NBA

Cleveland Cavaliers at Minnesota Timberwolves

· National Basketball Association
35-6, 15-4 Away
Final
124 - 117

22-20, 10-10 Home

NBA-leading Cavaliers seize control in the 2nd half and beat Timberwolves 124-117

Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Minnesota Timberwolves: Game Highlights

With the teams tied at halftime, Cleveland (35-6) outscored Minnesota by 10 in the third quarter and opened the fourth with a 10-0 run to seize control.

Anthony Edwards scored 28 points and Julius Randle finished with 20 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists for Minnesota.

Cleveland was without forward Evan Mobley, who sat with right calf soreness, and Isaac Okoro, sidelined with a right AC joint sprain. Both played in Thursday’s loss to Oklahoma City.

Minnesota was also missing a key player as guard Donte DiVincenzo sat for the second straight game with a left great toe sprain.

Edwards became the third-youngest player in NBA history to score 8,000 points. Only LeBron James and Kevin Durant reached 8,000 points at a younger age than Edwards.

Takeaways Cavaliers: Cleveland responded well after its biggest loss of the year, a 20-point rout by the Thunder on Thursday. The Cavs' win prevented what would have been just their second two-game losing streak of the season.

Timberwolves: Minnesota seemed to run out of gas after halftime on the second night of a back-to-back after beating the Knicks on Friday in New York. The Wolves are 2-4 this season in the second game of back-to-backs.

Key moment Ty Jerome scored six straight points to end the third quarter, including a three-point play with 4.1 seconds remaining in the quarter, to give Cavaliers a 10-point lead. Minnesota couldn't recover from that double-digit deficit as the momentum swung in Cleveland's direction.

Key stat Cleveland had 15-point efforts from bench players Ty Jerome and Georges Niang.

Up next Both teams play Monday. The Cavaliers host Phoenix, while the Timberwolves play at Memphis.

Regular Season Series

CLE leads series 1-0

Recent Plays

4th 0.0 End of Game 124 - 117
4th 0.0 End of the 4th Quarter 124 - 117
4th 10.1 Darius Garland makes free throw 2 of 2 124 - 117
4th 10.1 Darius Garland makes free throw 1 of 2 123 - 117
4th 10.1 Nickeil Alexander-Walker enters the game for Rob Dillingham 122 - 117

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nba/500/cle.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originCLE https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nba/500/min.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originMIN
42-92 FG 43-90
46 Field Goal % 48
17-48 3PT 15-38
35 Three Point % 39
23-25 FT 16-19
92 Free Throw % 84
47 Rebounds 42
13 Offensive Rebounds 9
34 Defensive Rebounds 33
27 Assists 27
4 Steals 4
1 Blocks 4
7 Turnovers 7
1 Team Turnovers 1
8 Total Turnovers 8
0 Technical Fouls 0
0 Total Technical Fouls 0
0 Flagrant Fouls 0
13 Points Conceded Off Turnovers 13
19 Fast Break Points 15
42 Points in Paint 50
18 Fouls 19
20 Largest Lead 11
Minnesota Timberwolves Minnesota Timberwolves Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Jaden McDaniels, F Day-To-Day Dec 23
Joe Ingles, F Day-To-Day Dec 23
Cleveland Cavaliers Cleveland Cavaliers Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Lonzo Ball, G Day-To-Day Dec 23
Larry Nance Jr., F Out Dec 21
Max Strus, G Out Dec 21
Evan Mobley, C Out Dec 13

Game Information

Target Center

Location: Minneapolis, MN
Attendance: 18,978 · Capacity:

2025-26 Central Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Detroit 24 6 .800 - W3
Cleveland 17 14 .548 7.5 W2
Chicago 14 15 .483 9.5 W4
Milwaukee 12 18 .400 12 W1
Indiana 6 24 .200 18 L6

2025-26 Northwest Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Oklahoma City 26 4 .867 - L1
Denver 21 8 .724 4.5 L1
Minnesota 20 10 .667 6 W3
Portland 12 18 .400 14 L2
Utah 10 19 .345 15.5 L4
Full Standings

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