Raptors retain home championship over Wolves

RJ Barrett scored 31 points — 12 in the fourth quarter — and the Toronto Raptors defeated the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves 110-105 on Thursday night.

Scottie Barnes returned to the lineup and produced 17 points and six assists for the Raptors, who have won two straight since a seven-game losing streak. Barnes missed 11 games with a right orbital fracture.

Chris Boucher added 22 points, while Jakob Poeltl had 15 points and 12 rebounds for Toronto, which took command with a 13-1 run late in the fourth quarter.

Anthony Edwards scored 26 points and Julius Randle had 23 points and nine rebounds for the Timberwolves, who have lost their last 20 visits to Toronto.

Minnesota’s Jaden McDaniels added 22 points, Rudy Gobert had 13 points and 11 rebounds and Donte DiVincenzo scored 11 points.

The Timberwolves haven’t won in Toronto since January 21, 2004. They had a road win on February 14, 2021 against the Raptors, who were then playing in Tampa during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Barnes scored six straight points to give Toronto a six-point lead with 3:24 left. Barrett’s dunk with 2:33 to play pushed the lead to nine. Edwards cut the deficit to five by sinking a 3-pointer with 1:46 left, but he missed a 3-point attempt that would have trimmed the gap to one with 18 seconds left.

The Raptors led 32-27 after the first quarter as Toronto held a 24-8 edge in points in the paint.

Toronto took a five-point advantage on Jonathan Mogbo’s dunk with 2:48 left in the second quarter, but only led 52-51 at halftime.

Minnesota took a five-point lead when Edwards made a floating 7-foot jumper with 8:21 left in the third quarter. The margin was seven on a running layup by McDaniels with 4:22 left before Toronto regained a one-point lead with an 8-0 run. The Timberwolves led 79-77 after three quarters.

After Minnesota took a five-point lead midway through the fourth quarter, Boucher’s corner 3-pointer tied the game at 95 with 5:20 left.

Minnesota’s Rob Dillingham (ankle) left in the second half and did not return. Timberwolves guard Mike Conley (toe) did not play.

–Field-level media