Anthony Edwards didn’t show up for the first half of Thursday’s game. Karl-Anthony Towns struggled throughout. As a team, the Timberwolves didn’t play up to their standard for 75 percent of the contest for the second-straight evening.

And they won anyway, thanks to a couple key bursts from two of their unheralded stars this season.

Naz Reid exploded for 13 points in three minutes in the first quarter to salvage an otherwise awful team start, and Mike Conley sparked an early, game-winning fourth quarter surge as the Wolves pulled away late for a 118-103 over depleted Memphis at Target Center.

“This one was ugly, last one was ugly,” Reid said on the floor after the game, “but the ultimate goal is to win.”

Conley finished with 17 points and 10 dimes. He hit three triples, holding his season-long 3-point percentage at a blistering 45 percent.

Rudy Gobert tacked on 17 points and 10 boards while dominating on the interior. Gobert finished with six swatted shots, serving as a needed last line of defense on a night where the Grizzlies (15-26) largely lived in the paint thanks to a number of back cuts.

Naz Reid finished with 20 points, including four made triples. His first quarter burst brought Target Center to life.

“Naz coming in, hit a couple threes and the energy picks up,” Wolves coach Chris Finch said. “He brings so much energy to the building. The crowd loves him, he responds to it, we respond to them.”

Minnesota (30-11) was lackluster for most of the evening. It was the second half of a back to back after the Wolves won Wednesday in Detroit, but the Timberwolves also didn’t seem to rise to the occasion of playing in front of a national audience on a TNT-televised contest.

Edwards scored just two points in the first half before emerging in the second half, attacking the rim at will after Jaren Jackson Jr. subbed out with foul trouble. He lit up Memphis for 26 second-half points, including the ultimate highlight, where Edwards — who was essentially stuck near the free-throw line — threw the ball off the glass for an alley oop to himself, which he capped with a slam.

“Nobody was open. I did the little snapback and pump fake. He bit on a pump fake and I was looking for somebody and nobody was open,” Edwards said. “I was like, ‘I seen someone do it in the All-Star,’ so I was like, ‘I might as well try it.’”

“I didn’t think he would do it. I thought he would try to draw the foul,” Finch said. “But I’ve seen him do it in practice once or twice. But yeah, that was an unbelievable play. He’s not afraid of anything. He’s not afraid to try anything.”

Foul trouble was Minnesota’s best antidote for Jackson, who lit up Towns and Gobert for 36 points on 15 for 22 shooting in just 27 minutes of play. Jackson Jr. is Memphis’ last star player standing as the Grizzlies are without Ja Morant, Desmond Bane and Marcus Smart, who are out with injuries in a lost season. The Wolves improved to 3-0 on the season against Memphis.

With the win, Minnesota is officially on pace for a 60-win campaign exactly halfway through the season.

“Honestly, I haven’t even thought about it, but 60 would be a good number. If we can get there, that’d be a feat in itself, but this team has been where we’re at right now just because we take it a game at a time and don’t look too far ahead,” Conley said. “But the big goal is you want to be playing at the end of June, whenever the Finals is, so hopefully we give ourselves a chance at doing that.”