Timberwolves cruise against 76ers, as expected and therefore not as usual

After Sunday in Phoenix produced a game the Timberwolves rightly did win, their star guard Anthony Edwards admitted he and his team still too often play to their opponent’s level, good or bad.

On Tuesday, the Wolves used six three-point shots that ended the third quarter and started the fourth to beat a Philadelphia 76ers team 126-112 that had lost 10 of its past 11 games.

Make that 11 of 12 now.

The Wolves trailed by six points early and led by 23 points very late before coach Chris Finch cleared his bench.

The Sixers arrived at Target Center on a losing spell that included nine consecutive defeats, a run that ended inexplicably two games earlier when they beat surging Golden State and its new addition, former Wolves player Jimmy Butler.

Star Paul George was back in the lineup Tuesday, but leading scorer Tyrese Maxey was out for the night injured and league MVP Joel Embiid out for the season.

It was an opportunity to win that the Wolves grabbed as they had kicked away so many other such chances this season, at Utah on Friday, against Washington and Portland and others.

Afterward, Finch lamented his team’s 19 turnovers but praised its balance with seven players scoring in double figures, led by starter Naz Reid’s 23 points and Nickeil Alexander-Walker’s 20 off the bench. Edwards scored 18 points by halftime but took just two shots after halftime and didn’t score in the second half. He played two minutes in a fourth quarter in which his team outscored Philadelphia 43-32.

“It has been a while since we had that many turnovers,” Finch said. “We can’t go back to that kind of basketball. We found a good rhythm there in the fourth.”

That rhythm started at the end of the third quarter. The Sixers turned Wolves veteran point guard Mike Conley’s turnover with 6.7 seconds left in the third quarter into Kelly Oubre Jr.’s driving layup and an 80-80 tie with 2.6 seconds left.

Conley’s running 35-foot shot from inside the halfcourt line sent the Wolves into the fourth quarter with an 83-80 lead.

Conley called turning the ball over with a bad pass “my biggest pet peeve.” He admitted he does like to double back and steal the ball back in such a situation.

“I do try to make a play at the other end,” Conley said.

He did, and after that the Wolves made five three-pointers starting the fourth quarter, two by Alexander-Walker, two by Reid and one by recently returned Donte DiVincenzo.

Little more than three minutes was gone in that fourth quarter and the Wolves led 101-87. The Sixers never got back to a single-digit deficit again.

“Winning time to lock in,” Reid said about that stretch. “That’s what we did. That’s something we have to have throughout the game.”

Conley reportedly came out of the between-quarters huddle declaring the team’s current five that had played well together in the second quarter as the one to bring the game home: Conley, Alexander-Walker, Reid, Jaden McDaniels and DiVincenzo.

“Uncle Mike, as everyone knows him, he’s doing to uplift,” Alexander-Walker said. “His wisdom. He has a great feel for the game.”

That feel has helped the Wolves now beat two opponents they should have beaten, the Sixers and sliding Suns.

In other cases this season they lost to lesser teams. Most recently was Friday’s 117-116 loss at Utah.

After Sunday’s victory at Phoenix — a game the Wolves should have won and did — Edwards admitted essentially that he too often plays to the level of his opponent.

BOXSCORE: Wolves 126, 76ers 112

NBA standings

Before Tuesday’s game, Finch admitted as much, agreeing with Edwards. Finch said Edwards has taken a step to resolve that issue.

“The first thing is the recognition of it,” Finch said. “He loves the moment, he loves the big games. He loves the spotlight and all that. But an area of growth is that consistency, no matter who you’re playing. We talked about it coming into the season, about having 82 faceless opponents. and I don’t think we’ve done a great job of that.

“That tone is set by your best players, and it has not been every time that he has not been ready to play. Just enough maybe to affect the overall mood.”

The Wolves started with the same lineup for the second consecutive game now that Randle and DiVincenzo are back healthy. Their only regular still out injured is Gobert, who is dealing with what the team terms “lower back maintenance.”