Towns' Near Triple-Double Leads Wolves Over Knicks

The good times continued to roll for the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night as they took down the New York Knicks 118-108 at Target Center.

The win marked Minnesota’s fourth-straight and 10th in their last 13 games.

Wolves center Karl-Anthony Towns put on a show, nearly finishing with a triple-double. He finished with a game-high 23 points, 15 rebounds, nine assists and a block. Taj Gibson added 17 points and six rebounds. Andrew Wiggins finished with 16 points, six rebounds and two steals. Jimmy Butler scored 13 points to go with three steals. Jeff Teague finished with 12 points, eight assists and four steals. Gorgui Dieng led the bench with 10 points, five rebounds and two steals. Jamal Crawford and Nemanja Bjelica also scored 10 points each.

Jarrett Jack led New York with 18 points and eight assists. Kristaps Porzingis had 17 points, 10 rebounds, three blocks and two steals. Enes Kanter had a 16-point, 12-rebound double-double. In his return from a leg injury, Tim Hardaway Jr. led the bench with 16 points. Courtney scored 14. Michael Beasley scored 13 points while Kyle O’Quinn added 12 points and six rebounds.

The Wolves move to 28-16, fourth in the West and a half-game behind the Spurs for third. The Knicks fall to 19-23, 10th in the East.

Highlight of the Night

With five seconds left in the second quarter, Towns hit Butler with an over-the-head pass which gave Butler an easy layup. It put the Wolves within two, 57-55, going into half.

Numbers Game

• Friday night marked the team’s sixth-straight sellout and ninth overall. The streak is the longest streak since the team sold out all 41 games in 1990-91 and the first seven games of the 1991-92 season.
• The Wolves outrebounded the Knicks 43-36.
• After falling behind 27-24 in the first quarter, the Wolves outscored the Knicks 94-81 in the final three quarters.
• The win marked Minnesota’s seventh-straight home win. It’s their longest home winning streak since winning 14 in a row from Dec. 16, 2003 to Feb. 6, 2004.

Player of the Game

Towns was one assist away from a triple-double. He shot an efficient 9-for-15 from the field and 2-for-4 from the 3-point line. His double-double was his 36th of the season.

Up Next

The Wolves wrap up a five-game homestand on Sunday against the Portland Trail Blazers. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. on Fox Sports North Plus, ESPN and 830 WCCO.