The Minnesota Timberwolves entered Wednesday's game against the Houston Rockets with a severely short-handed roster, missing both Anthony Edwards and Ayo Dosunmu before they went on to lose Jaden McDaniels, Rudy Gobert and Naz Reid during the game.
Even so, Minnesota stayed alive in a pivotal Western Conference matchup, could have won the game in regulation, and eventually escaped with a 110-108 overtime win at Target Center.
The win improved the Timberwolves' record to 45-28, a half-game behind Denver for fourth in the Western Conference, and moved them one and a half games ahead of Houston.
Minnesota's win came after the Wolves lost an 11-point lead late in regulation, then fell behind by 13 in overtime when Alperen Sengun’s dunk capped a 26-2 Rockets run.
Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images
After the final horn, the NBAannounced a historic record set by the Timberwolves' historic rally against the Rockets.
“A HISTORIC COMEBACK FOR THE WOLVES ‼️ After trailing 108-95 with 3:01 left in OT, Minnesota went on a 15-0 run to win 110-108. The 13-point OT comeback is the largest in the PxP era (1997-98) 🤯,” the NBA posted on X.
Mike Conley started the Wolves' push with a three-pointer. Kyle Anderson followed with a three-point play, Donte DiVincenzo added a layup and then a tying three-point shot, and Julius Randle scored the go-ahead jumper with 8.8 seconds left.
“We’ve got real competitors in here, guys who want the challenge,” Randle said after the game. “When it gets tough, we come together as a group.”
Minnesota’s run completed the largest overtime comeback the league has recorded in that era and capped a stretch in which the Wolves had won four of five.
Chris Finch said his team should have won the game in regulation, but was happy with the final outcome.
“We deserved to win that game, we were the better team all night, and you know, we gave them a chance to steal it from us,” Finch said, “but we stole it right back.”
The Wolves will return to action on Saturday, hosting the Eastern Conference-best Detroit Pistons at 5:30 p.m. ET.
