MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Timberwolves were missing five of their seven best players for most of their record overtime comeback to beat the Houston Rockets.
They chose concentration instead of frustration.
With a 15-0 run that closed the game, the Timberwolves rallied from a 13-point deficit for a 110-108 victory over the Rockets. No other NBA team has overcome such a large deficit in overtime since the league began recording play-by-play details in the 1997-98 season.
“They fought through a lot of adversity. We should have won that game in regulation. We deserved to win that game. We were the better team all night and we gave them a chance to steal it from us, but we stole it back from them,” coach Chris Finch said.
After blowing an 11-point lead with 3 1/2 minutes left in regulation and battling a foul foul imbalance all night, the Timberwolves found themselves trailing by 13 points with less than two minutes elapsed in Wednesday's overtime.
Superstar Anthony Edwards was sidelined for the fifth consecutive game with knee problems. Key substitute Ayo Dosunmu was also out with calf soreness. Jaden McDaniels, who scored 25 points and valiantly defended Rockets star Kevin Durant, began limping late in the fourth quarter and had to be taken off. Rudy Gobert, who had 14 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks, fouled out.
Then, early in overtime, Naz Reid was ejected after expressing displeasure with official Scott Foster for an offensive foul. Target Center fans came out constantly.
But after Alperen Sengun's dunk put the Rockets up 108-95, capping an impressive 26-2 run, the Timberwolves refused to punt in this crucial game for Western Conference playoff positioning.
“You just have to take possession at a time. The most important thing is to be in the moment,” said Julius Randle, who shared the task of defending Durant with Kyle Anderson after McDaniels left.
Mike Conley, who got off to an unusual start with Edwards and Dosunmu unavailable, hit a 3-pointer with 2:45 left. Anderson scored on Randle's missed layup, fouled Sengun and converted a three-point play. The Timberwolves then forced an eight-second violation by preventing the Rockets from advancing beyond half court.
Donté DiVincenzo stepped in for a layup off an Anderson pass to cut the deficit to five points. Randle took advantage of Sengun's miss at the rim before going over him for a layup at the other end to pull the Timberwolves within 108-105 with 1:34 left.
DiVincenzo tied the score with a three-pointer. Sengun missed a jumper. Randle then hit a pull-up shot with 8.8 seconds left to take the lead.
“We've got real competitors here, guys who want the challenge. It's not the first time we've done something like this,” said Randle, who scored 24 points, all after halftime. “When things get tough, we come together as a group. It brings out the best in us.”
With the victory, the Timberwolves (45-28) fell half a game behind Denver (46-28) for fourth place in the Western Conference. They put themselves 1½ games ahead of Houston (43-29) and, most importantly, tied the season series at one apiece. The Wolves will face the Rockets on the road on April 10.
Despite taking 63 shots in the paint and only getting 10 free throws, the Timberwolves found a way to pull out the win. Even after Randle was called for a foul on Durant on his drive with 3.3 seconds left, sending him to the line with the Rockets 23 of 23 in the game at the time. He missed and then intentionally blocked the second to try to maintain possession.
“I'm very proud that we didn't give up. We had a lot of opportunities to get very frustrated tonight,” Gobert said. “For the most part, we were able to overcome that. That's the plan for us. We want to win a championship, so we know there will be adversity. We know it will come in many ways.”
