The Philadelphia 76ers paid a visit to the Target Center on Tuesday night looking to finish this five-game road trip on a high note. They were already guaranteed a record of over .500 on the trip, but a win over the Minnesota Timberwolves would be icing on the cake.
On the second night of a back-to-back, after just giving up 143 points to the Indiana Pacers on Monday, the Sixers didn’t get off to a great start. The Wolves came out firing led by All-Star Anthony Edwards.
Edwards scored 15 points in the first quarter; it didn’t matter who the Sixers threw on him: De’Anthony Melton or Tobias Harris or whoever. Edwards make it look easy.
After that, the Sixers buckled down on the defensive end and cruised to a 117-94 win over the Timberwolves. Edwards scored 17 points over the final three quarters.
“In the first quarter, Anthony Edwards, I thought he was gonna go for 90,” coach Doc Rivers told reporters after the win. “Then we just kept guys in front of us. What are they, third or fourth in the league in the paint? We kept them out of the paint and I think that was the difference in the game for us.”
When Edwards was going off, one could have thought he was going to lead the Timberwolves to a win. However, the Sixers adjusted and held the rising Wolves star in check.
“We just got more physical,” Tobias Harris told reporters. “We was able to switch more, was able to really limit them to (not) getting easy looks and getting what they wanted. For us, it was just the mentality shift and just made it harder on them.”
The change in defensive intensity allowed Philadelphia to end the first half on a big run. Joel Embiid was able to do what he does, and the Sixers used their defense to build a 58-45 halftime lead. Minnesota never threatened from there.
“We was able to get our run, make some shots,” Harris added. “That gave us some momentum and that helped us kinda get our rhythm and our flow.”
Philadelphia will return home to host the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday.
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