The last day of the NBA regular season can result in a lot of strange box scores. With so many players sitting out as their team may already know their playoff standing, guys who rarely play are given large minutes.
That was the case for the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday. While they didn’t yet know their first-round opponent (will be the Denver Nuggets), Minnesota was aware that they would be the sixth seed in the West. With many sitting out, four players on the team finished with new career-highs in points.
Career-highs from four different playersÂ
The Timberwolves’ injury report read like a grocery list. Out for the final game of the regular season were Kyle Anderson, Mike Conley, Ayo Dosunmu, Anthony Edwards, Rudy Gobert, Bones Hyland, Jaden McDaniels, Julius Randle, and Naz Reid.
That just left nine players on the Wolves in uniform, including all three of their two-way guys. With so many absent, it allowed the lesser-used players to receive extended minutes.
The 17th overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, Joan Beringer received his third career start. A 9-of-12 night from the field, as well as 6-of-8 from the foul like led the French big man to finish with 24 points. That’s 10 more than his previous high of 14, which came in the game before on April 10.
Running amok through the G League with the Iowa Wolves much of the year, Zyon Pullin signed a two-way contract with the Timberwolves at the start of March. Sunday marked his fifth appearance with the NBA club this season, and the 25-year-old saw action in three contests with the Memphis Grizzlies in 2023-24. Entering the last game of the regular season with four career points, Pullin dropped 19 on 8-12 shooting on Sunday.
Rocco Zikarsky is also on a two-way deal after being selected 45th overall in the 2025 NBA Draft. In what was just his fifth game with Minnesota, the 7-foot-3 center had eight points on Sunday after totaling four in his first four appearances.
Another two-way player, Enrique Freeman, was a second-round pick of the Indiana Pacers in 2024. He saw 22 games as a rookie for Indiana, but never scored more than eight in any of them. On Sunday, the 25-year-old had 13 points, including two 3-pointers. Freeman went scoreless in the previous three games he played for the Timberwolves.
While Sunday’s victory meant nothing towards the final standings, it was fun seeing underutilized players get some shine.