NBA: Karl-Anthony Towns takes over in 4th as Wolves down Nets
Karl-Anthony Towns #32 of the Minnesota Timberwolves dribbles during the first half against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on January 18, 2022 in New York City. Sarah Stier/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by Sarah Stier / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
Karl-Anthony Towns scored 15 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter as the Minnesota Timberwolves pulled away down the stretch for a 136-125 victory over the Brooklyn Nets in Minneapolis on Sunday night.
Towns was 2-of-11 from the field through three quarters as Minnesota held a 102-95 lead. After Brooklyn was within 111-105 on a 3-point play by Kyrie Irving with 7:04 left, Towns hit a variety of shots to help Minnesota clinch its seventh win in 10 games.
Towns made 5 of 7 shots in the fourth as he hit two 3-pointers, converted a 3-point play along with a dunk and a floater when Minnesota used a 16-5 run to take a 127-110 lead with 3:41 remaining on the center’s 3-pointer from the top of the key.
Anthony Edwards led Minnesota with 25 points on 8-of-17 shooting but was helped back to the locker room with an apparent right leg injury late in the fourth. Former Nets player D’Angelo Russell collected 23 and 10 assists as Minnesota shot 52.2 percent, hit 14 3-pointers and led for the final 32:45.
Jaylen Nowell contributed 16 points, Taurean Prince 15 and Jaden McDaniels 14 for Minnesota, which scored 28 points off 19 Brooklyn turnovers.
needed that one.
Ant – 25 pts./ 1 reb./ 4 ast.
KAT – 23 pts./ 7 reb./ 2 ast./ 2 blk./ 2 stl.
DLo – 23 pts./ 5 reb. / 10 ast.
Jaylen – 16 pts./ 2 reb./ 3 ast.
TP – 15 pts.
Jaden – 14 pts./ 4 reb./ 1 ast./ 1 blk. pic.twitter.com/YECH1biVnu— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) January 24, 2022
Irving led all scorers with 30 points as the Nets finished a 2-2 road trip in their fourth game since losing Kevin Durant to a sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee.
Patty Mills added 21 points but James Harden was held to 13 as the Nets allowed their most points of the season on a night when they shot 50.5 percent and hit 15 3-pointers.
A high-scoring opening quarter featured eight lead changes and ended with Minnesota holding a 37-36 lead on a four-point play by Nowell with 5.1 seconds left.
There were six more lead changes in the second quarter before the Wolves seized control by outscoring the Nets 22-13 over the final seven-plus minutes to take a 72-62 lead by halftime.
Minnesota opened an 89-74 lead when Edwards hit a 3-pointer with 6:40 left.
