At a fan giveaway night, where a beach towel revealed his name, Timberwolves big man Naz Reid was accidentally hit in the neck by a teammate and still continued to shoot and score, until ‘to a 104-91 victory over Cleveland Friday night at Target. Center.
The aforementioned teammates Rudy Gobert and Reid returned to the lineup after injury on a night when the Wolves sometimes played small and moved the ball all over the place. They achieved this to the tune of 27 assists and a fourth victory in five games in their race for first place in the Western Conference.
Minnesota is now 48-22, its most wins at this point in the season since the 2003-04 season ended with a trip to the Western Conference Finals.
Leading by single digits with less than three minutes to play, Gobert tried to clear a loose ball out of danger – and instead hit Reid in the head.
“That was a wild nudge,” Reid said playfully. “He’s lucky. He got out early too. But I’m not going to say too much.”
When asked where Gobert hit him, Reid said: “In my throat, it got in my throat. I was cool. He got me, but it wasn’t crazy. I was fine.”
So much so that Reid simply ran up the floor and finished a transition play with a three-point basket in the right corner that gave the Wolves a 99-87 lead with 2:26 left, thanks to an assist from his teammate Anthony Edwards.
“I just wanted to wake him up a little bit,” Gobert said. “I think my elbow touched his mouth and then I saw blue. I saw it was a blue jersey. Damn, but it’s part of the game. Naz is tough, tough .”
The Cavaliers never got closer than 10 points in a game when they played without star Donovan Mitchell and the Wolves came out without All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns.
It was Reid’s third and final three-pointer of the night. The Wolves as a team made 14 threes in front of a sold-out crowd of 18,024.
Reid started at power forward next to Gobert at center, rather than his usual sixth man spot, but then gave way to Kyle Anderson to start the second half because Wolves coach Chris Finch said he didn’t want Reid to get a “good deal.” fourth fault which would ruin his rhythm for the rest of the evening.
“It was a really good pass from Ant, he did a really good job and Naz was ready to shoot,” Finch said. “Good to see this one go in because he missed some really good looks earlier.”
BOXSCORE: Wolves 104, Cleveland 91
Fans chanted his full name throughout the evening, after receiving the blue beach towels that were part of the team’s new lake-themed uniforms this season.
“It’s been an incredible story here, from day one,” Finch said. “How he changed his body, continued to develop his game, plays with so much confidence and energy. Whether he’s starting or coming off the bench, his teammates love him. His rebounding. He has so much “skill. It’s fun to see him improve all the time.”
Asked afterward about the “Naz Reid” chants that echoed through the arena, Reid said: “Amazing, something you dream about, especially at this level of the NBA. It’s love. So much support .Everyone knows how hard I have worked since. Day 1 until now and more to come.
Reid went undrafted out of Louisiana State in 2019, but he spent summers in Minnesota improving his body and his game.
“Naz doesn’t let that faze him too much,” veteran point guard Mike Conley said. “He does what he does. He’s been huge for us, obviously. It’s good to get all our guys back and hopefully we get KAT back soon.”
Reid came with greetings from his hometown of Asbury Park, New Jersey, home to another star nicknamed “The Boss,” Bruce Springsteen.
“To me, it’s like how long has this been going on,” Reid said. “People notice it now, but since my freshman year, it’s one thing. For me, it’s how long it’s been going on. It’s just love.”
