Timberwolves, with Anthony Edwards ill, flop against Washington, the NBA’s worst team

The Wolves ended a five-game streak, and the Wizards ended a 16-game skid and won for only the seventh time this season.

The Minnesota Star Tribune
February 2, 2025 at 5:06AM
The Timberwolves' Jaden McDaniels works around the Wizards' Bilal Coulibaly during the first half. (Matt Krohn/The Associated Press)

The Timberwolves lost All-Star guard Anthony Edwards for a game Saturday night for the first time this season — and lost a game against an opponent that hasn’t won a game since New Year’s Day.

Out, too, for a 105-103 loss to Washington was starting forward Julius Randle with a groin strain that coach Chris Finch said will keep him out “more than a few days.”

The Wolves’ winning streak came to an end at five games.

The Wolves reached that conclusion without Edwards, who came down ill, likely with the same bug that has been going around among his teammates.

It all came against a Wizards team that was last in the NBA with a 6-41 record and brought a 16-game losing streak to Target Center. Washington’s only road victory until Saturday was at Atlanta in the season’s third game.

With Edwards and Randle out, veteran point guard Mike Conley (thumb) returned after he missed Thursday’s victory at Utah.

He returned to the starting lineup during injured guard Donte DiVincenzo’s continued absence on the same night newly made starting forward Naz Reid left the game for good after he sustained a finger sprain while setting a screen early in the third quarter.

Looking for help and depth about just anywhere, Finch even turned to little-played veteran forward Joe Ingles.

The Wolves trailed by 11 points late in the third quarter and by six with less than four minutes to play. But they pulled within 99-98 on Rudy Gobert’s putback basket with 1:48 left.

But each time the Wolves neared, the resilient Wizards pushed back, never allowing the Wolves to get closer than a point in the final minute.

“They’re like a streaky team,” Jaden McDaniels said. “They’ve got players who can get hot. [Kyle] Kuzma, Jordan [Poole] can get hot. All respect to them.

“We had a bunch of chances. We were missing shots. We were giving them second chances. kind of hurt us at the beginning, but we had a good chance to win.”

Nickeil Alexander-Walker’s jump shot missed just before the final buzzer.

Kuzma led the Wizards with 31 points. McDaniels led the undermanned Wolves with 23.

With Edwards and Randle out, Finch said before the game he’d rely on others more.

He must have meant it: Ingles played in both halves. He took — and made — his first three-pointer shortly after he entered the game.

Then he made another in the second half, all of them his first points scored this season.

Ingles finished with 10 points in 20 minutes played.

“Guys actually did a good job of adjusting to that and not dwelling too much on it,” Conley said. “You’re just trying to move forward and give ourselves a chance to win.

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“We got to figure that out. We literally hadn’t played with the people that were out there on the court with, not all year long, not all practice, not anything.”

Finch warned before the game it would be that way.

“We’re going to lean on people,” he said. “We’ll lean heavily on Mike Conley, for sure. I have zero problem calling Luka’s [Garza] number, Naz’s number. We’ll probably put the ball in Jaden’s hands more.”

The Wolves trailed 27-17 late in the first quarter after the Wizards capped off a 10-0 run with Poole’s fourth three-pointer of the quarter.

Their lead didn’t last, not after the Wolves finished off the first quarter with a 9-0 run of their own, led by the energy — and playmaking — provided by new supersubs Rob Dillingham and Jaylen Clark.

That brought them within 27-26 at quarter’s end before …

The Wizards countered by punching back, building back a quick 38-31 fueled by more three-pointers. They led 50-43 midway through the second quarter before the Wolves, with Ingles on the floor, answered back to pull within 52-50 with less than 2 ½ minutes left before halftime.

When the Wolves took a very brief 57-56 lead with 56 seconds before halftime, the Wizards’ Bilal Coulibaly drew two free throws and made both with 7.7 seconds left for a 58-57 halftime lead.

about the writer

about the writer

Jerry Zgoda

Reporter

Jerry Zgoda covers Minnesota United FC and Major League Soccer for the Minnesota Star Tribune.

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The Wolves ended a five-game streak, and the Wizards ended a 16-game skid and won for only the seventh time this season.

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