NEW YORK – Karl-Anthony Towns took the floor in the third quarter of Friday's 112-102 win over the Nets with three fouls and only two points.
He couldn't commit another foul, or else coach Tom Thibodeau likely would yank him until the fourth quarter. While Towns played a little more carefully on the defensive end of the floor, he stayed aggressive on the offensive end, scoring 17 of his 21 points in the third. That quarter helped the Wolves get a 17-point lead on the Nets, just enough separation to keep them from coming all the way back in the fourth.
"It's a very tight line to walk," Towns said of the foul trouble. "That's where you have to trust your teammates to help you in the situations where, especially for me being a shot blocker, being able not to really jump as much as I would like to contest shots. My teammates are amazing. They played well all day."
One of his teammates, Taj Gibson, said he was in Towns' ear, trying to keep him motivated to attack the basket.
"He was playing really angry," Gibson said. "I was just trying to get him to play a little harder, play a little more physical. He got in foul trouble earlier in the game, but I told him, got to keep going, keep pushing. … That's what he did."
Still, it would easier if Towns avoided foul trouble altogether.
"He really gave us life. … I liked that part of it. I didn't like the fouling part of it," Thibodeau said. "That's something he has to learn an improve upon. Sometimes, the marginal calls seem to be going against him right now. But if they call it a certain way, you have to be smart enough not to continue to do the same thing, and I know he is."
Giving back
Gibson was fairly busy in advance of Friday's game, even up to a few hours before tipoff, trying to secure "tons" of tickets and make arrangements for kids from the community center Gibson works with in his hometown of Brooklyn.
