Short-handed Timberwolves stumble in second half in 122-108 loss to Hornets

Cassidy Hettesheimer, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Apr 5, 2026

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MINNEAPOLIS — With Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels again sidelined, the Minnesota Timberwolves watched a halftime lead slip away in a 122-108 loss to the surging Charlotte Hornets on Sunday at Target Center.

Bones Hyland scored 15 of his 18 points in the first half, including shooting 4-for-5 from three in the second quarter, to put the Wolves up 60-55 at the break.

But Charlotte, buoyed by a 35 points and eight assists from LaMelo Ball and a 25-point, eight-rebound night from Miles Bridges, quickly retook the lead early in the third and pulled away from the short-handed Wolves, who never could pull within single digits in the fourth quarter.

The Wolves (46-32) lost their third game in a row and cannot finish in the fop four of the Western Conference, as they don’t have the tiebreaker with either the third-place Los Angeles Lakers (50-27) or fourth-place Denver Nuggets (50-28).

The best they could finish is fifth, meaning they will start the NBA playoffs on the road, assuming they qualify.

The Wolves (46-32) lost for the ninth time in 17 games and saw their lead over Phoenix for the No. 6 spot in the West shrink to three games. The Suns also own the tiebreaker.

If the Wolves should fail to secure the No. 6 spot over the final week of the regular season, they will have to win a game in the NBA play-in tournament to make the playoffs as the No. 7 or 8 seed.

The Hornets (43-36), who sit in eighth in the East, are 8-2 in their past 10 games and have won four in a row.

Wolves’ missing pieces

The Wolves were again without Edwards and McDaniels because of knee injuries. Edwards officially sat because of right knee patellofemoral pain syndrome, while McDaniels remains week to week because of left knee patella tendinopathy. Both are typically overuse injuries causing pain and stiffness.

Ayo Dososunmu (12 points, four rebounds, two assists) and Mike Conley (14 points) both started as part of a three-guard lineup with Donte DiVincenzo.

Edwards’ latest string of missed games means the Wolves star will not meet the threshold of games played that’s necessary to be eligible for end-of-season league awards, including what could have been his third consecutive All-NBA honors.

Edwards has now missed eight of the Wolves’ past 11 games, between the knee inflammation and an illness, having returned but struggled in an April 3 loss at Philadelphia.

“This is all just kind of part of injury management, when you’re coming off of an injury such as his, so remains day to day‚” coach Chris Finch said of Edwards’ status before the game. “So I don’t think there’s any great concern for anything longer term, but we’re still in the uncertain phase.”

McDaniels has missed the Wolves’ past five games.

How it happened

The Wolves’ first eight field-goal attempts all came from three-point range, shooting 5 for 8 behind an early pair each from DiVincenzo and Conley.

But the Wolves cooled quickly in the first, finishing the quarter shooting 36.8% from the floor while giving up nine second-chance points to the Hornets and trailing 29-21.

Hyland started to heat up in the second quarter, shooting 4 for 5 from deep as the Wolves outscored Charlotte 39-26 in the period. Hyland nailed a buzzer-beating three-point jumper to put the Wolves up 60-55 heading into halftime, their largest lead of the first half.

However, the Hornets managed to retake the lead with 8:21 to go in the third quarter, and never trailed after that. After a dunk from Rudy Gobert (6 for 9 for 12 points) again cut the Wolves’ deficit to one with 6:25 to play in the third, Charlotte doubled up the Wolves to close out the quarter on an 18-9 run, forcing six of Wolves’ 18 turnovers in the third quarter.

Charlotte led 95-79 going into the fourth quarter, and the lead remained double digits from there.

Relying on Randle

Julius Randle has been called upon as the team’s first option in the absence of Edwards and McDaniels, averaging 24.5 points in his last four games. He finished 9 for 16 for a team-high 26 points from the floor against the Hornets, but turned the ball over five times.

“We’re certainly missing scoring with Ant and Jaden out, and everyone’s got to pick it up,” Finch said pregame. “Julius has been a proven scorer in this league, so it’s important that we can lean on him.”

Up next

The Wolves have four regular-season games remaining. They have three road games coming up at Indiana, Orlando and Houston before finishing at home against New Orleans.

Asked pregame about whether seeding — like trying to slot into a first-round matchup with the injury-riddled Lakers — was a consideration for how the Wolves might approach the last stretch of the season, Finch said the team was just “trying to play good basketball, get some wins.”

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