About an hour before tipoff, it was announced Jimmy Butler (sore right knee) and Jamal Crawford (left toe sprain) would not play on Sunday (AEDT) against the third-best team record-wise in the NBA.
MORE: Simmons and Embiid power Sixers past Bucks for third straight win
It would have been easy for a shorthanded Wolves squad to look ahead to Tuesday's game against Clippers. But that’s the exact opposite of what happened.
The Wolves won 115-109 against the Toronto Raptors at Target Center despite being down by as much as 11 points.
Andrew Wiggins, who was born in Toronto, led the Wolves with 29 points and five rebounds. Karl-Anthony Towns added 22 points and 10 rebounds. He has a league-leading 40 double-doubles. Taj Gibson finished with 14 points, eight rebounds and two blocks. Marcus Georges-Hunt, who had played 100 minutes on the season, played 29 minutes and had himself a game, finishing with 12 points. He was great defensively and drew a huge charge from DeMar DeRozan in the final seconds.
Kyle Lowry led Toronto with 40 points, five rebounds and five assists. DeRozan added 20 points and five assists. Serge Ibaka finished with 13 points and five rebounds. Delon Wright had 12 points, six rebounds and six assists.
The Wolves move to 30-18 on the season, a half game back from third in the West. The Raptors fall to 31-14, second in the East.
