The last time the Timberwolves played the Jazz on Feb. 28, Anthony Edwards was watching somewhere away from the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, serving a one-game suspension for picking up 16 technical fouls during the season.

The Wolves lost that night to the worst team in the Western Conference in the final seconds, and after that game, Jaden McDaniels said it was "desperation time, for real." The Wolves haven't lost since.

Edwards was back in the lineup Sunday night as the Wolves faced Utah again. He and his teammates weren't going to let this game slip away in a 128-102 Wolves win and their eighth consecutive victory, the team's longest winning streak since 2004.

"We responded well [since that loss]," said McDaniels, who had his 10th double-double of the season with 20 points and 12 rebounds. "We're on a little mission right now trying to not be in the play-in. All these games count. We just gotta keep stacking."

It was a performance coach Chris Finch called "professional," because the Wolves were up 30 early in the third quarter, and that allowed Finch to pull his regular rotation players with over nine minutes remaining on the first end of a back-to-back to conserve some energy. The Wolves started strong, gave back most of a 19-point lead in the second quarter before regrouping with a dominant third quarter that effectively ended the night.

"Couldn't have asked for anything better," said Finch, who picked up his 200th victory with the Wolves. "You didn't have to burn through a lot of guys' minutes tonight unnecessarily, which is a good sign with a good professional win."

BOXSCORE: Wolves 128, Utah 102

NBA standings

The laid-back fourth quarter meant Edwards didn't get to pursue 50 points; he had to settle for 41. Edwards also reached a milestone Sunday, passing Andrew Wiggins for third in points in franchise history, with 8,731 in five seasons.

Just after the Wolves lost to Utah, Edwards said he had to come out more aggressive against teams below the Wolves in the standings — that he should look to score more instead of deferring to teammates in those games. His first quarter was a good example of that approach. He had 21 points, and that enabled the Wolves to build that early 19-point lead.

"I wanted to go for like 60," Edwards said. "I thought I was on pace after the first quarter, but you know when you sit a little bit you get kind of cold. I missed like four or five threes I usually make in the second, and that's still on my mind. I'm definitely mad about that."

But he was smiling as he said that. With Mike Conley out for rest, guard Jaylen Clark got a few more minutes in the rotation, and he made the most of them. Clark hounded Utah ballhandlers in the backcourt, and he forced a number of turnovers beyond the three steals near his name in the boxscore.

"It's just something I've always done. People relax out there," Clark said. "… It brings a different element to the game, gives your guys behind you time to set up. It makes them uncomfortable. A lot of guys don't really have a great handle, but they're able to just walk the ball up."

Clark said he learned a few tricks from Wolves assistant Pablo Prigioni in those backcourt pressure situations, and Prigioni ran up to him after his first steal of the night. He had another play in which he guarded two defenders and switched from one to the other before getting a steal. That resulted in an easy bucket for Edwards. Clark finished with eight points, three rebounds, four assists and plenty of praise from his teammates and coach.

"First of all he adds to our defensive identity," Finch said. "… Two is, I trust him implicitly in this playing time. I trust him offensively as much as I trust him defensively. That's just as important right now. He'd go out there, fit in and he makes a lot of really nice, smart, plays."

McDaniels said Clark was making those plays against him all summer in their offseason workouts, while Edwards invoked a former Wolves teammate, Patrick Beverley, to pay Clark a compliment.

"The play he made today, by our bench in the second half was crazy," Edwards said. "I told him you look like Pat Bev when he was 26."