Naz Reid had 21 points and 10 rebounds and the Minnesota Timberwolves used a late third-quarter run to take control in a 106-91 victory over the Detroit Pistons in Minneapolis on Wednesday night.
Jaden McDaniels had 20 points and Kyle Anderson supplied 14 points and five assists off the bench for Minnesota.
Rudy Gobert added 11 points with 14 rebounds and Nickeil Alexander-Walker also scored 11 points. All-Star Anthony Edwards was limited to nine points.
The Timberwolves (50-22), who are fighting for the top spot in the Western Conference, have won six of their last seven games. Minnesota reached the 50-win mark for the first time since the 2003-04 season. It is the fifth time since Minnesota entered the NBA in 1989 that the team has collected 50 wins during the regular season.
Cade Cunningham, who missed the previous two games with a sore knee, led the Pistons with 32 points. Detroit (12-61) has lost eight straight.
Malachi Flynn had 14 points and Jalen Duren, who sat out the previous three games due to back spasms, added 11 points and 11 rebounds. James Wiseman also chipped in 11 points.
Reid scored the last five points of the first half as Minnesota held a 47-45 halftime lead. Reid finished the half with 15 points and McDaniels had 10. Cunningham led the Pistons with 15 points.
A 7-0 spurt by the Pistons midway through the third quarter gave them a 60-55 lead. Minnesota regained the advantage at 66-64 on a McDaniels putback.
Later, the Timberwolves scored the last 12 points of the quarter for a 78-66 lead.
Anderson got the run going with back-to-back buckets, including a three-point play.
He then assisted on an Edwards layup. Alexander-Walker scored the last five points on a short-range jumper and a 3-pointer off a Gobert pass.
Flynn ended that run with a foul-line jumper 49 seconds into the second half. Mike Conley answered with a 3-pointer.
Alexander-Walker made it 87-72 with 8:22 remaining on another 3-pointer. The Pistons never got closer than 11 points the remainder of the game.
–Field Level Media
