National Basketball Association
Minnesota 101, Utah 96
When: 9:00 PM ET, Saturday, April 24, 2021
Where: Vivint Arena, Salt Lake City, Utah
Officials: #52 Scott Twardoski, #63 Derek Richardson, #55 Bill Kennedy
Attendance: N/A

Karl-Anthony Towns scored 24 points with 12 rebounds and the Minnesota Timberwolves rallied from a 17-point deficit to stun the Utah Jazz, 101-96, on Saturday night in Salt Lake City.

Anthony Edwards contributed 23 points with nine boards, five steals and four assists, D'Angelo Russell scored 23 and Josh Okogie hit two clutch free throws with 6.2 seconds remaining to seal the upset for Minnesota (17-44).

Bojan Bogdanovic scored 30 points but the Jazz (44-16) just didn't have enough offense without injured All-Star Donovan Mitchell (right sprained ankle) while losing for only the fourth time at home in 30 games this season.

Though Utah jumped out to a 40-26 lead and seemed to be en route to an expected win over a team already eliminated from the playoffs, the Jazz only scored 18, 16 and 22 points over the next three quarters. That Jazz, who only shot 40.2 percent, finished below the 100-point mark for the first time since Jan. 10.

The unexpected loss could be a devastating one for Utah as it tries to hold on to the No. 1 seed going into the playoffs. The Jazz are now only 1.5 games ahead of the Phoenix Suns (42-17) and two games up on the Los Angeles Clippers (43-19) with 12 games remaining on their schedule.

Utah found out earlier in the day that it will be forced to play at least another week without Mitchell, who's been out since sustaining an ankle sprain against Indiana on April 16.

The Jazz saw their big lead evaporate in the second quarter when the T-Wolves went on a 10-0 run, which included a 3 by Russell and seven straight points by Edwards. Minnesota trimmed much of Utah's one-time 17-point lead down to six, 58-52, at halftime.

Edwards started off the second half like he ended the first half, scoring five in a row, and the T-Wolves eventually took the lead at 62-61 on a Jaden McDaniels' dunk. They stretched that advantage to nine near the end of the third quarter and led 92-81 after an Edwards bucket with seven minutes left.

Bogdanovic hit three 3s and Jordan Clarkson (15 points) added another during a push that helped Utah go up 93-92.

The T-Wolves didn't back down, however, and turnovers plagued the Jazz down the stretch.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Minnesota   Utah
Karl-Anthony Towns 24 Scoring Bojan Bogdanovic 30
Anthony Edwards 4 Assists Mike Conley 7
Karl-Anthony Towns 12 Rebounds Rudy Gobert 17
D'Angelo Russell 4 Free Throws Made Mike Conley 5
Anthony Edwards 5 Steals Mike Conley 4
Josh Okogie 1 Blocks Derrick Favors 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Minnesota 101 43.5 9-38 12-20 15 47 2 13 14
Utah 96 40.2 19-47 11-15 24 45 5 9 20
Upcoming Games
  • Utah will play their next game on the road against Minnesota. The Jazz have a W/L % of .711 after a win and .800 after a loss.
  • Minnesota will play their next game at home against Utah. The Timberwolves have a W/L % of .118 after a win and .341 after a loss.