Timberwolves win home opener against Toronto Raptors

After splitting their two-game trip to the West Coast to start the season, the Wolves improved to 2-1 with a 112-101 victory over Toronto in their home opener. It was a narrow win that saw some strong bursts of play from Wolves and there were also moments where their decision-making was questionable. But those moments when they were active, particularly early in the game and most of the third quarter, were enough to keep them going against an undermanned Raptors team without RJ Barrett, Bruce Brown and Immanuel Quickley.

Julius Randle had 24 points while Anthony Edwards had 24 on 21 shot attempts. Donte DiVincenzo had 16 off the bench. Nickeil Alexander-Walker left the game in the fourth quarter and did not return, although he sat on the bench for the final minutes after briefly going to the locker room.

The Wolves' starting lineup had its best stretch of basketball of the season after that unit got off to a slow start in the first two games. Mike Conley, who was 3 of 16 to start the year, hit two three-pointers early to set the tone, although Conley would finish 2 of 8.

Donte DiVincenzo replaced him at point guard halfway through the quarter and continued the hot shooting from the point guard slot with three threes of his own. The Wolves forced five Toronto turnovers and had a 32-18 lead after one.

Coach Chris Finch played with some different lineup combinations in the first half as he had Conley and DiVincenzo start the quarter together while Joe Ingles scored the point later in the quarter. This led to a lopsided second score and the Wolves led 56-44 at halftime.

But the Wolves came out of the break inspired. Jaden McDaniels, who didn't fire a shot in the first half, had nine points in the opening minutes of the third period. Edwards shot two three-pointers and extended their lead to 22. The Wolves weren't great at the end of the night and the Raptors had won the game within two minutes, but the Wolves had built up enough of a cushion.

Rudy Gobert. Gobert had 15 points and 13 rebounds and benefited from some praise from teammates such as Edwards, Conley, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Joe Ingles. Gobert also finished with four blocks.