ORLANDO, Fla. — Anthony Edwards stretched out and worked his left knee when he wasn't playing during Friday's 118-110 Timberwolves loss to Orlando.
Jarred Vanderbilt, who tries to play through pain, spent a timeout in the third quarter with a wrap around his left quad, then went to the tunnel to the exercise bike to try and stay warm. This after Patrick Beverley had exited in the first quarter and didn't return because of an ear contusion.
Then in the fourth quarter, Jaden McDaniels went to the floor in a spot of pain as Moritz Wagner drove past him for a 10-point Magic lead.
The Wolves, who had won six straight, at times looked beaten and weary against the worst team in the Eastern Conference and faced a 12-point deficit in the fourth quarter. As the crowd at Amway Center went crazy for one of the few times all season, the Wolves bench went quiet and players stared blankly ahead.
The Wolves were steeling themselves for a regrettable blemish in their pursuit of the No. 6 seed.
They would cut that deficit to one, but despite multiple chances to tie as the Magic went cold, the Wolves never got there. Mo Bamba buried their chances the same time he buried a corner 3 to put Orlando ahead 114-108 with 1 minute, 5 seconds to play.
Anthony Edwards had 25 points for the Wolves while Karl-Anthony Towns had 21. Bamba had 27 points for Orlando while Wendell Carter had 20.
The Wolves came out firing from deep (6 for 8) with Beverley nailing three in the opening minutes. The only caveat with their strong first quarter was the volume of whistles that caught up to them. Shortly after hitting his third 3, Beverley picked up his third foul at the 7-minute, 55-second mark. The foul also put the Magic into the penalty.
Beverley checked out of the the game holding his head after the foul, which he got going for a loose ball against Bamba, and went down the tunnel. He didn't return. This was the start of the Wolves' difficult night, even as they opened a double-digit lead in the first quarter.
Later in the first, the whistles caught up to Towns, who also picked up his third with just 23.6 seconds remaining in the quarter. The Wolves led 36-24 after one but the cushion would diminish.
In the second quarter, Orlando flipped the tables on the Wolves, who shot 7 for 12 in the first quarter from deep, by going 7 for 12 in quarter two.
Towns checked back in later in the second quarter, only to pick up his fourth foul with 26.4 seconds remaining. His backup, Naz Reid, also picked up foul No. 4 in the final seconds of the first half as the Wolves led 65-60 at halftime. The Magic shot just 39% but made up for it at the foul line, where they went 16 for 18.
The teams began the third by trading 3-pointers and the Wolves during the opening minutes increased their lead to 82-70. But the Wolves couldn't make it last. Orlando kept pace and then some from outside and just like the second quarter, it closed the third strong with a 15-4 run to grab a 97-93 lead headed into the fourth. The Wolves bench went quiet as the crowd around it went into a frenzy during the run.
They stayed quiet into the fourth as Orlando kept pouring it on and went up as many as 107-95 with 8:32 to play. The Magic ran out of its namesake momentarily and scored just two points over the next 5:29. That allowed the Wolves to get within 109-108. But they couldn't execute down the stretch to re-take the lead.
