Anthony Edwards scores career-high 51 points as Wolves rally - ESPN

MINNEAPOLIS — ​Anthony Edwards scored a career-high 51 points and the Minnesota Timberwolves overcame an early 21-point deficit with a dominant second half to beat the Washington Wizards 130-121 on Tuesday night.

Edwards had 30 points in the second half, the most in a half in his career. Nickeil Alexander-Walker finished with 23 points and Rudy Gobert had 19 points and 16 rebounds for the Wolves, who have won four of five and eight of 10.

Edwards credited coach Chris Finch for keeping him focused ahead of the matchup with one of the worst teams in the league.

«He put me in the office two-three days ago and said, 'Look man we've got this Washington game, and we need to win it, need to come ready to play and you can't treat it like any other game,'» said Edwards, who also added 6 rebounds and 7 assists to become the first player in Timberwolves history with 50 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in a game.

Minnesota has clinched a top-three seed in the Western Conference and has a showdown at Denver on Wednesday with a potential No. 1 seed at stake.

«I don't even need to talk about how big it is. Everybody knows,» Edwards said.

The Timberwolves and Nuggets are tied atop the West, one game ahead of Oklahoma City. Denver beat Utah and the Thunder beat Sacramento Tuesday night to keep pace.

Minnesota improved to 12-5 without All-Star forward Karl-Anthony Towns. The team announced Tuesday that Towns has been cleared for full-contact, five-on-five basketball activities in anticipation of his return, which could occur as soon as Friday.

A 3-pointer by Edwards gave Minnesota its first lead at 92-89 with 2:04 to play in the third quarter. Before the period expired, Edwards added another 3, scored on a fast-break dunk and fed Gobert