AUSTIN, Texas — In order to keep their chances of a top-eight finish in the Western Conference alive, the Timberwolves needed to overcome one of their biggest flaws — an inability to beat teams at the bottom of the standings.
After a season full of head-shaking, inexplicable losses to the worst teams in the league, the Wolves finally did as they should in defeating San Antonio, 151-131, in Austin, Texas, where the Spurs hosted their last two home games. The 151 points is a franchise record, eclipsing the 150 the Wolves scored against Chicago in December.
"We needed a game like that," point guard Mike Conley said. "From the beginning, the first tip of the game, we came out playing with our mind-set in the right place, purely being unselfish."
The Wolves improved to 6-10 on the season against the NBA's five worst teams and at a minimum, Sunday's game against the Pelicans will be to finish eighth in the West. That is significant because it would give the Wolves two games to win one to make the playoffs, instead of needing to win two play-in games should they fall to the ninth. The Wolves were officially eliminated from reaching a top-six seed with the Clippers' victory over Portland on Saturday.
"We've been playing playoff games for a long time now. Every game has felt like a playoff game," Wolves coach Chris Finch said. "But for sure, there's a lot at stake tomorrow. We're at home, that's all we can ask for, and we know it's going to be a toughie."
Said Anthony Edwards, "This game is super important. We're coming to fight."
After a sluggish defensive start in which the Wolves allowed the Spurs to get hot early, the Wolves finally clamped down in the third quarter — and they got red-hot themselves. The Wolves began the quarter up 12 but finished it ahead by 28 after outscoring San Antonio 39-23. The Wolves went 10 for 12 from 3-point range in the quarter with Jaden McDaniels hitting all four of his attempts from deep. He finished with 16 points as the Wolves hit a season-high 24 3s.
"They did a good job of getting the ball to the right guy early," Finch said. "... Guys were getting into good spots and moving it. Obviously, we created a lot on defense in that beginning part, too."
Edwards had one of his best offensive games in a while with 33 points while Karl-Anthony Towns added 22.
"I put it on myself to come out ultra-aggressive tonight to set the tone," Edwards said. "Hopefully it did. We ended up coming up big."
The Wolves led by as many as 33 and the blowout allowed Finch to rest his starters the last several minutes.
The Wolves weren't interested much in playing defense at the start. They allowed the Spurs to shoot 57% in the first half, but got separation on the scoreboard in the second quarter thanks to their bench, which combined to shoot 9 for 10 in the first half before eventually exploding in the third. Taurean Prince finished with 15 off the bench while Nickeil Alexander-Walker added 16.
"I think they certainly put the work in over these days," Finch said of his players. "They played a lot more decisive — there was a lot of catch-and-shoots, there was a lot of play-off-the-catch, there was a lot of make-the-right-plays-early. There wasn't a lot of holding, a lot of indecision, I think that's what's gotten some of those guys in trouble in the past. That was really good to see."
The Wolves also started playing defense for the first time all night and held San Antonio to 8 for 24 in the quarter.
