Timberwolves Overcome 13-Point Overtime Deficit to Beat Rockets 110-108

Julius Randle sank a pullup jumper with 8.8 seconds left in overtime Wednesday night, capping a 15-0 closing run that turned a 13-point deficit into a 110-108 Minnesota Timberwolves victory over the Houston Rockets in Minneapolis — the largest overtime comeback on record since the NBA began logging play-by-play details with the 1997-98 season.

The Timberwolves did it shorthanded. By the time Randle's shot dropped, five of Minnesota's top seven players were gone: Anthony Edwards unavailable, Ayo Dosunmu out with a sore calf, Naz Reid ejected for complaining about officiating, Rudy Gobert fouled out, and Jaden McDaniels having already left with an apparent leg injury after scoring 25 points. Mike Conley, pressed into a rare start with Edwards and Dosunmu unavailable, sparked the comeback with a 3-pointer with 2:45 left in overtime.

The sequence that followed was methodical. Kyle Anderson tipped in Randle's missed layup, drew a foul on Alperen Sengun, and converted the three-point play. The Timberwolves then forced an 8-second violation by keeping the Rockets from advancing past halfcourt. Donte DiVincenzo cut in for a layup off an Anderson feed, slicing the deficit to five. Randle grabbed Sengun's miss at the rim, blew past him, and finished a layup to pull Minnesota within 108-105 with 1:34 remaining. DiVincenzo tied it with a 3-pointer. Sengun missed a jumper. Then Randle pulled up and made the shot that finished it.

Even then, the game was not over. Randle was called for a foul on Kevin Durant's drive with 3.3 seconds left. The Rockets, who had been a perfect 23 for 23 from the free-throw line to that point, saw Durant's first attempt come up short. He bricked the second one intentionally to try to retain possession, but Houston never got a final shot.

The Rockets had appeared to seize full control well before that sequence. Durant and Sengun, who each finished with 30 points, constructed a 12-0 run late in the fourth quarter to erase an 11-point Minnesota lead with 3½ minutes left in regulation. Houston then scored the first 13 points of overtime to push the margin to what seemed like a comfortable distance. The Timberwolves took 63 shots in the paint and drew only 10 free throws all night against a Rockets team that converted every free throw it attempted for nearly the entire game.

"They fought through a ton of adversity. We should've won that game in regulation. We deserved to win that game. We were the better team all night, and we gave them a chance to steal it from us, but we stole it right back," coach Chris Finch said.

Randle, who scored all 24 of his points after halftime, led the entire 15-0 closing run. Gobert, who fouled out before the finish, credited the team's composure. "I'm so proud that we didn't quit. We had a lot of opportunities to get very frustrated tonight," he said. "For the most part, we were able to overcome that. That's the blueprint for us. We want to win a championship, so we know there's going to be adversity. We know it's going to come in a lot of ways."

Minnesota improved to 45-28, sitting 12 games behind Oklahoma City in the Northwest Division standings on a two-game winning streak. McDaniels' status after leaving with the leg injury remains a concern as the Timberwolves push through the final stretch of the regular season.