Wolves eventually pull away from league-worst Nets

Twenty minutes before game time Saturday night, with his teammates on the Target Center court warming up, Karl-Anthony Towns was in the team's training room, sleeping.

He had a center-sized cold. He had difficulty breathing, he was coughing constantly. Even bright lights bothered him.

"It got real close to getting a DNP tonight," Towns said, referring to the code for a player who is active but doesn't play.

Minutes before game time he decided to play.

And boy, did he.

Against a Brooklyn Nets team floundering through a horrific January, Towns led the way with 37 points. He grabbed 13 rebounds, had a steal and four blocks as the Timberwolves beat the Nets 129-109.

In a game in which the Wolves offense hummed pretty much from start to finish, Minnesota added a little defense and toughness in the second half, turning a relatively close game into a blowout starting minutes into the third quarter.

Again, led by Towns, who scored 22 points in the second half, 11 in both the third and fourth quarters.

"KAT, I don't know," said Gorgui Dieng, who was one of six Wolves players in double figures, with 12 points and 10 rebounds. "I think if he's going to play like this, we need to have him sick for the rest of the season.''

It is a season that continues to look up. By doing what good teams — or teams aspiring to be good — do, handling a struggling team, the Wolves (18-29) won for the seventh time in 10 games and the 12th time in their past 23.

The Wolves shot 51.1 percent. After seeing the Nets score 15 points off nine first-half turnovers, the Wolves had just two turnovers in the second half. With Towns leading the way, the Wolves ended the third quarter on a 15-6 run to take a 14-point lead against the Nets (9-38), who have lost 16 of 17.

"It wasn't a great game," Wolves coach Tom Thibodeau said. "I liked the way we started a lot. I thought we got loose for a while. But the second half was better. I liked what we did offensively. Moving the ball was good. We got good shots, shared it, made quick decisions. Defensively we still have a lot of work to do."

Also battling a cold, Andrew Wiggins scored 23. Zach LaVine, putting a short-lived shooting slump to bed for good, scored 20 on 6-for-11 shooting. Ricky Rubio had 14 points and six assists, and Shabazz Muhammad scored 18 off the bench.

"It's all about getting wins," Dieng said. "I know we played a lot of games early in the second we could have won, but we lost them. When we get a win that's big."

But there is progress. Since a 99-94 win in Chicago Dec. 13, the Wolves are an above-.500 team.

Saturday they led from start to finish against a team they should beat.

"We really got on them defensively," Wiggins said of the Wolves' second-half surge, which saw them outscore Brooklyn 66-54. "And offensively, we were executing. We were making big plays. Everyone passed the ball well. When everyone touches the ball, we all get in a rhythm and we all feel good."

Even on a night when Towns was feeling bad.

"Today was a long day for me," Towns said. "I'm happy we got a win. I'm happy I was able to contribute. I really can't talk too much, too loud. I'm glad I found a way to get out of bed."