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AP photo: Minnesota Timberwolves guard Bones Hyland, right, works around Charlotte Hornets forward Moussa Diabate (14) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday in Minneapolis.<\/p>\n
MINNEAPOLIS \u2014 Bones Hyland\u2019s sharp shooting wasn\u2019t enough to lift the shorthanded Minnesota Timberwolves to a win over Charlotte Sunday night. In the absence of Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels, Hyland scored 15 first-half points to spur on the Wolves to a lead at halftime, but Charlotte exploded late in the third quarter to come from behind for a 122-108 win.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe played with pace, he was definitive, he got to his shots, he got into the paint, made the plays \u2026 and he battled on defense,\u201d Minnesota head coach Chris Finch said.<\/p>\n
Minnesota trailed by a point with 80 seconds left in the third quarter when the momentum shifted toward the Hornets. Coby White, Grant Williams and Sion James knocked down consecutive 3-pointers to close the frame on a 9-0 run. <\/p>\n
Kon Kneuppel, Moussa Diabate and Lamelo Ball each hit a layup in the first minute of the fourth to make it a 15-0 run over about two minutes of game time and the Wolves never recovered.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Charlotte] got hot from the 3-point line and everything we did well in the first half, being into the ball, being aggressive, we weren\u2019t able to replicate, or sustain, rather, in the third quarter,\u201d Finch said. <\/p>\n
Part of Charlotte\u2019s late dominance came from their ability to rebound the ball. Diabate\u2019s nine total and three offensive rebounds helped the Hornets to a 46-39 edge on the glass, including a 16-13 advantage in offensive rebounds. Rudy Gobert led Minnesota with 10 total and four offensive boards.<\/p>\n
\u201cToo much of it is on Rudy. Everyone else has got to chip in and rebound,\u201d Finch said. \u201cThey were holding him, and it was pretty physical down there. But a lot of the rebounds that we didn\u2019t get, I think, were largely responsible for others. A lot of our perimeter players need to get back in and rebound the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n
Finch added that Charlotte\u2019s ability to kick out offensive rebounds for 3s was a big part of why the Timberwolves\u2019 lead faded as fast as it did, and that sloppy turnovers didn\u2019t do anything to help the Timberwolves\u2019 cause.<\/p>\n
Julius Randle finished as the Timberwolves\u2019 leading scorer on the night with 26 points on 9 of 16 shooting, as well as eight rebounds and five turnovers, while Hyland added another 18 points. Hyland shot 5 of 11 from the field in the game after starting 5 of 8, and hit a 3-pointer over James and Ryan Kalkbrenner as time expired in the first half to give Minesota a 60-55 lead at the break.<\/p>\n
Ball shot 7 of 14 from 3-point range for a game-high 35 points, along with eight rebounds, while MIles Bridges shot 10 of 12 from the field and knocked down each of his four attempts from 3-point range for 25 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.<\/p>\n
As a team, Charlotte shot 19 of 45 from beyond the arc (42%) while Minnesota shot 14 of 38 (37%).<\/p>\n
\u201c[Our] 3-point shooting has cratered, and I think a lot of them are pretty good looks, to be quite honest with you, so we\u2019ve got to stay confident in those looks and keep generating them for each other,\u201d Finch said. <\/p>\n
The Timberwolves got off to a slow start as Charlotte maintained an early lead throughout the first quarter. Minnesota didn\u2019t get on top for the first time until Donte DiVincenzo recovered a long rebound and hucked it down the court to Gobert, who punched down an uncontested dunk to cap off an 8-0 run with a 37-36 Timberwolves lead. <\/p>\n
Kneuppel had an uncharacteristic off night from 3, shooting 1 of 4 from beyond the arc and 4 of 14 from the field for 11 points. Kneuppel has blown away the rookie 3-point record with 265 to date, 59 more than the previous record set by Keegan Murray in 2023. <\/p>\n
Minnesota falls to 46-32 with the loss, leaving them in sixth place in the Western Conference and three games ahead of Phoenix in the play-in. Minnesota has dropped four of its last five games since McDaniels got injured and has also missed Anthony Edwards in eight of the team\u2019s last 10 games.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels like we\u2019re a million miles away from the team that we can be, and we are,\u201d Finch said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to get back with our connectedness and spirit \u2026 We\u2019ve got some guys [that need to] just play better \u2026 They\u2019re forcing their offense and it\u2019s not going in, or they\u2019re not seeing it go in. It will go in over time, but we\u2019ve just got to make all the little plays, all the gritty plays, stay in it, and then we start gambling on defense and lose our discipline. That\u2019s when stuff snowballs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Minnesota looks to bounce back when it goes on the road to take on an Indiana Pacers squad that\u2019s lost seven of its last 10 games and currently sits in 14th place in the Eastern Conference at 18-60. Tip-off for the game is slated for 6 p.m. on Tuesday. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n TUCSON, Ariz. \u2014 The No. 6 seed Southwest Minnesota State wheelchair basketball team closed its season on Saturday …<\/p>\n