Finch’s Wolves showing knack for fourth-quarter comebacks
The latest stretch of Minnesota Timberwolves basketball has been encouraging.
Minnesota has won four of its last 10 games and five of its last 12. Now, that’s not exactly a hot streak, but it’s been refreshing during a season in which the Wolves have collected 12 wins in 48 contests.
In all three of their latest victories — against Phoenix (March 18), Houston (March 26) and New York (March 31) — the Timberwolves trailed when entering the fourth quarter. Minnesota was down eight points to the Suns, 15 points to Houston and 11 to the Knicks.
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The Rockets built their lead up to as many as 16 in the fourth, and New York added a bucket to increase its advantage to 13. But head coach Chris Finch’s bunch battled back to win both games.
Against Houston, the Timberwolves finished the game on a 22-0 run, 14 of those points coming from center Karl-Anthony Towns. On Wednesday against the Knicks, Minnesota trailed by 13 with 8:50 remaining but outscored New York 25-11 the rest of the way to close out the victory.
The win over Houston matched the Wolves’ biggest fourth-quarter comeback over the last decade, as the 2011-12 team once battled back from a 16-point deficit against Utah on Feb. 22, 2012. Minnesota’s win over the Knicks marked its third-biggest fourth quarter comeback since that year.
Hopefully, the Wolves won’t find themselves behind big Friday night when they visit guard Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies. The Grizzlies have defeated Minnesota in each of the last four meetings, scoring 115+ points in all of them.
It’ll be a showcase of young talent Friday. Wolves guard Anthony Edwards will suit up for the first time since being named the NBA Rookie of the Month for his efforts (24.2 PPG, 5.5 RPG) in March. Edwards has notched a steal in 16 consecutive games, which is the longest for any Wolves first-year player in team history and the second-longest streak in the NBA this season.
Edwards has three steals in each of his last two contests, helping Minnesota boost its average to 8.8 steals per game this season, which is the third-most in franchise history.
Bally Sports North will televise Friday’s Minnesota-Memphis game, with “Wolves Live” beginning at 6:30 p.m.
Statistics courtesy Sportradar
