Timberwolves, with Anthony Edwards suspended, come up a point short of the Jazz

SALT LAKE CITY Inside the Timberwolves locker room, Anthony Edwards clothing and gear were inside and just outside of his stall Friday night.

But Edwards wasnt in the building, per the rules of his one-game suspension for reaching 16 technical fouls on the season after Thursdays loss to the Lakers.

The Wolves left wondering what might have been if their best player was available Friday night as they fell to Utah, the worst team in the Western Conference, 117-116.

The Wolves let an 11-point halftime lead slip on a 27-4 Jazz run in the third quarter.

The Wolves fought back late in the third and fourth to retake the lead 104-103.

In addition to Edwards, the Wolves missed Rudy Gobert, who remained out because of back spasms.

Utah scored 60 paint points with Gobert out for the fifth consecutive game.

The Jazz also had 18 second-chance points.

A 6-0 Jazz run gave Utah a 109-104 lead and prompted a timeout from coach Chris Finch, but Utah continued to pour it on after the timeout, and the Wolves were down 113-106 with 3 minutes, 53 seconds remaining.

But they came back on a 10-2 run to take a 116-115 lead on a three from Donte DiVincenzo.

DiVincenzo then drew an offensive foul with 44.7 seconds to play.

The Wolves came up empty on misses from Mike Conley and Jaden McDaniels before a scrambled possession for the Jazz resulted in a dunk for Walker Kessler with 9.7 seconds remaining.

DiVincenzo drove to the hoop at the buzzer and there was a lot of contact, but no foul called as the horn sounded.

John Collins led Utah with 29 while Naz Reid had 27 for the Wolves.

Fast start Both teams started hot from the outside.

Utah first opened up an 8-0 lead, but it didnt take long for the Wolves to find their groove offensively, even without Edwards.

McDaniels hit five of his first six shots for 10 points while Naz Reid added eight in the first quarter.

McDaniels also added four assists.

The Wolves shot 16-for-25 in the first quarter and led 40-38 after not committing a turnover.

They made just one turnover the entire first half.

Utah kept raced out to the early lead thanks to 14-for-25 shooting in the first quarter, 9-for-14 from three-point range.

Brice Sensabough opened the night with 12 off the bench for Utah.

Wolves pull ahead in second The Wolves grabbed hold of the lead in the second quarter as Reid continued to score and the Wolves had good ball movement and spacing throughout the first half.

They led 67-56 at the half.

Terrence Shannon, whom coach Chris Finch compared admirably to the Tasmanian Devil cartoon character before the game, had 13 points in the first half.

BOXSCORE: Jazz 117, Wolves 116 NBA standings He displayed a good sense of timing on when to use his attacking style to get to the rim and when to move the ball.

On one play, Shannon looked as if he was going to go up with force to the rim, and Utahs defense reacted accordingly, only for Shannon to make a soft, easy pass to McDaniels for a dunk.

He had four assists in the first half.

Jazz come back The Jazz began the second half with an 11-0 run, and that erased the Wolves lead.

They took the lead again 72-71 on a Collins three, which prompted a Finch timeout with 7:38 to play.

That didnt stop the bleeding.

The Jazz reeled off the next 11 points and led 83-71, prompting another Finch timeout with 5:29 to play.

All told, it was a 27-4 run for the Jazz.

But the Wolves bench clawed back in it, and the Wolves made a 17-5 run toward the end of the quarter that tied the score 92-92 before the Jazz took a 94-92 lead into the fourth.

The Wolves were cold from outside and in at the start of the period.

They shot just 8-for-25 as they missed open threes and shots at the rim on center Walker Kessler.

They made the run with Kessler on the bench in the third..

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