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

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

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

Then early in the third quarter, Naz Reid, an emergency starter in Randle’s place, left the game and did not return because of a right finger sprain.

Add already injured Donte DiVincenzo and the Wolves played the Wizards with only Jaden McDaniels and Rudy Gobert as regular starters.

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

Without them all, the Wolves’ winning streak ended at five games against a Wizards team that was last in the NBA with a 6-41 record and owner of a 16-game losing streak as well. Their only road win until Saturday was at Atlanta in the season’s third game.

His team shorthanded, Finch called upon seldom-used veteran forward Joe Ingles to play 19 minutes. Veteran point guard Mike Conley and fellow starters McDaniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker played the entire fourth quarter while reserve Luka Garza played 1:41 and promising backup point guard Rob Dillingham didn’t play at all.

“We’ve got to do it by committee,” Finch said of playing with different players and combinations for now.

The Wolves trailed by 11 points in the third quarter’s final minute and by six with less than four minutes to play. But they pulled within a point twice in the final 1:48 and were within a bucket with 15.5 seconds left after Conley had made three consecutive free throws.

But even after Conley stole the ball from Kyle Kuzma with 11 seconds left, the Wolves didn’t get any closer. Alexander-Walker’s three-pointer for the victory near the final buzzer missed.

BOXSCORE: Wizards 105, Wolves 103

NBA standings

Kuzma led everyone with 31 points, making five three-point shots. Jordan Poole made four threes and finished with 19 points.

McDaniels led the Wolves with 23 points on 8-for-16 shooting, including 3-for-5 on threes, with 12 rebounds, four assists and four steals.

“They’re like a streaky team,” McDaniels said. “They’ve got players who can get hot. Kuzma, Jordan can get hot. All respect to them. We had a bunch of chances. We were missing shots. We were giving them second chances. That kind of hurt us at the beginning. But we had a good chance to win.”

The Wizards made six of their 15 three-pointers in the first quarter alone. They went 15-for-33, the Wolves 12-for-40.

“They made a lot of threes in the first quarter, and we were chasing uphill a little bit,” Ingles said. “We put up a good fight with what we had out there. So keep growing, keep learning. The injuries are part of this in the NBA, and we have to figure it out until they’re back.”

“Being out there with Mike and Rudy makes it easier, too,” Ingles said. “Pretty natural, especially when I’ve played with those two for so long. I think they’ll all know I’ll be ready when they call on me.”

Conley called it an adjustment that needs to be made no matter how much or little teammates have played together before.