Wolves have no problem with undermanned Magic, cruise to third straight win

Minnesota was in control from start to finish Thursday night in Orlando.

Orlando Magic guard Caleb Houstan defends Minnesota Timberwolves forward Julius Randle during the first quarter at Kia Center in Orlando, Fla., on Jan. 9, 2025. / Mike Watters-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Timberwolves haven't lost since Chris Finch made a change to the starting lineup.

The new-look starting five got off to a quick start for the second straight game, and the Timberwolves never looked back in a 104-89 victory over the Orlando Magic Thursday night at Kia Center in Orlando, Fla. It's Minnesota's third straight win.

The Wolves (20-17) were never truly threatened by the depleted Magic (22-17), who were without Paolo Banchero, Gary Harris, Jalen Suggs, Franz Wagner and Mo Wagner due to injuries. But Orlando did hang around until Anthony Edwards threw down a poster slam over Anthony Black, drew a foul and hit a free throw to put the Wolves up 10 in the third quarter.

ANTHONY EDWARDS MY GOODNESS 😱 pic.twitter.com/XWfwPCN1cp

— NBA TV (@NBATV) January 10, 2025

The Magic never got within single digits after the dunk, and the Wolves led 78-62 by the end of the quarter, their largest lead of the night. That lead quickly grew to 20-plus in the fourth quarter, and Orlando seemed to run out of fight after that.

Edwards finished his night with 21 points, seven assists, three rebounds and a pair of steals.

The three straight victories for the Wolves have all come since Finch swapped Mike Conley for Donte DiVincenzo in the starting lineup, a move that's appearing to pay dividends. Julius Randle, who finished with a game-high 23 points and 10 rebounds, is benefitting from playing alongside DiVincenzo, and the starting unit had another strong start Thursday.

Randle scored nine of his points in the first quarter, and the Wolves led 19-11 when Finch made his first substitutions. They never really looked back from there outside of a shaky start to the third quarter when the Magic cut a 13-point deficit down to five. But that Orlando run was short-lived, and the team slowly ran out of gas after Edwards' poster.

Conley is similarly benefitting by having the ball in his hands more with the second unit, and Naz Reid, who scored 16 points on 5-for-9 shooting, is appearing to find his rhythm while playing more minutes alongside Conley, who finished his night with nine points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals and a game-best plus-minus of plus-23.

With a surplus of injuries, the Magic didn't have anyone take control offensively and struggled to compete with the Wolves. Goga Bitadze scored a team-high 15 points; Caleb Houstan scored 14; and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had 13.

With the game well in hand, Finch emptied his bench in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter. Jaylen Clark made his NBA debut alongside Luka Garza, Leonard Miller, Josh Minott and Nickeil Alexander-Walker. Clark didn't put anything on the box score in his first three NBA minutes, but Garza scored four points in three minutes and Miller had two rebounds.

The Wolves return to action on Saturday when they host the Memphis Grizzlies for a 7 p.m. tipoff.