Julius Randle hit the go-ahead jumper with less than 20 seconds remaining to lift the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 110-108 victory over the Houston Rockets at home. The win is the Wolves’ second straight and allowed them to move one full game ahead of the Rockets for the fifth seed in the West thus far. The loss is the Rockets’ second in a row and dropped them to sixth in the standings as the NBA postseason looms.
Randle’s jumper, just a foot below the free-throw line, capped a wild 15-0 windup for the Wolves, who were trailing, 108-95, with under three minutes left in OT after the Rockets scored the first 13 points of extra time. But the Wolves kept chipping away at that lead and ultimately tied things up at 108 on a Donte DiVincenzo triple from straightaway.
A defensive stop later, and Minny gave Randle the ball at the top of the key. The big man got to the paint, created some separation, and pulled up for the lead.
Rockets and Wolves Get into Wild Ending in Regulation
Curiously, the Wolves were up, 93-82, with 3:50 left in the fourth quarter when the Rockets went on a 13-2 run to tie things up at 95 on a Kevin Durant freebie off an away-from-the-ball foul on Rudy Gobert. Randle then had the chance to win it outright for Minnesota, but his layup was blocked by Alperen Sengun.
Jaden McDaniels led the Wolves with 25 points before leaving with what looked like a leg injury. Randle tallied 24, with every one of his points coming in the second half. Durant and Sengun had 30 apiece for the Rockets, whose free fall from third in the West to now sixth is coming at a terrible time.
The Wolves will look to build more momentum on Sunday when they take on the East-leading Detroit Pistons. Houston will try to bounce back on Saturday when it faces the Memphis Grizzlies.
