Marc Gasol added 20 points, including a pair of foul shots with 14.5 seconds left to up the lead to six, and also grabbed 10 rebounds for a double-double. Jarell Martin, JaMychal Green and Andrew Harrison each scored 11 points, and Mario Chalmers chipped in 10.
Jeff Teague notched a game-high 25 points and seven assists for Minnesota, which managed just 11 points in the fourth quarter. Andrew Wiggins and Taj Gibson each finished with 18 points, while Karl-Anthony Towns contributed 15 points, 12 rebounds and six assists. Jamal Crawford came off the bench to score 10 points.
The Timberwolves fell into the eighth playoff spot in the Western Conference, missing a chance to gain ground on idle Utah and Denver, which lost earlier Monday at Philadelphia. Minnesota sits a half-game back of Utah and a game and a half ahead of Denver.
Memphis took the lead for good with 10:18 remaining on Green's layup. It won despite making just one field goal in the last 3:57 -- Selden's dunk in the last 10 seconds after a Teague turnover.
Memphis looked nothing like the team with the NBA's worst record, matching a desperate opponent run-for-run. Gasol canned a pair of 3-pointers in the first five minutes to stake the Grizzlies to an 11-6 lead, and Chalmers' layup gave them a 26-22 edge late in the first quarter.
Memphis maintained a slim lead throughout a high-scoring second quarter. Chalmers, who played just seven first half minutes, still made an impact in limited time. His jumper and driving layup in the last 75 seconds of the half gave the Grizzlies a 59-55 lead before two Wolves buckets tied it at 59 before the break.
Minnesota played its best quarter of the night in the third, holding Memphis to 17 points and making a late run to take its first lead since early in the first quarter. Teague's two free throws and a floater keyed an 8-0 spurt that gave the Timberwolves an 82-78 lead going to the fourth quarter.
--Field Level Media
Memphis | Minnesota | |
Wayne Selden 23 | Scoring | Jeff Teague 25 |
Marc Gasol 6 | Assists | Jeff Teague 7 |
JaMychal Green 11 | Rebounds | Karl-Anthony Towns 12 |
Mario Chalmers 2 | Free Throws Made | Jeff Teague 10 |
Wayne Selden 3 | Steals | Taj Gibson 2 |
Marc Gasol 3 | Blocks | Taj Gibson 3 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Memphis | 101 | 47.6 | 15-31 | 6-9 | 25 | 35 | 4 | 8 | 14 |
Minnesota | 93 | 41.8 | 8-24 | 19-24 | 21 | 37 | 6 | 7 | 16 |