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NBA play-in: D’Angelo Russell, Anthony Edwards lead Timberwolves past Clippers into playoffs

ryan young
Staff writer
·3 min read
34

Karl-Anthony Towns didn’t make it to the end of the night, but the Minnesota Timberwolves still found a way to get into the NBA playoffs.

The Timberwolves rallied to get past the Los Angeles Clippers 109-104 in their play-in game on Tuesday night at the Target Center — which officially sets up an opening-round playoff series against the Memphis Grizzlies.

With it being just their franchise’s second postseason win since 2004 and only the second postseason appearance since it reached the conference finals that year, the win sparked a massive celebration on the court.

“Our group is resilient,” D'Angelo Russell said on TNT. “I think everybody on TV, it’s our first TV game all year, everybody on TV should see what’s going on behind me. It’s hard for me to talk right now, but our fans are amazing. It’s special.”

Even others across the league took notice at how wild the celebration was, including the "Inside the NBA" studio crew.

Timberwolves rally to knock off Clippers

The Timberwolves mounted a massive 16-2 run late in the fourth quarter to retake the lead after it looked like the Clippers were going to run away with it. Almost all of that run came without Towns, too, who fouled out midway through the last frame. Towns opened the game shooting 0-of-7 from the field and finished with just 11 points on three made field goals.

Russell gave Minnesota the lead during that run after drilling a huge contested 3-pointer, and then Anthony Edwards followed it up with a massive breakaway slam dunk.

The Timberwolves then allowed just nine points the rest of the way, three of which came in the final seconds from Paul George, and held on to claim the five-point win.

Paul George dropped 34 points with seven rebounds and five assists to lead the Clippers in the loss. Reggie Jackson added 17 points, and Norman Powell finished with 16 points off the bench.

Edwards led the Timberwolves with 30 points and five rebounds while shooting 5-of-11 from behind the arc. Russell was right behind him with 29 points while shooting 10-of-18 from the field.

Minnesota will kick off its series with the Grizzlies on Saturday afternoon in Memphis. The Clippers can still take the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference with a win on Friday night against the winner of the other play-in game between the San Antonio Spurs and New Orleans Pelicans.