Anthony Edwards scored 26 points and dished nine assists, and the Minnesota Timberwolves cruised to a 129-105 win over the host Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday night.
Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 19 points for Minnesota, which bounced back from an overtime loss against the Chicago Bulls two nights earlier. Mike Conley added 18 points and shot 6-for-7 from beyond the arc, Naz Reid finished with 17 points off the bench and Rudy Gobert went for 16 points and 11 rebounds.
AJ Green scored a game-high 27 points off the bench to lead Milwaukee. Jae Crowder scored 21 points and Giannis Antetokounmpo added 17 for the Bucks, who fell to 1-5 since Doc Rivers took over as head coach.
The Bucks played without Damian Lillard and Khris Middleton because of injuries.
Minnesota shot 55.2 percent (48 of 87) overall and 51.2 percent (21 of 41) from beyond the arc.
Milwaukee shot 49.4 percent (40 of 81) from the field and 42.4 percent (14 of 33) from 3-point range.
A dominant third quarter helped the Timberwolves put the game out of reach. Minnesota outscored Milwaukee 39-22 during the quarter to seize a 102-75 lead entering the final 12 minutes.
Conley and Towns each made a pair of 3-pointers during the third quarter, and Edwards drained another one from 30 feet. Towns’ shot from beyond the arc put the Timberwolves at the 100-point mark with 42 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
Minnesota led 63-53 at the half.
Edwards led all scorers before the break with 17 points. Crowder paced the Bucks with 16 points.
The score was even at 32-32 when the Timberwolves went on a 12-4 run to seize an eight-point advantage with 6:20 remaining in the first half. Gobert made a dunk to punctuate the run.
Minnesota increased its first-half lead to as many as 14 points when Kyle Anderson made a jump shot with 2:45 to go in the half.
Antetokounmpo hit a short shot with three seconds left to finish the scoring before the break.
–Field Level Media
