The Charlotte Hornets blew a 13-point fourth quarter lead and lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves in overtime, 126-120 on Tuesday.
The Hornets scored the first five points of the game, but D’Angelo Russell spurred a 19-2 Timberwolves run, that spanned just over four minutes. The Hornets spent the rest of the frame playing catch up. Part of that run included some early minutes from seldom used rookie JT Thor. He made an impact on the defensive end of the floor, as the Hornets used their big lineup for the majority of the quarter. At the end of the first quarter, the Hornets trailed by three points, 27-24.
Both teams struggled to start the second quarter. The Hornets were plagued by turnovers and the Timberwolves Achilles heel was missed free throws.
Hornets center Mason Plumlee led the team in assists, while point guard LaMelo Ball took care of the defensive rebounding. Ball hit back to back threes to start a Hornets surge that seemed to build some momentum and confidence heading toward half time.
The Hornets fouls on three straight possessions, kind of squandered their progress. Two of those fouls were dubious. Karl-Anthony Towns was rewarded for kicking his leg out attempting a three. Patrick Beverly, who is a known flopper, was up to his old tricks and was given a free throw for flopping near Montrezl Harrell as Harrell attempted to reestablish himself back inbounds after a layup.
The Wolves shot an unreal 23 free throws in the second quarter alone. That was the good news for them, but the bad news came in the final seconds when Anthony Edwards limped off the court with a right ankle sprain. He did not return for the rest of the game. At the half, the Hornets had a six point lead, 58-52.
The Hornets dashed out to a double figure lead early in the third quarter. Some nip and tuck play throughout the quarter gave way to the Hornets stretching their lead to as large as 13, however, they were not able to sustain it. At the end of the quarter, the Hornets led 87-78.
The Hornets entered the fourth quarter with a nine point lead, but hit a dry spell that lasted over three minutes without a point. Terry Rozier was finally able to stop the bleeding with a three, but the Hornets offense was still sputtering to find decent looks at the basket.
The Wolves attack of the offensive glass got them back into the game. Towns knocked down two shots from the great beyond to give them a late four point lead. Bridges immediately responded with a three, but he failed to give the Hornets the lead at the free throw line. He converted one of two free throws to tie the game at 108, sending the game into an extra session.
Minnesota scored the first five points of overtime and the Hornets could never make up that ground. The Hornets looked fatigued on both ends of the court in the late stages of the fourth and overtime. They made a number of mental errors offensively and defensively that led to their demise.
“We had an opportunity to close out this game,” Borrego said. “The piece we’ll look back on is the offensive rebounds. They shot 39% from the field. Most nights, we win that game.”
Towns had a monster game with 39 points, 15 boards, three assists and one block for the Timberwolves. Russell had a double-double with 18 points and 11 dimes. He also had four rebounds. McDaniels had a great all-around game with 18 points, six rebounds, three assists and four steals.
“It’s a great win, great win,” Wolves coach Chris Finch said. “One of the best wins of the year. … We figured at halftime it was going to be about finding five guys. As soon as we found them, we made our run. Guys stepped up big as big players do and brought us home.”
Bridges had a team high 28 points along with 13 rebounds and seven assists, nearly a triple-double for the Hornets. Rozier added 25 points, one rebound and five helpers. Ball had 22 points, nine boards and six dimes. Plumlee contributed 14 points, 17 rebounds and nine assists.
The Timberwolves host Fred VanVleet and the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday in the second game of a back-to-back. The Hornets host Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat on Thursday.
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