Anthony Edwards returned from a brief injury scare to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves past the Brooklyn Nets 105-90 on Thursday night at Target Center.
The All-Star guard posted 28 points on 10-for-15 shooting, hitting 5-of-10 from long range while adding five rebounds and three assists in 32 minutes.
The Timberwolves, now 45-32 and seventh in the Western Conference, extended their win streak to four games.
Late in the second quarter, Edwards landed on Brooklyn head coach Jordi Fernandez’s foot while backpedaling after draining a three-pointer.
He exited the game and was helped to the locker room but returned for the second half and showed no signs of lingering discomfort.
Minnesota took control midway through the second quarter and never surrendered the lead, going up 49-37 at the half.
Rudy Gobert delivered a dominant two-way performance, finishing with 21 points on 9-of-10 shooting and grabbing 18 rebounds.
The veteran center also helped anchor the Timberwolves’ interior defense as they held Brooklyn to just 42.7% shooting overall and 30.6% from three.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker contributed 13 points and five assists off the bench, while Naz Reid matched that scoring output in 25 minutes of action.
Brooklyn dropped to 25-52 on the season and remains 12th in the East with only five games left.
Nic Claxton led the Nets with 18 points on 9-of-10 from the field along with six boards and five assists.
Dariq Whitehead added 17 points and connected on 5-of-9 from deep to help keep the visitors competitive in stretches. Tosan Evbuomwan had 13 points and eight rebounds in a team-high 30 minutes.
The Timberwolves won despite a subpar 31.0% mark from beyond the arc, hitting just 13-of-42 as a team.
Edwards’ first-half scoring set the tone with 15 points before intermission, while Minnesota’s defense limited Brooklyn to 18 points in the second quarter.
Mike Conley dished out six assists and went 2-of-7 from downtown, while Julius Randle added 11 points and eight rebounds despite a 4-for-11 shooting night.
Jaden McDaniels contributed eight points, four boards, and a pair of steals while playing solid perimeter defense.
Brooklyn’s D’Angelo Russell, facing his former team, went scoreless on 0-for-6 shooting in just under 13 minutes.
The Nets committed 17 personal fouls to Minnesota’s 13 and allowed 14 second-chance points off 10 offensive rebounds.
Despite winning the third quarter 30-28, the Nets were unable to mount a meaningful rally as Minnesota answered every run.
The Timberwolves’ size advantage proved decisive, out-rebounding Brooklyn 45-34 and scoring 44 points in the paint.
Minnesota also held a 27-30 assist-to-turnover ratio compared to Brooklyn’s 30 assists and 10 turnovers.
Jaylen Clark, Rob Dillingham, and several others saw limited minutes in garbage time as Chris Finch emptied his bench late.
