Ranking the 10 best games of the Timberwolves regular season

1. March 7 – at Indiana Pacers (113-111)

Top Performance(s):

Anthony Edwards – 44 points, 6 rebounds

Rudy Gobert – 18 points, 14 rebounds

Here it is. 82 games, 56 wins, and to me, this was the most fun of them all. It may not have come against as formidable of an opponent as the Celtics, or even against a conference rival, but the win against the Indiana Pacers was an impressive one, at a critical juncture of the season.

The Timberwolves had just received the news that their all-star big man, Towns, would be out with a meniscus tear until near the end of the regular season. The threat of falling apart and slipping out of contention for the one-seed, or even a home playoff series weighed in the back of fan's minds.

Who would step up to take over the scoring void left in Towns’ absence? In this particular matchup, the Timberwolves' best player showed he could cover the scoring burden for both of them—and do it while making sensational plays on the defensive end.

The Timberwolves took an eleven-point lead into the half, but the Pacers came charging back in the third quarter, bringing the game to a tie entering the final period. From there, the teams exchanged blows, losing the lead, regaining it, and losing it again.

In the final two minutes, however, Edwards decided to put the game in his hands. First, he split a double team for a tough reverse layup to give the Timberwolves the lead. A few possessions later he splashed a triple from dead center. His next trick was to send forward Aaron Nesmith to the floor with a nasty pull-back into a free throw line jumper. Then it was a disciplined floater from ten feet.

With seven seconds left, the Pacers sent Edwards to the line, with the Timberwolves up by one. He rattled the first one home, but the second careened out. From there, the break was on. Nesmith streaked down the court, hoping for a game-tying layup. Edwards had other ideas. Number five came skying out of nowhere to swat Nesmith’s shot, hitting his head on the backboard as the clock hit zero.

For the sheer excitement of the game and the two-way dominance displayed by Minnesota’s young star, the March 7 win against the Pacers earns the title of the best Minnesota Timberwolves game of the regular season. Hopefully, the playoffs set an even higher bar.