Timberwolves’ failure north of border continues with loss to Raptors

The Timberwolves’ losing streak in Toronto reached 20 years and 20 games with Thursday night’s 110-105 loss to the Raptors at Scotiabank Arena.

The Wolves haven’t won in Toronto since Jan. 21, 2004, back when Kevin Garnett was on his way to his MVP season and started that day in a lineup with Sam Cassell, Latrell Sprewell, Trenton Hassell and Ervin Johnson.

Current Wolves star Anthony Edwards was 2 years old.

Playing without injured starting point guard Mike Conley (left toe sprain), the Wolves were outdone Thursday by a 13-1 Raptors run late in the game after the Wolves led 93-88 with seven minutes left. The Raptors outscored the Wolves 33-26 in the fourth quarter, taking the lead on two free throws by Scottie Barnes with 4:48 left not long after the Wolves turned it over on a Rudy Gobert 3-second violation.

“For sure, Mike makes a difference every time he plays for us, you know?” Wolves coach Chris Finch told reporters in Toronto about his sidelined point guard. “We haven’t really been able to generate a lot of consistent offense when he hasn’t played. Tonight was probably another example of that.”

The Raptors pounded the Wolves in the paint 56-40. Their bench also outscored the Wolves bench 34-15 in a game neither team ever led by double digits.

“We knew they were going to try to live in our paint,” Finch said.

Edwards scored 26 points, Julius Randle had 23 and Jaden McDaniels finished with a season-high 22 for the Wolves, but that wasn’t enough when Toronto’s RJ Barrett reached the basket seemingly at will and scored 31 points on 10-for-14 shooting.

Finch lamented his team’s lack of “sustainable offense” against an opponent that has been ravaged by injuries this season and improved to only 4-12 with the victory. But the Raptors had beaten Indiana and lost to NBA defending champion Boston in overtime their previous two games.

The Wolves next play Sunday at Boston, where they have lost 17 consecutive games to the Celtics. They haven’t won there since March 2005.

Wolves forward Naz Reid went down injured with 11 seconds remaining after banging his knee in a collision with Barnes, but got up and walked it off on his own. Finch said he didn’t yet have an update on Reid, who had a rough night, shooting 1-for-8 from the floor and scoring two points.

With Conley out, rookie Rob Dillingham came off the bench early, but the No. 8 overall pick in this year’s draft played only 10 minutes before he suffered a sprained ankle and didn’t return. Reid, Dillingham and Donte DiVincenzo were the only players to play off the Wolves bench.

Barnes wore protective glasses and played for the first time for Toronto since Oct. 28 because of a facial orbital fracture, finishing with 17 points with six assists. Veteran Raptors reserve Chris Boucher added 22 points in 26 minutes off the bench.