MINNEAPOLIS — Anthony Edwards did his part — and the Timberwolves theirs — to avoid the NBA's play-in tournament that starts next week.
They all did so with Thursday's 127-121 victory over San Antonio at Target Center on a night when Edwards scored 49 points, one more than his previous career high at Golden State in November.
He made two free throws with 9.1 seconds left to surpass those 48 points he scored in San Francisco after he took several 3-point shots in the final minute.
Trailing by 18 points early in the fourth quarter, the Spurs pulled within 125-121 in the final 10 seconds before Karl-Anthony Towns' two free throws repelled them.
Then Edwards and the Wolves waited and watched to see if Denver would clinch the Western Conference's sixth playoff spot ahead of them by beating a second-place Memphis team that had little to play for later that night.
A Denver victory also would keep the Nuggets' hopes for the West's fifth seed alive.
Edwards scored 27 of his points after halftime in a game when the Wolves trailed 35-30 after a quarter, led 64-57 at halftime and by as many as 18 in the third quarter.
He shot 16 for 28 from the field, including 6 for 14 on 3-pointers.
Wolves starting point guard D'Angelo Russell was a pre-game scratch because of what the team termed bilateral hamstring soreness. Wolves coach Chris Finch attributed it partly to a "pretty tough practice" on Wednesday.
Guard Patrick Beverley returned after he missed two games because of right ankle soreness and started beside Malik Beasley and Edwards.
The Wolves trailed by as many as five points and led by as many as nine points in the first half before they stretched a lead to 18 points in the third quarter.
They started with an 8-0 run right out of halftime when Towns scored eight unanswered points himself. Included was a three-point play upheld by video review to start it and a three-pointer that ended it that.
It turned a seven-point halftime lead quickly into a 15-point bulge.
The Spurs arrived at Target Center Thursday with a 34-45 record and a 10th-seeded spot clinched to play ninth-seed New Orleans in the NBA's new "play-in" tournament next week.
The seventh-seeded Wolves are aimed to play the No. 8 Los Angeles Clippers Tuesday at Target Center. That 7-8 winner advances to play at second-seeded Memphis while the 9-10 winner and 7-8 loser play each other for the right to meet West top-seeded Phoenix.
San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich was asked before the game about the new tournament.
"Depends where you're at," he said. "If you're 7 or 8, you might not like it so much. You live with it. Everybody's got to do it. So you just do the best you can."
The Wolves finalized a deal Thursday to sign forward Greg Monroe for the rest of the season and announced it in time for him to re-join his teammates in pre-game warmups.
He has played 12 games this season with Milwaukee, Washington as most recently Utah. He played a stint with the Wolves in December and January as well, playing on Dec. 27 his first regular-season minutes since April 10, 2019, with an 11-point, nine-rebound, six-assist performance in 25 minutes.
The Spurs return home after the game to play Golden State in their final home game and honor colorful San Antonio businessman Red McCombs, the former owner of the Spurs as well as the NFL's Minnesota Vikings for seven years.He founded an automotive group named after him, co-founded Clear Channel Communications, formerly owned the Denver Nuggets as well and is a philanthropist famous for his contributions to universities in Texas and elsewhere.
"He's a piece of work," Popovich said. "The Spurs wouldn't be there without him. David (Robinson) wouldn't have been there without him. My first job was under him. You just fall in love with the guy. He's bigger than life. The first time he walked into the gym was with these big cowboy boots, fur coat and that big hat. I learned a lot from him. He's special to a whole lot of people."
Popovich came to Target Center for the first time as the NBA coach with the most regular-season victories. His 1,344 victories in 26 seasons are more than Lenny Wilkens' 1,332, Don Nelson's 1,335, Phil Jackson's 1,155 and Pat Riley's 1,210.
"I'm just at the end of my first full season and I am extremely tired," Finch said. "I can't imagine what 26 feels like. He's just had so many phases to his career, all successful. I really enjoy watching him coach these teams now because he's maximizing them and looks like he's having fun doing it."
