Minnesota dropped another clutch-time contest Friday in Houston, sinking the Wolves to 15-20 in such games this season.

The 20 losses in the clutch – defined as games with a margin of five points or less at any point in the final five minutes of a game – are the most in the NBA.

If the Timberwolves won just five more of those 35 clutch contests, they’d currently own the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference and be in position for home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

“Our issue is we’ve got to win close games,” Wolves coach Chris Finch told reporters on Friday. “We’ve got to be better. Our shot selection and decision making in clutch games has got to improve on the offensive end.”

That starts with Anthony Edwards.

The Wolves guard scored 37 points in the loss to the Rockets, but all 37 came in the contest’s first 41 minutes. Over the final seven, he went 0 for 5 from the field with a turnover. And while Edwards told reporters after the game that he liked the looks he got late, the film reveals many of them were heavily contested, difficult attempts. They didn’t fall and, subsequently, the Wolves lost.

Such is life for Minnesota this season, who has frequently lived and died with Edwards’ insistence on taking tough shots late in games.

Far too often, it’s been a fatal trait.

Edwards has played in 51 fourth quarters this season. In the 26 that have ended in Wolves’ wins, he’s shot 48.8% from the field, and 47.4% from distance.

In the 25 that ended in Wolves’ losses, he’s shot 31.3% from the floor and 31.4% from beyond the arc.

That seems logical. If your best player makes shots late, you win. If he doesn’t, you lose. But 92 NBA players have shot 60 or more times in the fourth quarters of losses this season, and Edwards’ 31.3% mark is the worst among them.

Overall, 52 players have taken 150-plus shots from the field in fourth quarters this season, and Edwards’ 40.1% shooting mark in the final frame ranks 50th among them, ahead of only Houston’s Jalen Green and Washington’s Jordan Poole.

In clutch-time situations this season, Edwards is shooting 40.2% from the field and 30.4% from 3-point range, all while recording more turnovers (10) than assists (nine).

Finch noted “a lot” of the fourth quarter execution falls on Edwards’ shoulders.

“Obviously, because they’re putting two (defenders) on him,” Finch told reporters. “And, for the most part, he’s making the right play. But he’s got to stay with it. And we’ve got to help, too. I’ve got to call a better game down the stretch.”

But Edwards also needs to perform at a higher level on a more consistent basis if Minnesota is to win more close games, which will be a requirement of any effort to surge up the Western Conference standings.

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Anthony Edwards missed Sunday’s All-Star game in San Francisco due to a groin injury, or maybe it was a cold? Multiple things were reported in the immediate aftermath. The guard’s injury designation ahead of Minnesota’s bout in Houston was “questionable” with a hip ailment.

Fear not, Timberwolves fans. Edwards appears to be quite alright. And yet it still wasn’t enough for Minnesota on Friday in the Wolves’ 121-115 loss to the Rockets in their first game post All-Star break.

Edwards scored 37 points as he continues to be a thorn in Houston’s side. He dropped 41 against the Rockets in Minnesota just two weeks ago, and Houston was similarly at a loss for answers on Friday. The guard knocked down tough triples, yes, but the majority of his success took place on his jaunts to the rim, where Houston had no one to deter him.

Perhaps Minnesota thought it was playing in an all-star affair to open the game.

That was about the level of defensive effort and execution the Wolves exhibited in a first frame in which Houston scored a jaw-dropping 48 points. Minnesota was without Rudy Gobert, who missed the game with back spasms. Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo remain out for the Wolves, who did get Mike Conley back from a finger injury.

“They got hot from three early. We’ve got to pressure more, apply the pressure so they don’t feel comfortable to shoot those three, obviously,” Wolves big Naz Reid told reporters. “We let them be comfortable.”

Yet even with the poor early defense, the Wolves were only down 10 at quarter’s end, thanks to a strong offensive showing themselves.

Minnesota tightened up the defensive effort from there, surrendering just 20 points in the second quarter to trim Houston’s lead to one by halftime. It was a back-and-forth bout the rest of the way, with the two teams trading jabs.

But Houston (35-21) outexecuted Minnesota (31-26) in the closing stretch of the contest, as Houston generated good offense and Edwards developed tunnel vision in the face of multiple Houston defenders that led to a number of difficult shots and, as a result, misses.

Edwards scored just three points in the final frame, going 1 for 6 from the field. Edwards did not score over the game’s final seven and a half minutes.

Alperen Sengun had 24 points and 13 rebounds for Houston, while Jalen Green led the Rockets with 35 points. Minnesota hosts Oklahoma City on Sunday.

Reid had 22 points and eight rebounds for the Wolves on a night where he struggled with foul trouble. Jaden McDaniels added 21 points, six rebounds and two steals.

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It felt like a matter of when, not if, Edina would finally break through Friday.

Through two periods, the bulk of the second Class 2A girls state hockey semifinal at Xcel Energy Center on Friday against Holy Family had been played in the Fire end, yet the game remained scoreless.

Cate McCoy changed that 39 seconds into the third period for Edina and the Hornets went on to a 1-0 win.

The top-seeded and defending champion Hornets (25-3-1) will face No. 3 Hill-Murray in Saturday’s 7 p.m. final. The Pioneers beat Rosemount 5-2 in the other semifinal.

The Hornets have won five titles since 2017, including a 2-0 win over Hill-Murray in 2024.

McCoy’s third goal of the tournament — she had two in a quarterfinal win over Farmington — came by redirecting a shot from the point by Libby Moe into the top corner of the Fire net. It was her 19th goal of the season.

The Fire had two shots in the first 12 minutes of the third period, and equaled that on a late power play, but couldn’t beat Reese McConnell then or with a 6-on-4 advantage in the final minute after another penalty. McConnell made a huge pad stop on Josie Linn with about 20 seconds left to ice the win.

The Edina senior earned her sixth shutout of the season by making a 12 saves. Nora Hannan had just seven in the Hornets’ 3-1 quarterfinal win.

Kayla Swartout had 26 saves for Holy Family Catholic (22-8-0), which was in the tournament for the first time.

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Minnesota human rights law lets transgender athletes compete in sports consistent with their gender identity and it supersedes President Donald Trump’s recent executive order banning transgender athletes from women’s sports, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said on Thursday.

Ellison’s opinion comes after the Minnesota State High School League asked his office for formal advice on the matter. The state high school league is currently being investigated by the Trump administration after the league said it would follow state law regarding transgender students.

Trump signed an executive order, but Ellison said that because it lacked congressional authority or a statutory mandate, it did not take precedence over state law.

Specifically, he concluded that the Minnesota State High School League would violate the Minnesota Human Rights Act if it went along with the Trump order and prevented transgender athletes from participating in high school sports or other activities.

The high school league on Thursday acknowledged receiving Ellison’s opinion but had no other immediate comment.

League officials have said that the Minnesota Human Rights Act and Equal Protection Clause of the Minnesota Constitution prohibit discrimination against persons based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

The high school league policy has been in place for a decade. While the initial policy was controversial, supporters say it’s operated quietly and successfully over the decade. The league is a nonprofit voluntary association that governs interscholastic sports and other activities at high schools in Minnesota.

League officials last week signaled it would stay in place following Trump’s executive order but noted they would “continue to review the existing state laws alongside the new Presidential Executive Order.”

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Days after the high school league’s announcement, the federal Education Department said it needed to investigate. In a statement, Craig Trainor, the Education Department’s acting assistant secretary for civil rights, dismissed the high school’s league’s intention to follow Minnesota law and constitution as “meaningless virtue-signaling.”