Timberwolves' 52-point third quarter creates more chaos in West

The Timberwolves outscored the Memphis Grizzlies 52-25 in the third quarter Thursday night, going 7-for-8 on threes in the quarter. On their lone three-point miss, Anthony Edwards got the offensive rebound and dunked it.

Edwards finished with 44 points in a must-win game for the Timberwolves that left Minnesota and Memphis with identical 47-33 records, the same as the Golden State Warriors in the tight Western Conference.

Getting that 34th loss would have made it tough for the Timberwolves, who lose the tiebreaker to both the Grizzlies and the Warriors. Now, Minnesota has two winnable games against the Brooklyn Nets and Utah Jazz left, while the Grizzlies have to fly to Denver, a famously tough road city, for a game against the Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets Friday night.

Whatever happens Friday night, it's good for the Timberwolves. Either the Grizzlies lose and fall a game behind them, or the Nuggets drop into a tie with the Wolves, who own the tiebreaker over Denver.

Should the Grizzlies beat the Nuggets Friday and the Warriors defeat the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday, while everyone else wins out, the Western Conference would have five teams with 49-33 records. In a five-way tie, the Timberwolves would end up the No. 4 seed.

From a possible road game in the play-in tournament to potentially getting home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. What a difference a quarter makes.