Timberwolves Defeat Magic 123-107 To Get 1st Road Win

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Zach LaVine scored 37 points and Andrew Wiggins added 29 as the Minnesota Timberwolves won their first road game of the season, defeating the Orlando Magic 123-107 on Wednesday night.

A night after collapsing defensively against Brooklyn, the Timberwolves bounced back with an impressive performance in which they led the Magic by as many as 30 points in the first half. Orlando played better in the second half, cutting the deficit to 11 late in the fourth quarter but Minnesota always seemed to have an answer.

The Magic (3-5) struggled defensively and in the interior with second-year center Karl-Anthony Towns dominating with 20 points and 11 rebounds to help Minnesota (2-5) snap a three-game losing streak.

Nikola Vucevic led the Magic with 24 points and 14 rebounds, while Elfrid Payton had 18 and Evan Fournier added 13.

Five Timberwolves scored in double figures with Gorgui Dieng scoring 12 points and reserve Shabazz Muhammad contributing 13.

Minnesota shot 45 of 87 from the field and 13 of 23 from 3-point range with LaVine knocking down seven for the game, while limiting Orlando to just 38 of 85 shooting for the game.

The Magic easily played their worst half of the season, allowing Minnesota to shoot 59 percent from the field and 69 percent from 3-point range in a half in which they trailed by as many as 30 points. Magic coach Frank Vogel was clearly frustrated, calling several timeouts and experimenting with his rotation, but none of it could prevent Orlando from going into halftime trailing 74-47.

Wiggins and LaVine led all scorers with 19 points each in the first two quarters, while Towns dominated the paint with 14 points.

TIP-INS

Timberwolves: Minnesota had lost eight straight in Orlando ... The Timberwolves rank fourth in the NBA in 3-point shooting at 38.8 percent entering Wednesday night's game ...The Timberwolves came into Wednesday night allowing 111.0 points and allowing opponents to shoot nearly 52 percent from the field during their last three games, all losses.

Magic: Vogel got so frustrated with his starting unit that went to his bench quicker than usual, bringing in D.J. Augustin, Bismack Biyombo and Jeff Green for Payton, Vucevic and Serge Ibaka in the first 4 minutes of the game. ... Orlando was averaging 16.0 second-chance points per game entering Wednesday night, which ranked them fourth in the NBA. Last season, the Magic averaged just 12.6 second-chance points.

UP NEXT

Timberwolves: Return home after a three-game trip to take on the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday.

Magic: End a two-game home stint against the Utah Jazz on Friday night.

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