Anthony Edwards throws alley-oop dunk to himself in Timberwolves' 30th win
Naz Reid #11 of the Minnesota Timberwolves celebrates his basket against the Memphis Grizzlies with teammate Anthony Edwards #5 in the first quarter at Target Center on January 18, 2024 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. ((Photo by David Berding/Getty Images))
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Anthony Edwards threw an alley-oop to himself Thursday night, and the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Memphis Grizzlies 118-103 at Target Center to earn their 30th win of the season.
The Timberwolves trailed by as many as 13 points before winning the fourth quarter 37-17 to earn their fourth straight win. Mike Conley Jr. scored or assisted on the first 17 points of the frame. But after a slow start in which the Timberwolves trailed 55-50 at half and 86-81 after three, Edwards took over.
He scored 26 of his 28 points in the second half, and the Timberwolves started their burst after his Michael Jordan-like move in the third quarter. With less than two minutes left in the frame, he was going to make a drive to the basket, then made a pump fake, threw the ball off the backboard and completed the alley-oop dunk to himself. It brought the Target Center crowd and the Timberwolves’ bench to its feet. At the time, they trailed 81-77.
"You could kind of see it coming. I didn’t think he would do it, I thought he was going to try to draw the foul. But I’ve seen him do it in practice once or twice, it was an unbelievable play. He’s not afraid of anything, he’s not afraid to try anything," Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said after the win.
"Nobody on the other side of the court really could stay in front of me or guard me, so I knew I was just B’Sing down here. Pretty much that’s it, I knew nobody could guard me so I just took it upon myself to figure it out," Edwards said. "I pretty much just did a dribble between the legs and I was just trying to get to a spot. He kind of cut me off and I didn’t have nobody to pass it to. I pump faked and he jumped, so I was just like I might as well try it. I seen somebody do it in the All-Star Game, so I was like I might as well try it."
Edwards shot 11-of-19 from the field after scoring just two points in the first half. Naz Reid scored 20 points off the bench, adding three rebounds and two steals. Rudy Gobert had 17 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and six blocks. Conley had 17 points, 10 assists, four rebounds and two steals, and Karl-Anthony Towns had 14 points and seven rebounds.
Jaren Jackson Jr. led Memphis with 36 points, and scored 23 of them in the first half.
The Timberwolves improved to 30-11 on the season and remained atop the Western Conference. They improved to 17-2 at Target Center, and are on pace for a 60-win regular season. When the Timberwolves went to the Western Conference Finals in 2004, they won 58 regular season games.
The Timberwolves now have 30 wins on Jan. 18. They’ve had nine regular seasons since 2004 where they haven’t won 30 games total.
"We’re targeting as many wins as we can put in the bank right now," Finch said.