Orlando Magic – Minnesota Timberwolves · NBA

Win probability changed during the game. · 20 January 2021

ORL97–96MIN

Is it worth watching?

Recommended

It was more exciting than 58% of NBA games since 2017

It measures how much the win probability moved during the game —without looking at who won or at the score— and compares it with the 10,950 NBA games with a curve since 2017. “Highly recommended” is the most intense 20%, “recommended” runs from 50% to 80%, and “skippable” is the rest. Source: ESPN.

↑ MIN winsORL wins ↓

Home team's win probability across the game (source: ESPN). The band rises when MIN leads and falls when ORL does.

This is how the game was decided.

Nikola Vučević decided it, the Orlando Magic player with the most points (28, with 8 rebounds and 4 assists; +10 with him on the floor); the winner's best plus-minus was Evan Fournier's (+15). The criterion: the winner's points in the box score; plus-minus says who was on the floor when the game opened up.

The game-winner in Minnesota Timberwolves 96-97 Orlando Magic (January 20, 2021) was hit by Cole Anthony: a three-pointer with 0.0 s left in the fourth quarter, putting the Orlando Magic up 97-96. They never trailed again.

The biggest run of Minnesota Timberwolves 96-97 Orlando Magic (January 20, 2021) was a 16-0 run by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second quarter (from 11:25 to 7:56), from 21-27 to 37-27. The Orlando Magic' best was a 11-0 run in the fourth quarter (from 6:09 to 1:34), from 78-91 to 89-91.

▸See where these figures come from

Play: Cole Anthony makes 25-foot three point jumper.

I count as the game-winner the basket that puts the winning team ahead for good. Source: the official NBA play-by-play (since 2002-03) and each team's official box scores.

A run here is consecutive points by one team without the opponent scoring. Source: the official NBA play-by-play (since 2002-03) and each team's official box scores.

Source: the game's official box score and play-by-play.

Cole Anthony decided this game: his points put his team ahead at the buzzer of the fourth quarter, and the opponent never led again.

It is one of the 3 games he has decided this way in the NBA since the 2002-03 season.

His profile shows the games Anthony decided

▸See where these figures come from

A game is decided by the last basket that puts a team ahead in the final ten seconds of the fourth quarter or of an overtime, if that team wins.

20 January 2021 · The source is the ESPN play-by-play, play espn:401267381:681; the date is the one on the NBA box score.

Rotations · who was on the floor

Closing lineup · ORL

Vucevic · Gordon · Ennis · Anthony · Fournier

Closing lineup · MIN

Beasley · Okogie · Vanderbilt · McLaughlin · Culver

Q1Q2Q3Q4

ORL

Nikola Vucevic

43′ · +10

Aaron Gordon

36′ · +9

James Ennis III

28′ · +15

Cole Anthony

28′ · +10

Evan Fournier

28′ · +15

Khem Birch

26′ · -12

Terrence Ross

24′ · -16

Dwayne Bacon

20′ · -14

Gary Clark

8′ · -12

MIN

Malik Beasley

34′ · -7

D'Angelo Russell

32′ · -13

Naz Reid

29′ · -4

Josh Okogie

25′ · -14

Jarred Vanderbilt

18′ · -12

Jordan McLaughlin

21′ · +4

Anthony Edwards

23′ · +13

Jaden McDaniels

26′ · +19

Ed Davis

18′ · +3

Jarrett Culver

15′ · +6

Each bar is a stint on the floor (source: NBA). The number is minutes played and the team's +/− with him on the court. ORL and MIN.

These lineups played the most minutes together.

Orlando Magic

Anthony, Vucevic, Fournier, Ennis, and Gordon played 15.0 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 16 points.
Anthony, Vucevic, Fournier, Ennis, and Birch played 6.5 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.
Bacon, Vucevic, Ross, Birch, and Gordon played 6.0 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 7 points.

Minnesota Timberwolves

Russell, Culver, Edwards, McDaniels, and Davis played 13.3 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 1 point.
Russell, Beasley, Okogie, Vanderbilt, and Reid played 12.1 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 9 points.
Russell, Beasley, Okogie, McLaughlin, and Reid played 4.3 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 8 points.

▸See every lineup of the game

Orlando Magic

Bacon, Anthony, Vucevic, Ross, and Birch played 5.2 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 8 points.
Bacon, Clark, Ross, Birch, and Gordon played 4.8 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 6 points.
Vucevic, Ross, Fournier, Ennis, and Gordon played 3.8 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 1 point.
Bacon, Clark, Vucevic, Ross, and Gordon played 2.1 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 6 points.
Vucevic, Ross, Fournier, Birch, and Gordon played 1.6 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 1 point.
Vucevic, Fournier, Ennis, Birch, and Gordon played 1.5 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 1 point.

Minnesota Timberwolves

Beasley, McLaughlin, Edwards, McDaniels, and Davis played 4.0 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 3 points.
Beasley, Okogie, Vanderbilt, McLaughlin, and Reid played 3.5 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 1 point.
Beasley, Okogie, McLaughlin, Reid, and McDaniels played 3.3 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 5 points.
Beasley, McLaughlin, Reid, Edwards, and McDaniels played 2.4 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 6 points.
Beasley, Vanderbilt, McLaughlin, Reid, and Edwards played 1.6 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 1 point.
Russell, Beasley, Okogie, Reid, and McDaniels played 1.5 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 2 points.
McLaughlin, Culver, Edwards, McDaniels, and Davis played 1.1 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 7 points.

▸See where these figures come from

The lineups come from the NBA's official rotation: who was on the floor and when. Each lineup's plus-minus is worked out from every player's stints and is only shown when they all add up with each other and with the final score.

Nikola Vučević covered 4.44 km, more than anyone in the game.

Nikola Vučević touched the ball 91 times, a game high.
Aaron Gordon made 65 passes, a game high.
Naz Reid defended 9 shots at the rim, a game high, and opponents made 2.

▸See what was measured for each player

Orlando Magic

Player	km	km/h	Touches	Passes
Nikola Vučević	4.44	5.8	91	59
Aaron Gordon	4.20	6.6	86	65
Cole Anthony	3.70	7.5	55	44
James Ennis III	3.48	7.0	21	17
Evan Fournier	3.46	6.9	51	25
Khem Birch	3.25	7.2	32	24
Terrence Ross	2.94	6.8	43	24
Dwayne Bacon	2.19	6.2	15	9
Gary Clark	0.98	7.2	16	16

Minnesota Timberwolves

Player	km	km/h	Touches	Passes
Malik Beasley	4.18	7.0	67	46
D'Angelo Russell	3.60	6.4	81	62
Jaden McDaniels	3.35	7.2	45	36
Naz Reid	3.27	6.3	47	34
Josh Okogie	2.91	6.5	31

The figures come from the NBA's optical tracking (NBA.com) for this game; speed is each player's average while on the floor.

Who stood out on defense during the season

These figures cover the whole 2020-21 regular season, not this game.

Orlando Magic

Nikola Vučević contested 8.8 shots per game over his 70 games.
He ranks 32 of 364 in the league.
Cole Anthony drew 0.13 charges per game over his 47 games.
He ranks 43 of 364 in the league.
Khem Birch drew 0.10 charges per game over his 67 games.
He ranks 59 of 364 in the league.

Minnesota Timberwolves

Malik Beasley recovered 1.0 loose balls per game over his 37 games.
He ranks 24 of 364 in the league.
Naz Reid contested 7.9 shots per game over his 70 games.
He ranks 52 of 364 in the league.
Jaden McDaniels defended 4.5 shots at the rim per game over his 61 games, and opponents made 8 fewer out of every 100 than usual.
He ranks 22 of 143 in the league.

Hustle figures come from the hustle stats the NBA publishes (NBA.com) and rim defense comes from its tracking; both cover the regular season. For each player in this game we show the figure that ranks him highest in the league, and for each team, the three best ranked. Ranks count players with at least 30 games and, at the rim, at least 4 defended shots per game.

The Minnesota Timberwolves have won 27 of their 73 games against the Orlando Magic.

27-46record of the Minnesota Timberwolves · NBA 1989-90 – 2025-26, regular season and playoffs

0-2in 2025-26

See the full head-to-head in the Analyst

See where it comes from

Official NBA box scores, regular season and playoffs, 1989-90 – 2025-26. It counts every game between the two teams that the house holds, this one included.

SportiveWorld knows much more about this game

Game context

Scoring

193

combined points

31.2 below the season average (224.2)

⚖️ The last two minutes

Official NBA L2M report: every call in the endgame, reviewed by the league.

10 calls reviewed3 errors admitted by the NBA

Foul: Shooting · 00:19.1

Evan Fournier → Malik Beasley

Fournier (ORL) makes contact to Beasley's (MIN) arms that affects his driving shot attempt. When Fournier swipes down, he makes contact with the ball and does not dislodge it and then makes contact to the arm when Beasley is still in a shooting motion.

Foul: Offensive · 00:53.5

Jordan McLaughlin → Aaron Gordon

McLaughlin (MIN) is not in the path of Gordon (ORL) when he sets the screen and continues to back into him to make contact that affects his ability to defend the play.

Foul: Shooting · 01:24.3

Terrence Ross → Jordan McLaughlin

Ross (ORL) moves alongside of McLaughlin's (MIN) path to the basket and places an arm at his side. The contact is marginal and does not affect McLaughlin's play at the basket.