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Timberwolves’ Austin Reaves game-winner is leaving Julius Randle sleepless
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- Timberwolves’ Austin Reaves game-winner is leaving Julius Randle sleepless
The post Timberwolves' Austin Reaves game-winner is leaving Julius Randle sleepless appeared first on ClutchPoints .
The Minnesota Timberwolves ' home crowd went from elation to heartbreak in a matter of seconds on Wednesday night. What looked like a hard-fought comeback win turned into a gut-wrenching defeat as Austin Reaves buried a floater at the buzzer to lift the Los Angeles Lakers to a 116-115 victory.
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For Julius Randle and the Timberwolves, it was a brutal ending. Randle, who scored a team-high 33 points and helped spark Minnesota's late surge, looked visibly stunned as Reaves' shot swished through the net.
After the game, the veteran forward admitted the finish would " stick in his head for a while ", a fair reaction after his go-ahead layup with just seconds left seemed to have sealed the win.
The night had all the makings of a classic. Both teams entered the game shorthanded, the Lakers missing LeBron James and Luka Doncic , and the Timberwolves without their star guard, Anthony Edwards, due to a hamstring injury.
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Still, the matchup delivered one of the most entertaining finishes of the new season.
Jake LaRavia , who caught fire for Los Angeles , was instrumental in building a 20-point cushion in the second half. The Wolves, however, refused to fold. Randle and Jaden McDaniels , who finished with 30 points, powered a ferocious 14-2 run in the final minutes that gave Minnesota its first lead since early in the second quarter.
But then came the dagger. With the ball in his hands and time winding down, Reaves calmly dribbled into the lane and floated in a soft jumper as the buzzer sounded, the first game-winning shot at the horn in the NBA this season.
Reaves finished with 28 points, 16 assists (tying a career high), and a moment that will headline highlight reels for weeks. Meanwhile, the Timberwolves fell to 2-3, their bench left in stunned silence after what felt like a stolen victory.
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For Randle, the sting will linger. His late-game heroics were undone by a single shot, a reminder that in the NBA, even one second can make the difference between celebration and sleeplessness.
Related: Anthony Edwards was wondering who Jake LaRavia is while he cooked Timberwolves
