With Anthony Edwards ruled out because of a hip issue, the Minnesota Timberwolves used their size advantage Saturday night to rattle the Charlotte Hornets for a 123-117 victory. The triumvirate of Rudy Gobert, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Naz Reid had a huge impact in the contest, though, Reid was pulled from the floor late by Chris Finch, which the head coach admitted was not an easy decision on his part, per Chris Hine of the Star Tribune.
Chris Finch on the three-bigs lineup in the fourth quarter: “Naz was a huge lift off the bench. It broke my heart to pull him out, to be honest.” Said he liked the matchup of Anderson on Rozier down the stretch.
Naz Reid steps up for the Timberwolves vs Hornets
Reid sat out the final 4:53 of the contest, as he was replaced on the floor by Anderson even though the former LSU Tigers star was having a great night. Either way, the move by Finch ultimately did not hurt Minnesota, which extended its win streak to four games. Reid finished with 23 points on 9-for-13 shooting from the field and 2-for-2 from the foul line to go with three 3-pointers, five rebounds, two assists, and a steal in 25 minutes of action. As a team, the Timberwolves shot 51.2 percent from the floor and outrebounded Charlotte, 41-37.
Despite missing the latter portions of regulation, there was no denying the immense impact Reid had on the game. Together with Gobert and Towns, Reid wreaked havoc on the court, especially offensively. Gobert had 26 points, while Towns paced the Timberwolves with 28 points.