NBA: Nets outlast Timberwolves in OT
FILE – Mikal Bridges #1 of the Brooklyn Nets dribbles against the Chicago Bulls during the first half at United Center on February 24, 2023 in Chicago, Illinois. Michael Reaves/Getty Images/AFP
Dorian Finney-Smith sank the tiebreaking 3-pointer with 36.8 seconds left in overtime as the Brooklyn Nets outlasted the Minnesota Timberwolves for a 124-123 victory on Friday in Minneapolis.
Brooklyn’s Mikal Bridges scored 34 points and hit the tying 3-pointer with 1:18 left in OT.
Bridges reached 30 points for the sixth time since being acquired last month from the Phoenix Suns in the Kevin Durant trade. He made 13 of 24 field-goal attempts, including the trey from the left side that forged a 121-121 tie.
Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards then missed a 3-pointer before Brooklyn’s Spencer Dinwiddie drove the lane and passed the ball well over Rudy Gobert’s reach to Finney-Smith, who sank the corner triple for a 124-121 lead.
Following Finney-Smith’s shot, the Nets sweated out the final seconds. Edwards hit a layup to make it a one-point game with 31.6 seconds left, and the Nets escaped when Mike Conley’s off-balance 3-point attempt right before the buzzer was short after being slightly blocked by Dinwiddie’s right hand.
Dinwiddie logged 29 points and 11 assists as Brooklyn won for the fourth time in five games.
Mikal Bridges and Spencer Dinwiddie showed out in the Nets OT W:
Bridges: 34 PTS, 6 REB, 4 3PM
Dinwiddie: 29 PTS, 3 REB, 11 AST, 3 3PM pic.twitter.com/ZOd3LFEPRi— NBA (@NBA) March 11, 2023
Cameron Johnson contributed 15 points for the Nets, while Royce O’Neale finished with 12 points and a season-best 15 rebounds. Brooklyn rallied from a 12-point, first-half deficit and survived shooting 1-for-9 and committing four turnovers in the final five-plus minutes of regulation.
Edwards scored 32 points for the Wolves, who dropped their second straight despite shooting 57.4 percent in the first half. Gobert added 26 points and 13 rebounds but also missed four critical free throws in the fourth.
After the Timberwolves held an eight-point lead at halftime, Brooklyn outscored them 24-8 over the final 6 1/2 minutes of the third to take a 97-88 lead into the fourth quarter.
Edwards sank a 3-pointer that evened the game at 109 with 1:57 remaining in the fourth, but O’Neale hit a trey on Brooklyn’s next possession.
Two free throws by Conley made it 112-111 with 80 seconds left, and following two free throws by Bridges with 1.5 to go, Minnesota used its final timeout and forced overtime when Naz Reid drained a 3-pointer with two-tenths of a second left.
