Kembali
The Cleveland Cavaliers clawed their way back from a 15-point deficit to defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves 127-125 in overtime Monday night despite a 47-point explosion from Anthony Edwards.
During a thrilling overtime clash, Edwards had a pointed question for one of his own teammates, center Rudy Gobert.
In a game that saw 15 lead changes during its final 21 1/2 minutes, every effort mattered. A clip posted online showed Edwards turning to Gobert after a play late in overtime and asking, “Why did you stop playing?”
That fan sharing the post of the moment offered a blunt read on what prompted the question with the Wolves trailing 123-122, writing that Gobert “was standing around instead of going for a rebound.”
That said, Gobert hauled in 20 rebounds, 8 of them on the offensive glass.
That total was more than Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley grabbed combined for Cleveland. Minnesota won the rebounding battle 54-50, with Gobert accounting for nearly half of the Wolves’ 17 offensive rebounds.
However, scoring was another matter. The big man went 0-of-9 from the floor, including 0-of-2 from 3-point range, and all 5 of Gobert’s points came on 5-of-8 free-throw shooting.
Edwards’ night looked nothing like his teammate’s, and he was not guaranteed to play at all.
Minnesota listed him as questionable with right knee injury maintenance before upgrading him to available ahead of tip-off. The four-time All-Star got his points on 19-of-34 shooting, including 5-of-15 from the 3-point range, adding 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks.
On the other side, Donovan Mitchell led the Cavaliers with 26 points on 10-of-21 shooting, along with 7 assists and 5 rebounds.
Cleveland had trailed 69-58 in the third quarter before ripping off 12 straight points. James Harden later forced overtime with a 7-foot floater that tied it at 113 apiece with 10.4 seconds left in regulation.
Harden finished with 19 points and 9 assists, and Mobley added 18 points.
The defeat was Minnesota’s first of the season after a 3-0 start. The Wolves now sit at 3-1 and return to Target Center to host the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday.