The final weeks of the Minnesota Timberwolves schedule hasn’t been filled with many of the several teams that are tanking to close out the season.

That’s one reason other teams in the Western Conference have had lengthy win streaks while the Wolves are stumbling to the finish line.

Another reason? The Wolves are down two important players in Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels, both of whom continue to rest knee injuries, while the rest of the team just isn’t playing well in their absence.

But the schedule finally threw the Wolves a break, and they took advantage in a 124-104 victory over the Indiana Pacers, which was without its entire starting lineup plus a few key bench players.

Ayo Dosunmu led six Wolves players in double figures with 24 points, and Julius Randle had 19.

What it means

The Wolves’ magic number to shore up a top-six seed is one, and they could clinch that if Houston beats Phoenix, which was set to tip off at 11 p.m. ET.

The Wolves are essentially locked into the No. 6 seed with little chance of moving up or down. What still has a bit of mystery is who they will face, although Denver is their most likely opponent, with the depleted Los Angeles Lakers facing the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Lakers would need to win that game to remain ahead of Denver for the No. 3 seed.

After a brutal three-game win streak, perhaps the Wolves have some good feelings back in the locker room before playing the Orlando Magic on Wednesday.

Bones Hyland helped bring about some of that with 19 points, with coach Chris Finch telling the FanDuel broadcast after the game that Hyland's patience in waiting for playing time this season has paid off.

“He had an unbelievable training camp,” Finch said. “It was close but I thought he had earned the opportunity to play a lot more coming out of training camp. But we went other directions, and he stayed positive and he stayed patient.

“When he plays definitive, in bursts and downhill and shoots the ball when he’s open ... he knows how much we need him, and he’s really injected a lot of days and off and off in our offense.”

How it happened

The Wolves grabbed a 15-point lead in the first half, but they let the Pacers hang around during a second quarter that was 28-26 Wolves. The Wolves shot 49% in the first half, but they had 11 turnovers (compared with 16 for Indiana).

The Pacers stayed in it thanks to a 50% performances from the floor with Wolves killer Obi Toppin scoring 12 off the bench in the first half.

The Wolves broke it open in a 39-24 third quarter and put the kind of distance on the scoreboard you’d expect in a matchup like this. Dosunmu had 11 in the third on 5 for 7, which included a tough dunk over Pacers center Jay Huff that got the Wolves bench out of its seats. Naz Reid had seven, and Hyland had nine off the bench in the quarter as the Wolves hit 102 points by the end of the third.

Finch said he had told Dosunmu to be more aggressive at the start of games since he has entered the starting lineup with McDaniels out.

“He had been waiting until the second quarter to start being aggressive. I said you got to be aggressive right out of the gate, and he was,” Finch said. “He missed a couple early ones, but, after that, he kind of woke up.”

Reid looks like old self

Perhaps it was the level of competition contributing to his night, but Reid had his best game in a while. In the latter third of the season, Reid has dealt with ankle and shoulder injuries, with that shoulder seemingly still bothering him on a nightly basis. He was able to score 17 points on an efficient 7 for 10. He hit three threes for just the second time since Feb. 20.

“God to see Naz get into a flow,” Finch said. “We’re gonna need a lot more of that coming down the stretch.”

Key stat

16 steals for the Wolves. Jaylen Clark had four, with Dosunmu and Mike Conley each getting three.

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