Julius Randle scored 28 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished eight assists, and the Minnesota Timberwolves held on for a 131-122 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday night in Minneapolis.
Jaden McDaniels finished with 26 points on 11-for-14 shooting for Minnesota, which won its fourth game in a row. Anthony Edwards scored 25 points on 10-for-20 shooting, and Rudy Gobert recorded a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds.
Donovan Mitchell scored 30 points on 10-for-20 shooting to lead Cleveland, which lost for the second time in its past three games. He added eight assists. Sam Merrill scored 22 points off the bench, and Jarrett Allen notched a double-double with 11 points and 10 boards.
The Cavaliers led 67-63 at the half before the Timberwolves took control.
Minnesota outscored Cleveland 43-22 in the third quarter to transform a four-point deficit into a 17-point lead. The Timberwolves opened the third quarter on a 9-0 run.
Randle scored the first seven points of the second half. He made a driving layup off an assist from Edwards, knocked down a step-back 3-pointer and sunk a pair of free throws to put Minnesota on top 70-67. McDaniels added a turnaround jump shot to finish the run and put the Timberwolves on top by five points.
The Timberwolves sunk 16 of 23 shots (69.6%) from the floor in the third period and 7 of 9 from beyond the arc.
McDaniels increased Minnesota’s lead to 14 points later in the third quarter. He made a floating jump shot to put the Timberwolves ahead 89-75 with 6:14 left in the quarter.
Cleveland whittled the lead and climbed back within four when Eric Mobley (19 points) finished a dunk with 1:06 to go. Minnesota held strong in the final minute as McDaniels made a jump shot and a dunk.
Donte DiVincenzo added 22 points for the victors and buried 6 of 10 from 3-point range.
Before the start of the game, the Timberwolves held a moment of silence to honor Renee Nicole Good, the woman who was shot and killed by a federal agent one day earlier less than 4 miles from the Target Center. Timberwolves coach Chris Finch called the killing an “unspeakable tragedy.”
