Anthony Edwards took control in the fourth quarter, scoring 20 of his game-high 41 points, and the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves sent the Washington Wizards to their seventh consecutive loss in a 120-106 decision on Monday.
Minnesota found itself in a back-and-forth contest for most of the way with Washington, which was playing its second game of a back-to-back set. The Wizards dropped their previous two games by 74 combined points, but they were competitive with the Timberwolves until a pivotal late stretch.
With Minnesota up 88-86, Edwards connected on a 3-pointer with 8:42 remaining, but Washington’s Carlton Carrington answered with one of his own 18 seconds later. The Wizards did not score again for 2:26, as Minnesota went on a decisive 11-0 run.
Edwards scored four points in the surge and assisted Nickeil Alexander-Walker on a 3-pointer as the Timberwolves built a double-digit advantage. It was the last of seven assists from Edwards on the night.
Edwards shot 14-for-25, including 5-for-11 from 3-point range, and 8-for-8 at the free-throw line en route to his second game scoring 40-plus points this season. He put up 53 points against the Detroit Pistons on Jan. 4.
Minnesota got double-doubles from both Julius Randle (20 points, 10 rebounds) and Rudy Gobert (11 points, game-high 11 rebounds) en route to its fourth win in five games.
Donte DiVincenzo added 13 points for the Timberwolves, and Naz Reid scored 12 points off the bench.
Kyle Kuzma led Washington with 22 points, rebounding from back-to-back single-digit-point scoring games in the blowout losses to the Chicago Bulls and Oklahoma City Thunder. Jordan Poole added 20 points, Bilal Coulibaly scored 15 points, and Alexandre Sarr had 13 points.
Washington rookie Kyshawn George came off the bench to score 10 points, his second double-figure performance in the past three outings.
The Wizards shot 40-for-91 (44 percent) from the floor and 17-for-40 (42.5 percent) from 3-point range compared to Minnesota’s 41-for-83 (49.4 percent) and 14-for-37 (37.8 percent), respectively. However, the Timberwolves’ ability to get to the free-throw line, where Minnesota attempted 31 and made 24, was the difference.
Washington wound up 9-for-15 at the foul line.
–Field Level Media
