HOUSTON – As Chris Finch walked into a cramped dressing room for his pregame news conference at the Toyota Center, a TV above him was playing the third quarter of the Lakers-Nuggets game.
The most significant game to the Wolves on Sunday may not have been their own 139-132 win over Houston, but rather what happened in Los Angeles. Finch's usual line is he doesn't like to watch teams ahead of the Wolves in the standings or else it will "ruin his night."
How about his Sunday afternoon?
"Three missed [Lakers] layups already did that," Finch quipped.
His team nearly ruined it even more for him by giving back most of its 27-point lead in the fourth, but the Wolves hung on and did their part Sunday in their last-minute pursuit of a guaranteed playoff spot at the No. 6 seed.
Unfortunately for them, the Nuggets beat the Lakers and remained two games ahead with three to play for each team. The Wolves have the tiebreaker over Denver.
After a tough stretch of games, the Wolves got a relatively easy one in their last road game of the season against the rebuilding Rockets. Anthony Edwards had 33 points while Karl-Anthony Towns added 28. The Wolves finished the night shooting 59% and cruised despite allowing Houston to shoot 57%. They Wolves cruised to a win — maybe a little too much — as Houston cut it to eight late, but got no closer.
Sunday was mostly a cakewalk on the offensive end. The Wolves posted some impressive offensive numbers in the first half — 66% shooting and 9-for-21 from three-point range.
After a disinterested start, the Wolves first put some distance on the scoreboard Sunday in the first quarter as they got into their bench. Anthony Edwards had 23 points in the first half with nine of those coming from behind the three-point line, the rest seeming to come from above the rim.
The Wolves really got going late in the first quarter, when they posted 42 points. Their five bench players, which included Josh Okogie filling in for the injured Patrick Beverley (ankle soreness), were a combined 11-for-15. They helped turn a 26-26 game into a 42-32 Wolves lead by the end of the first, when Jordan McLaughlin banked in a three at the buzzer.
The Wolves continued to get whatever they wanted offensively in the second quarter. Edwards gave them a momentary scare after he appeared to injure his right leg. He hobbled back to the bench and fell to the floor in pain. The athletic training staff took a look at his leg but a few moments later Edwards was back on the floor and didn't miss a second of game time.
A few minutes after that he was flying to the hoop for another loud dunk.
The Wolves coasted through the third quarter all while still shooting 66% and posting 116 points by the end of the quarter for a 116-92 lead.
They Wolves tried their best to give the game away in the fourth with careless basketball and not much effort on the defensive end in the fourth quarter. Houston cut the lead to 134-126 with 1:48 to play. However, the the Wolves came up with enough stops and a Towns dunk to put the game away.
Despite the slippage, the Wolves did what they had to do in a game they had to have if they want to avoid the play-in tournament. The only problem as they enter the last week of the season is they need a lot of help from others, no matter how well they may play.
