MINNEAPOLIS (Interstat) — Anthony Edwards scored 26 points in 28 minutes and the Minnesota Timberwolves used a dominant third quarter to beat the Toronto Raptors 117-94 on Sunday at Target Center. LaMelo Ball added 15 points and eight assists in 17 minutes for Minnesota, and Terrence Shannon scored 15 points in 23 minutes. The Timberwolves improved to 3-0. Toronto, playing without star Kawhi Leonard, dropped to 2-1. Attendance was 18,978.

Edwards also had one rebound and three assists. Jaden McDaniels finished with 14 points, six rebounds, three assists and three blocks. Rudy Gobert had eight points and 13 rebounds, and Jonathan Kuminga added 13 points and four rebounds. Ball had one rebound to go with his 15 points and eight assists, and he made four of five 3-point attempts. Shannon contributed four rebounds and three assists. Minnesota has won its first three games by 25, 22 and 23 points.

Toronto was led by Ja’Kobe Walter, who had 22 points, four rebounds, two assists and one block. RJ Barrett scored 20 points with two rebounds and two assists, and Immanuel Quickley added 19 points, three rebounds and two assists. Allen Graves had 11 points, six rebounds, four assists and one block. The Raptors shot 35 of 91 from the floor, 10 of 38 from 3-point range and 14 of 21 from the free-throw line. They had 14 offensive rebounds, 14 assists, six blocks and 15 turnovers. Toronto committed 23 fouls.

Minnesota shot 43 of 77 from the floor, 15 of 31 from beyond the 3-point arc and 16 of 25 from the free-throw line. The Timberwolves had nine offensive rebounds, nine assists, seven blocks and 23 turnovers. They also committed 23 fouls. Minnesota outrebounded Toronto 49-34. Toronto had 102 possessions and an offensive rating of 92.2. Minnesota had 103 possessions and an offensive rating of 113.7.

The Timberwolves never trailed after Ball hit a 25-foot step-back 3-pointer to make it 5-3 with 9:43 left in the first quarter. Gobert opened the scoring with a tip shot, Barrett answered with a running layup and a free throw, but Ball and Edwards quickly pushed Minnesota ahead. Edwards had a driving dunk and a 24-foot 3-pointer in the first quarter, and Shannon closed the first quarter with a driving layup and free throw. Barrett later added a reverse layup and a 10-foot shot for Toronto. Jamal Shead made a driving layup, and Quickley hit a 13-foot jumper. Minnesota led 32-21 after one quarter.

In the second quarter, McDaniels hit a step-back 3, Shannon made a 25-foot 3 and Edwards converted a three-point play as Minnesota protected its lead. Gobert made a 2-foot alley-oop dunk off a Dosunmu assist, and Kuminga made two free throws. Quickley kept Toronto close with three 3-pointers in the first half, and Walter hit two 3-pointers before halftime. Barrett also scored on driving layups, and Collin Murray-Boyles made a dunk and a free throw. Minnesota took a 55-47 lead into halftime after Edwards made a layup with 1:09 remaining and Quickley hit a 3-pointer for Toronto.

The decisive stretch came in the third quarter. Ball opened with a driving layup, McDaniels converted a layup and free throw, and Edwards hit a step-back 3-pointer. Kuminga followed with a 3-pointer to make it 66-49. After Walter scored for Toronto, Edwards made a driving layup, Ayo Dosunmu hit a 3-pointer, McDaniels dunked off a Ball assist and Joan Beringer threw down an alley-oop dunk and made two free throws as the lead reached 77-53. Walter answered with a 26-foot step-back 3, Shannon hit a 24-foot 3, Ball made a 24-foot step-back 3, and Quickley scored before Gobert finished an alley-oop dunk from Shannon to send Minnesota into the fourth quarter leading 90-62. Dosunmu later made a 2-foot shot and a driving layup, and Quickley made a 3-foot shot and a free throw. The Timberwolves outscored Toronto 35-15 in the third.

Toronto tried to rally in the fourth. Barrett opened the quarter with a driving layup, Graves made a tip shot and Walter hit a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 90-69. Minnesota answered with a McDaniels basket, a Gobert tip-in dunk, an Edwards driving dunk, a Ball step-back 3, a Kuminga running layup and an Edwards three-point play that pushed the lead to 104-75. Beringer’s layup made it 109-77 with 4:46 remaining and gave Minnesota its largest lead. The Raptors scored 17 of the final 25 points, including a late 3-pointer by Jamison Battle and two free throws by Jaden Bradley, but the outcome was already settled. Trayce Jackson-Davis added an alley-oop layup and a free throw for Toronto, Alijah Martin made a running dunk in the closing minutes, and Jaylen Clark scored on a 5-foot driving floating jump shot and made a free throw for Minnesota.

Walter had 14 of his 22 points after halftime for Toronto. Barrett scored 12 points in the second half, and Quickley had 11 after halftime. Minnesota’s bench contributed throughout, with Shannon scoring 15 points and Kuminga adding 13. The Timberwolves finished with a 49-34 rebounding advantage and held the Raptors to 38.5% shooting from the floor while shooting 55.8% themselves. Minnesota also made 15 3-pointers to Toronto’s 10. The Timberwolves scored 117 points from 103 possessions, and the Raptors scored 94 from 102 possessions.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Toronto Raptors 116, Minnesota Timberwolves 112. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Minnesota with a 77.2 percent probability to win. Minnesota had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -1.5. The total score of 211 went over the over/under line of 229.5.