The Minnesota Timberwolves were shorthanded, down 13 in overtime and watching fans head for the exits. They did not care.
With a game-closing 15-0 run, Minnesota came back from 13 points down in overtime to beat the Houston Rockets 110-108 on Wednesday. It is the largest overtime comeback in NBA history since the league began logging play-by-play data in the 1997-98 season.
“They fought through a ton of adversity. We should’ve won that game in regulation. We were the better team all night, and we gave them a chance to steal it from us, but we stole it right back,” coach Chris Finch said.
The Timberwolves were without Anthony Edwards for a fifth straight game with a knee injury. Backup Ayo Dosunmu sat out with a sore calf. Jaden McDaniels, who had 25 points and strong defense on Kevin Durant all night, had to be pulled after hobbling late in the fourth quarter. Rudy Gobert fouled out. Then early in overtime, Naz Reid was ejected after arguing with an official.
After Alperen Sengun’s dunk capped a 26-2 Rockets run to put Houston up 108-95, Minnesota finally pushed back.
Mike Conley hit a three-pointer. Kyle Anderson tipped in a Julius Randle miss, drew a foul and converted a three-point play. The Timberwolves then forced an eight-second violation. Donte DiVincenzo cut the deficit to five with a layup. Randle drove past Sengun for another layup to make it 108-105. DiVincenzo tied it with a three-pointer. Then Randle sank a pullup jumper with 8.8 seconds left for the lead.
Randle finished with 24 points, all in the second half. Durant missed a free throw intentionally on his final attempt to try to keep possession, but the Rockets could not convert.
“We’ve got real competitors in here, guys who want the challenge,” Randle said. “When it gets tough, we come together as a group. It brings the best out of us.”
The win kept Minnesota a half game behind Denver for fourth place in the Western Conference and moved the Timberwolves 1.5 games ahead of Houston. The two teams meet again on the road on April 10.
Gobert said the performance showed what this team is built for.
“We want to win a championship, so we know there’s going to be adversity,” Gobert said. “For the most part, we were able to overcome that. That’s the blueprint for us.”
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