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Troy Brown Jr. added 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Bulls
(46-36), who already were locked into the No. 6 seed in the
Eastern Conference playoffs and are scheduled to face the
Milwaukee Bucks in the first round.
Nathan Knight scored 17 points for the Timberwolves (46-36), who
already had clinched the No. 7 spot in the Western Conference
and will face the Los Angeles Clippers in a play-in game on
Tuesday.
Jaylen Nowell added 15 points for Minnesota, which had a
franchise-record 85 points from the bench.
The game was lacking star power, with the Bulls able to overcome
the absences of their top three scorers: DeMar DeRozan (rest),
Zach LaVine (sore left knee) and Nikola Vucevic (rest).
The Timberwolves played without leading scorer and rebounder
Karl-Anthony Towns (rest) and leading assist man D'Angelo
Russell (non-COVID illness). Minnesota was further depleted when
defensive-minded guard Patrick Beverley received two technical
fouls in the second quarter and was ejected.
The Bulls jumped on top quickly, grabbing a 10-point lead at
17-7 less than five minutes into the game and leading 33-21
after one quarter. Chicago led by as many as 28 points in the
first half, while shooting 58.1 percent from the field, and led
70-47 at halftime.
Minnesota rallied in the second half to pull within 116-115 on a
3-pointer by Jake Layman with 1:42 remaining before Chicago
finished off the victory.
Anthony Edwards, the Timberwolves' second-leading scorer at 21.5
points per game, was held to eight points in 18 minutes, one
game after setting a career high with 49 against the San Antonio
Spurs.
Derrick Jones Jr. had 12 points for Chicago, while Tony Bradley
had 11. Naz Reid was the only Minnesota starter in double
figures with 14 points, while Josh Okogie had 13 points, Leandro
Bolmaro had 11 and Layman finished with 10.
--Field Level Media
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