PHILADELPHIA -- The Philadelphia 76ers dropped their 11th straight game on Saturday when they fell to the Minnesota Timberwolves 114-109. The Sixers gave the Timberwolves all they could handle, but Minnesota superstar Anthony Edwards was too much to handle in the end.
The Sixers did rally and held a lead in the fourth quarter, but the Timberwolves used a steady diet of Edwards down the stretch, and the Sixers couldn't answer. Edwards scored 37 points with 18 coming in the fourth quarter. He knocked down four triples in the final frame including a tough fallaway 3-pointer on the wing over heavily contested defense.
The Sixers received 28 points from Quentin Grimes, 16 points and eight assists from Jared Butler while Lonnie Walker IV added 18 points and five assists off the bench. Guerschon Yabusele had 19 points, four rebounds, four assists, and three steals while Adem Bona pulled down 10 rebounds.
Here are the biggest takeaways from the loss:
Grimes' 4th quarter takeover
Sure, Edwards stole the show and he was phenomenal for Minnesota, but Grimes had himself a night in the fourth. He scored 17 of his 28 points in the final quarter and knocked down five triples on six attempts in the fourth. It was a stark difference from the first half when he scored only two points on 0-for-2 shooting. When considering the pieces sitting on the sidelines, there was no way the Sixers were going to have a chance to win this game unless Grimes awoke and he knew that. It led to a big second half for him as Philadelphia put on a strong effort.
"I just knew I had to come out in the second half and be more aggressive," Grimes explained. "In the first half, they were loading up pretty heavy on my drives, and I was trying to make the right play. Had a couple of boneheaded turnovers so I was just trying to be, in the second half, come out with the mindset to be in attack mode, try to do whatever I can to help the team win at that point."
Edwards downs the Sixers
As mentioned, Edwards was terrific for the Timberwolves. This is a game Minnesota had to have as it continues its fight out of the play-in tournament and try to clinch one of the six guaranteed playoff spots in the Western Conference. The Wolves are locked in a battle with the Clippers and the Grizzlies to get into the playoffs so they couldn't afford to lose this game. Despite the Sixers continuing to battle, they don't have a closer. ...
