Butler ties season high with 26, Wolves beat Magic
Minnesota Timberwolves’ Jimmy Butler, left, eyes the basket as Orlando Magic’s Nikola Vucevic of Montenegro defends in the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2017, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota—Jimmy Butler tied a season high with 26 points, Taj Gibson scored a season-high 24, and the Minnesota Timberwolves held off the Orlando Magic 124-118 on Wednesday night.
Jeff Teague had 22 points and 11 assists, and Andrew Wiggins added 20 points as all five starters scored in double figures to help the Timberwolves end a two-game slide.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 18 points and 13 rebounds for his 14th double-double, which tied DeMarcus Cousins for the league lead.
Aaron Gordon scored 26 points and added nine rebounds for the Magic, who have lost six straight. Terrence Ross scored a season-high 22 points, Evan Fournier had 19 and Nikola Vucevic finished with 11 points and 13 rebounds.
Orlando was outscored 41-18 in the third quarter to fall behind by 26. However, the Magic started the fourth quarter on a 19-1 run to get within eight.
Butler made Minnesota’s first basket of the quarter, a 3-pointer midway through the period, to end the rally. The Magic got within four in the waning seconds before Teague hit two free throws.
Butler has scored at least 20 points in three of his last four games and seven overall this season.
He had 16 points in the first half, and added seven in the first 4:36 of the second half to give Minnesota an 84-71 lead.
Wiggins had seven points as Minnesota finished the third quarter on a 14-0 run for a 106-80 lead.
