On April 10, Beijing time, the Timberwolves, ranked No. 1 in the West, hosted the Wizards. Previously, the Timberwolves overtook the Nuggets to top the Western Conference, but both teams had a 54-24 record, and the outcome of any game in the future can determine the ranking, so neither the Timberwolves nor the Nuggets dared to be careless. The Wizards are in the bottom two of the East, and as the regular season draws to a close, losing will help the team compete for the top pick. Timberwolves starting lineup: Conley + Edwards + McDaniels + Reed + Gobert, Wizards starting lineup: Poole + Gispert + Baldwin + Avdija + Gill.
In the first quarter, the game started off unexpectedly, and the Timberwolves were completely blown up, and the Wizards exploded 44-26 in a single quarter, making 9 of 13 three-pointers, leading the Timberwolves by 18 points. The Wizards had an occasional dumpling, and the shooting was really accurate, and the Timberwolves still needed to play at their own pace. In the second quarter, the Timberwolves launched a counterattack, hitting 34-26 in a single quarter and narrowing the gap to 10 points. The Timberwolves are indeed a very competitive team, although Towns has missed many games, but they have not fallen behind, and are still competing with the Nuggets and Thunder for No. 1 in the West.
In the third quarter, the Timberwolves completely found their senses, blasting out 39-24 in a single quarter, surpassing the Wizards in one fell swoop, which was really too strong. In the fourth quarter, the Timberwolves gradually widened the point difference, and the Wizards were already behind by double digits, and the suspense of the game was not great. In the end, the Timberwolves defeated the Wizards 130-121 to get a valuable victory, and it can be seen from this game that the Timberwolves have completely transformed into a very resilient team.
Edwards of the Timberwolves chipped in 51 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists, which was also his best individual performance of the season, Huazi is already one of the best players in the league, he is still very young, at least 10 years to go, the future of the Timberwolves is bright. Gobert had 19 points, 16 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 4 blocks, and was full of presence on both offensive and defensive ends. Conley had 15 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists, and Reed had 3 points and 2 rebounds. For the Wizards, Poole had 24 points, three rebounds and six assists, and Baldwin had 15 points, six rebounds and four assists.
After the Timberwolves defeated the Wizards by 18 points, they won two consecutive victories and continued to rank first in the West with a record of 55-24, beating the defending champion Nuggets. With 3 games left, the Timberwolves will first challenge the Nuggets away from home, and the outcome of this game will directly determine the ranking, so it is very important, if the Nuggets do not rotate the core players, the Timberwolves have a smaller chance of winning. After playing on the road, the Timberwolves will face the Hawks and Suns in the next two home games, and if they continue to be at the top of the Western Conference, they are likely to play the Lakers or Warriors in the first round of the playoffs, which will be a very difficult series, but the Timberwolves seem determined to harden the Lakers or the Warriors, otherwise they would have already rested core players such as Edwards and Gobert.