Anthony Edwards scored 37 points on 12-for-21 shooting, and the Minnesota Timberwolves sprinted to a 137-97 win over the Utah Jazz in an NBA Cup matchup on Friday night in Minneapolis.
Julius Randle notched a triple-double with 19 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists for Minnesota, which posted its most lopsided victory of the season. Jaden McDaniels finished with 22 points to go along with seven rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots.
Keyonte George scored 18 points to lead Utah, which lost for the fifth time in its last six games. Lauri Markkanen finished with 12 points but missed 10 of 14 shots from the field.
Minnesota shot 56.8% (50 of 88) overall and 47.2% (17 of 36) from 3-point range. Utah shot 37.2% (35 of 94) from the field and 23.1% (9 of 39) from deep.
The Timberwolves grabbed a 43-15 lead at the end of the first quarter and never looked back.
Edwards knocked down a jump shot to open a 10-2 run with 10:51 left in the first quarter. He and Randle followed with back-to-back 3-pointers, and Randle finished the run with a basket to give Minnesota a 15-2 advantage with 9:21 remaining in the opening quarter.
Randle added two more free throws at the end of the quarter to increase the lead to 28 points.
The rout continued in the second quarter as Edwards buried a 3-pointer to put the Timberwolves ahead 67-35 with 2:44 remaining. Edwards finished with 29 points in the first half.
A floating jump shot by Naz Reid pushed Minnesota past 100 points with 1:37 left in the third quarter.
Ace Bailey answered with a 3-pointer for the Jazz, but it was too little, too late. Bailey finished with 12 points off the bench.
With the score out of reach, the Timberwolves turned deep to their bench in the fourth quarter.
The home crowd provided one of its loudest ovations of the night when veteran Joe Ingles fed a bounce pass to 19-year-old rookie Joan Beringer, who finished with a two-handed slam. The play with 6:54 left in regulation brought Beringer’s teammates to their feet as they watched from the bench.
–Field Level Media
