The Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the Houston Rockets 110-108 in the NBA regular season. The team overcame a 13-point deficit in five minutes of overtime, setting a league record for the most points.
The game was crucial for the Western Conference standings. The Timberwolves entered the game with significant personnel losses: leading scorer Anthony Edwards and guard Ayo Dosunmu were absent due to injuries. Despite this, the hosts had an 11-point lead with 3.5 minutes remaining in the regular quarter, but they lost it, allowing the Rockets to take the game into overtime.
The situation for Minnesota became more complicated in overtime. The team lost due to fouls by center Rudy Gobert, and later Naz Reed was ejected for arguing with the referee. Jaden McDaniels also missed the game due to injury. Two minutes before the final whistle in overtime, Houston led 108:95 after a 26:2 run that had lasted since the end of the fourth quarter.
Trailing 108-95, the Timberwolves went on a 15-0 run. Mike Conley and Donte DiVincenzo made key three-pointers, and Julius Randle put the team ahead with 8.8 seconds left. The Rockets had a chance to tie the game, but Kevin Durant missed his first free throw of the night with three seconds left.
The 13-point deficit was the largest in NBA history in overtime since the introduction of point-by-point scoring in games (1997/98 season).
“They fought against a lot of adversity. We should have won that game in regulation, we deserved it. We were the better team all night and gave them a chance to snatch the win, but we took it back right away,” Minnesota head coach Chris Finch said after the game.
Center Rudy Gobert also noted the importance of this experience for the club's championship ambitions, despite the team's low number of free throws.
“I'm very proud that we didn't give up. We had a lot of disappointments tonight. Overall, we managed to overcome them. That's our plan of action. We want to win the championship, so we understand that difficulties await us. We know that they will arise in a variety of forms.”
The win moves Minnesota into fifth place in the Western Conference. The team's next game will be against Detroit on Saturday, March 28. Houston will play Memphis instead.