Philadelphia star center Joel Embiid and leading Rookie of the Year candidate Ben Simmons made their season's only visit to Target Center and left triumphant with a 118-112 overtime victory over the Timberwolves on Tuesday night.
Embiid's counterpart, Wolves big man Karl-Anthony Towns, left claiming he was the one who let the game get away.
Embiid's two free throws with 14 seconds left in the fourth quarter forced overtime and his three-pointer with 1:38 left in overtime provided the punctuation on a night when Towns tried to match him punch for punch.
Leading by nine points with six minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Wolves were outscored 41-26 the rest of the game. That happened despite Wolves star Jimmy Butler's virtuoso performance on both ends of the floor and Towns' first career game with at least three steals and three blocks.
After Butler made the second of two consecutive three-pointers for his team, the Wolves led 100-98 with 16 seconds left in regulation. But after a timeout, Embiid gained position on Towns near the basket, drew a foul and made both free throws, sending the game to overtime after Butler's desperation shot just before the fourth-quarter buzzer missed.
In overtime, the 76ers ended a four-game losing streak by outscoring the Wolves 18-12.
"It should never have got there," Towns said. "I should have made the play I needed to make. I failed my team tonight. Things like that happen. I've got to look in the mirror and I have to be better next game. It's not good for me not to come through for my teammates."
Asked what frustrated him most Tuesday, Towns said: "I'm more frustrated with 20 seconds left, they threw the ball to Joel Embiid and I didn't make the stop I needed to make. My teammates trust me with the assignment, and I failed them. That hurts."