Friday night was one of the few times all season the Timberwolves will be on national television, and before the late-starting game, the team's most electrifying player, Anthony Edwards, entered the NBA's health and safety protocols. That might have kept a few viewers away.
Behind Karl-Anthony Towns, Timberwolves keep it rolling with 110-92 win over Lakers
While the Wolves struggled early, Karl-Anthony Towns didn't and helped Minnesota gain an early lead it wouldn't relinquish with 28 points.
December 18, 2021 at 7:59AM
Then the teams started playing and turned TVs off everywhere with each brick and clank off the rim.
But those who stuck around saw a big night from Karl-Anthony Towns and they saw the Wolves eventually get their act together for their third consecutive victory, 110-92 over the Los Angeles Lakers in a mostly full Target Center.
While the Wolves struggled early, Towns didn't and helped Minnesota gain an early lead it wouldn't relinquish with 28 points. His teammates eventually caught up in a strong second half that turned the game into a rout.
"He carried us over the top," guard Jaylen Nowell said. "KAT just put us on his back."
Towns has faced some of his taller peers in the league in Denver's Nikola Jokic and Anthony Davis and in each matchup came out with a smile and a victory. Wolves coach Chris Finch said he senses Towns is trying to make a statement that he deserves to be called the best big man in the NBA.
"When he gets these matchups he's bringing his best game," Finch said. "What I really admire about him right now is he's doing it in the flow of what we need."
Towns didn't want to weigh in on that debate.
"I'm going to let the public opinion pick it," Towns said. "I ain't here to tell them how much work I put in and how great I am and all that stuff. I'm going to let people make their assumptions and make their judgment."
D'Angelo Russell added 17 points while Jaylen Nowell had 14 off the bench, 12 in the second half. Jarred Vanderbilt had four points but a career-high 16 rebounds, eight on the offensive end. He helped the Wolves outrebound the Lakers 61-36.
I know anytime an offensive rebound is given up it kind of changes the flow of the game and changes the energy of the game. That's my mindset.
The Lakers had just one offensive rebound, a notable accomplishment for a Wolves team that had so much trouble rebounding earlier this season and has languished near the bottom in defensive rebounding statistics.
LeBron James had 18 points for the Lakers while Davis (nine points) left the game twice because of injury, the second time for good in the third quarter because of a left knee contusion. Isaiah Thomas, in his first game back with the Lakers, scored 19 points.
The Timberwolves have won of late only when they have everyone in their regular starting lineup healthy and available. But with Edwards out along with reserve Taurean Prince, the Wolves had one of their easiest victories of the season with an incomplete roster.
The Lakers were also dealing with multiple absences and perhaps because of this the offensive numbers were truly offensive early. The teams shot just a combined 1 of 26 from three-point range in the first quarter.
Towns kept the Wolves ahead for almost the entire first half. He scored 23 of his points in the first 24 minutes on 9-for-14 shooting while the rest of the Wolves shot 11-for-40.
"He's just doing a better job of making the simple play, the play that's right in front of him," Finch said.
Towns said he feels like he's playing some of his best all-around basketball in a long time.
"I'm doing the best I think I've done in a long time," Towns said. "I'm still in a slump right now with shooting threes, but I'm cool with it. Everything else is working. The wins are coming."
After Towns lifted them in the first half, the Wolves found their game in the second half. The Lakers never did.
"We've had games like that where we created a lot of really good opportunities, haven't made them, and our head got down and we stopped guarding," Finch said. "We didn't do that tonight."
Vanderbilt's hustle was a catalyst. His eight offensive rebounds helped the Wolves score 23 second-chance points to the Lakers' four.
"The real calibration is how his teammates respond to him," Finch said when asked to quantify what Vanderbilt does on the floor. "His teammates love to watch him play. They know he has their back. They'll make mistakes. He can cover for them."
The Wolves shot a more respectable 48% in the second half and extended their lead to 20 by the start of the fourth.
The Wolves missed enough shots early that Vanderbilt had ample opportunity to grab offensive rebounds early.
"Not to say shots not falling is a good thing, but in my case that allows me to go after more offensive rebounds," he said.
He didn't have as many in the second half, not that he minded all that much.
"For us to still have that type of performance and still win by that margin without us even shooting the ball that well it says a lot about our team," Vanderbilt said.
The Wolves fell apart in the fourth quarter and have not won in Toronto in two decades.
