Pacers, who trailed by 17 points in the first half but led 104-103. Siakam’s powerful dunk with two minutes remaining. Indiana has lost three of four and is eighth in the East.
Even without Towns, Minnesota managed to hold the league’s highest-scoring team nearly 13 points below its average.
“I thought the defensive game plan was on point,” Wolves coach Chris Finch said. “I thought our players really executed in the first half, but slacked off a little bit in the second half. Of course, they made some adjustments, but we were able to put them back in a lot sooner.
And Edwards made them pay, time and time again.
Although he limped off 26 seconds into the game, Edwards helped Minnesota make it 54-37 midway through the second quarter. He finished the first half with 15 points, three rebounds and three assists.
Indiana cut the halftime deficit to 60-49, opened the second half on a 19-4 run and eventually took a 68-66 lead midway through the third quarter when Myles Turner converted a Minnesota dunk turnover.
From there, neither team could take control – until Edwards capped his final big flurry with the deciding block.
“Edwards is a physical player and you have to play physical players physically,” Carlisle said. “It’s a difficult learning experience.”
Towns will have surgery next week to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee, the Western Conference-leading Timberwolves announced later Thursday evening.
The All-Star will miss at least four weeks, the team said. That would mean, at a minimum, Towns will be out for at least 13 more games — the majority of Minnesota’s remaining regular-season schedule.
The team revealed after the game that an MRI scan, performed Wednesday, revealed a torn meniscus.
“Further updates will be provided as they become available,” the team said.
The ninth-year forward is averaging 22.1 points and 8.4 rebounds per game while shooting a career-best 42.3 percent from three-point range.
Before Thursday, he had missed just one game this season due to injury, due to left knee soreness on Dec. 23, and showed no obvious signs of trouble during a win Monday against Portland — despite only playing 21 minutes, his second-lowest total. this season.
