MINNEAPOLIS — Sequels are rarely as good as the original and so was the case Wednesday for the Timberwolves against the Raptors in a 103-91 loss.
A night after Karl-Anthony Towns saved them from some dreadful shooting with a brilliant fourth quarter and overtime, the Wolves clanked away and clanked away from three-point range throughout the night with no last-act rescue for their first loss at Target Center over the past eight games.
The Wolves finished 10-for-42 from deep while some of their biggest scorers, Anthony Edwards and D'Angelo Russell went silent. Edwards had six points and didn't have a field goal on eight attempts. Russell shot just 2-for-11 and scored eight points.
Apple Valley's Gary Trent Jr. scored 30 in his homecoming to lift a Toronto team playing without All-Star Fred VanVleet.
Towns finished with 24 for the Wolves while Jaden McDaniels had 18 off the bench. Patrick Beverley was the only other Wolves player in double figures with 10.
The Wolves have had some schedule luck this season in not having to face some of their opponent's best players in the last few months. That trend continued Thursday as the Raptors ruled out VanVleet because of a knee injury. The Wolves had one of their most important players, Edwards, enter as questionable because of a sprained right ankle.
Edwards was able to play, but he didn't look himself early. In the first half he was 0-for-4 with three points. The Wolves offense picked up where it left off the majority of Tuesday's game against Charlotte — struggling from the free-throw and three-point lines. They shot 7-for-13 from the three-point line, 6-for-18 from deep in the first half.
Before tipoff, Trent and Beverley were jockeying for position at midcourt and drew double technicals. Whatever Beverley said to Trent must have stuck with him because Trent erupted for 13 points in the first quarter as Toronto opened a 24-11 lead. The Wolves had little going offensively outside of Towns, who had 10 in the first quarter.
The Wolves got a boost from their bench in the second quarter. McDaniels, who was one of the heroes of Tuesday night, had 11 points, four rebounds in the first half as the Wolves chipped away at Toronto's lead. An 8-2 run pulled the Wolves within 36-33 as Toronto cooled off from its 52% first quarter shooting. The Wolves mixed in some zone defense to help slow the Raptors.
The Wolves took their first lead of the game 46-45 on a Taurean Prince three as he pitched in seven points off the bench in the first half. The Wolves carried a 51-49 lead into halftime as Edwards and D'Angelo Russell combined to go 1-for-9.
In the third quarter Towns appeared to aggravate a lingering injured thumb trying for a rebound. He got some attention from the athletic training staff on the bench during a stoppage in play but continued to favor it throughout the night.
The third quarter carried over from the first half – both offenses saw their shooting go into the tank. Toronto didn't hit a three in five attempts while the Wolves were 2-for-8. The Wolves maintained a small lead for much of it. Their lead would get as big as six before they took a 74-72 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Wolves continued chucking and clanking through the fourth with the Wolves missing nine of their first 10 three-point attempts. Toronto, behind Trent, took the lead 83-76. The Wolves cut it 94-89 with 2 minutes and 30 seconds to play on a McDaniels three-point play, but the Raptors responded with a Precious Achiuwa dunk before Trent buried a three to effectively end the night.
