Timberwolves trounce Toronto 133-85, Anthony Edwards ends his shooting slump

Timberwolves point guard Mike Conley didn’t play Wednesday night in a 133-85 thumping of Toronto so he could maintain his 36-year-old body for the playoffs, and maybe benefit Anthony Edwards’ short three-point shooting slump, too.

The Wolves led by 16 points at halftime and by as many as 48 late in the game against a injury-depleted Raptors team that at Target Center lost its 15th consecutive game.

The Wolves, meanwhile, moved back into first place in the Western Conference in a tiebreaker with rival Denver — and with a guaranteed top-4 seed that clinched home-court advantage for the playoffs’ first round.

They did so by beating a 12th-place opponent the way an NBA championship contender should, relentlessly.

“Taking care of business, taking advantage of a severely depleted team, kept growing the lead, growing the lead, growing the lead,” Wolves coach Chris Finch said. “The challenge at halftime was to play against our own standards. The guys for the most part did a great job of that all game long.”

Edwards went 0-for-8 on threes at Denver on Friday, 0-5 against Chicago on Sunday and 0-6 against Houston on Tuesday. He hadn’t made a single three since last week’s home game against Detroit, when he went 1-for-4.

That all changed with a joyful, bounce-back, 28-point night that ended his 0-fer streak with a made three 4 minutes, 24 seconds into the game.

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Before the game, Finch said he was hopeful Edwards would shake off the previous games and rediscover “his usual self.”

“Yeah, absolutely,” Finch said. “Tonight he was stepping into his shot, just rising up and taking it. I love the fact that he took 12 of them. Just tried to shoot himself back into some rhythm. That was really good to see.”

Afterward, Edwards said he knew a slump-busting performance was coming.

“It felt the same as yesterday,” Edwards said. “[Tuesday] I had a couple ins-and-outs, so I knew today was going to be the day they were going to fall.”

He said he also knew his team was ready to take care of a team struggling like the Raptors.

“Especially myself,” he said. “Usually these games I don’t have no energy and look like I don’t want to be here. Finch has been getting on me about that the last couple games. I tried to come out as if we were playing a team super good. It was a great way of handing business tonight.”

BOXSCORE: Wolves 133, Toronto 85

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The Wolves won for the sixth time in seven games and ninth in the past 10 as they moved back ahead of the Nuggets and Oklahoma City while the three teams fight for the West’s No. 1 overall playoff seed.

Edwards also had six assists and three rebounds by the time Finch brought the starters to the bench for most of the fourth quarter.

Both teams played on the second night of back-to-back games, with Toronto flying late Tuesday night to Minnesota after a 128-111 home loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. The Wolves beat Houston 113-106 at Target Center.

The Raptors played without injured Gary Trent Jr., son of the former Wolves forward, RJ Barrett, Kelly Olynyk and six others because of injury or rest. The Wolves continue to play without Karl-Anthony Towns, who is recovering from knee surgery.

So in need of help, the Raptors signed big man Malik Williams to a 10-day contract from the NBA G League’s Sioux Falls Skyforce. They signed him to a 10-day contract and started him at center, losing the game-starting jump ball to Wolves 7-2 center Rudy Gobert.

The Timberwolves went without Conley, who was given the night off for load-management rest with only six regular-season games now remaining after Wednesday’s game. Conley played nearly 30 minutes Tuesday night.

* In conjunction with the Boys and Girls Club of the Twin Cities, Towns is launching a campaign called “32 Wellness.” The program is aimed to support and fundraiser for youth mental health.

Towns is calling on fans to donate $32 or more to the Boys and Girls Club Twin Cities to help raise money for mental health care across their locations for services such as group therapy with licensed professionals and education on fitness and nutrition.