Anthony Edwards Shot 5-for-23 — and the Timberwolves Still Routed the Magic 115–93 in Orlando

ORLANDO — This is what a deep team looks like. Anthony Edwards, two nights after hanging a franchise-record 45 on Miami, could not buy a basket at the Kia Center on Friday: 5-for-23 from the field, 2-for-9 from three. The Minnesota Timberwolves won by 22 anyway, 115–93 over the Orlando Magic, because on this roster the star’s off night is a footnote, not a crisis.

Edwards still bent the game: per ESPN’s box score, 15 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, a game-high 4 steals, and a plus-19 that was the best mark on the floor. Seven Timberwolves scored in double figures. Jaden McDaniels matched Edwards with 15 points, adding 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks without a turnover. Rudy Gobert went 6-for-8 for 14 points and 9 rebounds. Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 13 off the bench, LaMelo Ball had 12 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, and Jonathan Kuminga added 11, 8 and 5.

The bench ran the game

The best Timberwolf on the floor might have been a reserve. In ESPN’s box score, Ayo Dosunmu produced 14 points, 7 rebounds and 9 assists with zero turnovers in 27 minutes, steering the stretches that broke the game open. Dosunmu found rookie Joan Beringer for the running dunk that made it 24–13 with 1:05 left in the first — Minnesota’s first double-digit lead, barely ten minutes in. Beringer finished with 9 points and 9 rebounds, 7 on the offensive glass.

That last number is the story in miniature. According to ESPN’s box score, Minnesota outrebounded Orlando 61–43 and piled up 22 offensive rebounds to the Magic’s 8, turning misses — plenty of them, on a 42-for-98 shooting night — into second and third chances. The Wolves assisted on 33 of 42 made baskets. Orlando went 8-for-39 from three (20.5%).

The third quarter ended it

Per Field Level Media’s game story, Minnesota led 57–45 at the half, and the lead had already touched 17: Ball found Edwards for the layup that made it 57–40 with 56 seconds left before the break, before a Suggs three and two Goga Bitadze free throws trimmed it back. Any thought of a Magic run died in the third. Orlando scored 15 points in the quarter, and Minnesota closed it on a 17–3 run — Ball and Edwards combining for the first eight points of the burst, Beringer adding a free throw and a dunk, Dosunmu a layup, Trey Lyles a three and a pull-up — to take an 86–60 lead into the fourth. The Magic won the final quarter 33–29 and never got back within single digits; per Field Level Media’s account, they trailed by double digits throughout the fourth.

Orlando’s stars had no answers

ESPN’s box score had Wendell Carter Jr. as Orlando’s one clean line: a game-high 20 points on 8-for-9 shooting with 9 rebounds. Around him, the core sputtered. Franz Wagner scored 18 but committed 6 turnovers and fouled out. Paolo Banchero managed 14 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists. Desmond Bane, brought in to space the floor, went 2-for-11 and 1-for-9 from three for 5 points. Jalen Suggs added 14, 6 and 6, but the Magic — 0–2, both losses at home, under first-year head coach Sean Sweeney — carry a week of questions into Sunday’s trip to New York.

Minnesota flies home 2–0, both wins on the road in Florida — a two-game Florida sweep, per Field Level Media’s game story — and opens its home schedule Sunday against Toronto. The Wolves won in Miami with their star scoring 45. They won in Orlando with their star scoring 15 on 23 shots. The second win says more about where this team is headed.

The Argument — Edwards vs Banchero

The billing said star against star, and ESPN’s box score tells a stranger story than the scoreboard: Banchero won the duel almost row for row — and it changed nothing.

Anthony Edwards

MINNESOTA · MIN

Paolo Banchero

ORLANDO · ORL

Banchero scored his 14 on 11 shots; Edwards needed 23 shots for his 15. Banchero took the rebounds and the assists, too. The rows Edwards owned were the ones that bend a game without a made basket: a game-high 4 steals and a plus-19 — the best mark on the floor — across 33 minutes, against Banchero’s minus-11 in 26.

Run the comparison yourself in Previously Stats: Anthony Edwards vs Paolo Banchero in Previously Stats

By the Numbers

Elsewhere Tonight

• Chicago Bulls 132, Milwaukee Bucks 125 — Tyler Herro 34 points in the loss for Milwaukee; Norman Powell led Chicago with 25.
• Boston Celtics 107, New York Knicks 103 — Jayson Tatum 36 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists.
• Atlanta Hawks 128, Charlotte Hornets 81 — Jalen Johnson 19 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists in a 47-point rout.
• Dallas Mavericks 121, Indiana Pacers 105 — Kyrie Irving 24 points.
• Toronto Raptors 112, Washington Wizards 102 — Scottie Barnes 28 points, 14 rebounds, 5 assists.
• Detroit Pistons 128, Miami Heat 111 — Giannis Antetokounmpo 36 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists in the loss.
• Houston Rockets 114, San Antonio Spurs 110 — Alperen Sengun 29 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists; Victor Wembanyama 25 and 13.
• Utah Jazz 120, New Orleans Pelicans 119 — Jaren Jackson Jr. 24 points, 10 rebounds.
• Memphis Grizzlies 111, Golden State Warriors 108 — Ty Jerome 28 points; Stephen Curry 24 in the loss.
• Los Angeles Lakers 125, LA Clippers 117 — Austin Reaves 28 points, 9 assists.
• Portland Trail Blazers 128, Sacramento Kings 120 — Deni Avdija 26 points; rookie Darius Acuff Jr. 33 and a Sabonis triple-double (27 points, 19 rebounds, 10 assists) in the loss.

Full box score, linescore and play-by-play: Gamecast — Timberwolves at Magic. More: NBA hub · Stats Hub