NBA: Down 20 points early, Wizards bounce back to top Timberwolves
FILE–Kyle Kuzma #33 of the Washington Wizards celebrates with teammate Bradley Beal. Patrick Smith/Getty Images/AFP
Bradley Beal scored 35 points to fuel the Washington Wizards to a 114-106 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday night in Minneapolis.
Beal joined Kyle Kuzma and Corey Kispert in sinking four 3-pointers for the Wizards, who overcame an early 20-point deficit to record their 10th win in their last 14 games.
Kuzma collected 16 points and seven rebounds, Kispert added 15 points off the bench and Kristaps Porzingis had 14 points and six boards.
Washington shot 45.3 percent from the floor (43 of 95) and 40 percent from 3-point range (14 of 35). The Wizards also had 13 steals and six blocks to complete a two-game season sweep of the Timberwolves.
Bradley Beal and Ant Edwards dueled tonight in Minnesota 👀
Beal: 35 PTS, 6 REB, 5 AST, 3 STL, 4 3PM
Edwards: 34 PTS, 5 REB, 3 AST, 3 STLWizards came back from down 20 to pick up the W. pic.twitter.com/7muzd3ZiuK
— NBA (@NBA) February 17, 2023
Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards scored 18 of his 34 points in the first quarter.
Kyle Anderson recorded 18 points and eight assists, and Rudy Gobert added 17 points and 19 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who failed in their bid to move a season-high three games over .500.
Washington trimmed a 20-point deficit to two at 102-100 following Beal’s three-point play with 3:19 remaining in the fourth quarter. The teams traded buckets before Kuzma and Beal each sank a 3-pointer to give the Wizards a 110-106 lead with 37.1 seconds to play.
Delon Wright added a pair of dunks to seal the win for Washington.
Minnesota bolted out of the blocks by scoring 30 of the game’s first 40 points before taking a 36-21 lead at the end of the opening quarter. The Timberwolves shot 60 percent from the floor, with Edwards sinking 5 of 8 attempts from the field — including 3 of 4 from 3-point range.
Washington opened the second quarter on a 10-2 run and whittled its deficit to four at 68-64 early in the third after Kispert’s 3-pointer.
Minnesota responded with a 19-5 surge, with Edwards scoring nine points in that sequence.
