Ice-cold shooting dooms Timberwolves in Toronto to open season
Shots did not fall all night as the Minnesota Timberwolves lost the season opener 97-94 to the Toronto Raptors Wednesday night. Minnesota took 100 shots made just 34, including 8-of-31 from 3-point land.
Key players stats:
- Anthony Edwards: 26 points, 14 rebounds (8-27 shooting)
- Karl-Anthony Towns: 19 points, 10 rebounds, 4 blocks (7-24 shooting)
- Rudy Gobert: 15 points, 13 rebounds, 4 blocks, 2 steals
Edwards scored the first 10 points of the game for Minnesota, hitting three of his first four shot attempts and then hit just 5-of-23 the rest of the night. His running mate Karl-Anthony Towns wasn't much better, connecting on 8-of-25 shots.
Minnesota trailed 70-60 midway through the third quarter before ending the final five and a half minutes on a 14-3 run fueled by the bench, which ironically hadn't made a shot until Kyle Anderson's putback with 5:09 left in the quarter to start the run. Naz Reid also hit a pair of close-range shots, Edwards hit a 3 and then Shake Milton buried a corner triple for the Timberwolves' first lead since midway through the second quarter.
The daggers came from deep late in the fourth quarter as Dennis Schroder and Pascal Siakam hit back-to-back 3s for a 90-84 lead with 4:58 to go, and then Siakam buried another triple to put Toronto up 93-86 with 3:01 remaining.
Towns had a chance to cut the lead to three with 90 seconds to play but he missed an open 3. The big man was 1-of-9 from deep in the game, and it ended worse for Towns as he tried to force a pass down low to Gobert with the Wolves trailing 95-91 with 30 seconds to go and it was poked away and stolen, leading to a dunk by Scottie Barnes for the final nail in the coffin.
Toronto dominated Minnesota 34-12 in fastbreak points.
Oct 25, 2023; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) goes up to make a basket against Toronto Raptors forward O.G. Anunoby (3) during the first half at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
The Timberwolves were without starting small forward Jaden McDaniels, who is day-to-day with a calf strain. Nickeil Alexander-Walker started in his placed. The only other players to see the floor were Reid, Anderson, Milton and Troy Brown Jr.
Up next: Timberwolves vs. Miami, Saturday at 7 p.m. CT.
