Weary Wizards up next in Wolves' West quest

Since joining the NBA as an expansion team in the 1989-90 season, the Minnesota Timberwolves have not had overwhelming success.

The club has made the playoffs just 11 times and has only won a pair of postseason series, both coming in 2003-04. That Kevin Garnett-led team is also responsible for the only No. 1 seed that Minnesota has ever had.

Twenty years later, another franchise-changing player has a chance to lead the Timberwolves to their second top finish in the Western Conference.

Spearheaded by superstar Anthony Edwards, Minnesota (54-24) has an opportunity to keep pace in the West when it hosts the lowly Washington Wizards on Tuesday in Minneapolis.

The Timberwolves enter the week tied with the Denver Nuggets for the top spot, both sitting one game ahead of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Tuesday's matchup is vital for Minnesota, as it travels to Denver on Wednesday for a critical clash between the Northwest Division rivals.

On Sunday, Edwards tallied 26 points and eight assists and Naz Reid led the team with 31 points and 11 rebounds as the Timberwolves took a 127-117 road meeting against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Reid, who has primarily contributed off the bench this season with 13.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, is making a strong push for the league's Sixth Man of the Year honors.

"That's something that I want," Reid said of the award. "I'm hungry for it. I think my game has shown it, my impact has shown it and so has our record. I want it bad."

Although thrown into the starting lineups in recent weeks due to an injury to Karl-Anthony Towns, Reid has started just 12 of 77 games this season.

Edwards, who leads the team with 25.9 points per game, shares Reid's sentiment on this year's award.

"I think it's obvious that Naz Reid is the Sixth Man of the Year," Edwards said. "We're the No. 1 team in the West, he's had multiple 30-point games, he's a big reason why we're winning."

As for the Wizards (15-64), a disastrous season officially became the worst in franchise history Sunday, as their 130-122 loss to the Toronto Raptors marked the most defeats in the team's 63-year history. They surpassed the 2000-01 and 2008-09 teams, which both finished 19-63.

After starting the 2023-24 campaign with a 7-36 record, the team fired head coach Wes Unseld Jr. in late January, appointing Brian Keefe as the interim.

"We're all competitors, nobody wants to lose," Keefe said after Sunday's record-breaking loss. "We're in the process of learning how to win. We're focused on day-to-day habits. We want to get better. These games matter to us and we're going to try to use each one, and use each day to try to get our team better and grow."

The Wizards have dropped six of their last seven games as they limp into the final week of the regular season.

Deni Avdija led the team with 32 points in Sunday's loss, while Jordan Poole chipped in 29 points and a team-high 12 assists.

A Minnesota win Tuesday would give the Timberwolves their first season sweep over the Wizards since the 2003-04 campaign.