(Field Level Media) Karl-Anthony Towns recorded 28 points and 13 rebounds, Andrew Wiggins added 25 points, and the Minnesota Timberwolves topped the host Atlanta Hawks 125-113 yesterday.
The Timberwolves won for just the second time in six games while sending the Hawks to their seventh loss in a row.
Minnesota trailed by 10 points at halftime, but a 39-point eruption in the third quarter powered the Timberwolves into a lead they maintained for the duration of the fourth.
The Timberwolves controlled the glass, outrebounding Atlanta 47-42. Wiggins grabbed six boards, while Robert Covington, Jarrett Culver and Keita Bates-Diop each added five.
Covington and Josh Okogie returned to the lineup after missing Minnesota’s two-point loss in Phoenix on Saturday, and both contributed with positive plus-minus scores.
Added depth helped the Timberwolves in general. Behind 13 points each from Gorgui Dieng and Bates-Diop, Minnesota’s bench outscored Atlanta’s, 46-33.
Atlanta’s starting lineup, meanwhile, got 37 points from Trae Young and 22 from Jabari Parker, but De’Andre Hunter, Damian Jones and Cam Reddish scored just seven points apiece. Reddish shot 0-for-5 from behind the 3-point arc in his return from a two-game absence caused by a wrist injury.
Minnesota thrived with a more balanced scoring effort. Culver, a rookie, scored 14 points and dished three assists. Jeff Teague had eight points and eight assists off the bench, and Towns also finished with eight assists.
Twenty-seven of Minnesota’s 41 made field goals came off of assists. Young dished nine assists for Atlanta but also committed seven turnovers.
The Hawks, who hit just 43.6 percent of their field-goal attempts, last won on Nov. 12. Six of seven of Atlanta’s opponents during the losing spell have scored at least 122 points. Dating back further, the Hawks have dropped 10 of 11.
The Timberwolves sank 45.6 percent from the floor while producing their highest point total in six games.
