Towns Has 35 Points, Timberwolves Beat Hornets 121-104

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Karl-Anthony Towns scored 35 points, Andrew Wiggins added a season-high 26 points and the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Charlotte Hornets 121-104 on Wednesday night for their sixth victory in seven games.

Towns tied a career high with six blocks and had 12 rebounds. Wiggins tied season highs with six rebounds and five assists.

A back-and-forth affair turned on another strong defensive half for the Wolves, who limited Charlotte to 40 points on 31.3 percent shooting in the second half. Jeff Teague had a season-high 18 assists, and Taj Gibson added 11 points and 10 rebounds for Minnesota.

Jeremy Lamb had 18 points and 11 rebounds for Charlotte, and Nicholas Batum finished with 18 points. The Hornets have lost five of their past six games.

The Timberwolves came back from a big deficit again. Minnesota recovered from a 19-point deficit for its biggest comeback win of the season Monday night against Houston. Wiggins scored seven straight points at one point for the Wolves in the second quarter as they used a 22-7 run to erase a 15-point deficit.

Towns and Robert Covington helped the Wolves pull away in the fourth. Towns had 11 points during a 22-2 run to take a 17-point lead in the fourth.

Towns had 21 in the second half. Covington dealt with foul trouble in the first half but had 12 points in the second half and 17 for the game.

Charlotte's reserves pushed the Hornets ahead in the second quarter. Charlotte started the quarter on a 20-6 run to open its biggest lead of the game at 15 points. Rookie Miles Bridges had a windmill dunk to begin the quarter and Frank Kaminsky hit a pair of 3s.

TIP-INS

Hornets: Marvin Williams was out of the lineup for the first time this season with a right shoulder strain sustained in Sunday's loss against New Orleans. Williams has started every game at power forward this season. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist started in his place. Kemba Walker made his 502nd career start for Charlotte, the most of any player in team history. Walker passed Muggsy Bogues, who had made 501 starts. The Hornets have lost three games in a row for the first time this season. They hadn't won or lost more than three games in a row all season.

Timberwolves: Minnesota had 11 blocks, one shy of its season high for a single game. It was the ninth career game for Wiggins with at least 20 points, five rebounds and five assists. The Wolves play 10 of their next 13 games on the road.

UP NEXT

Hornets: Host Denver on Friday night.

Timberwolves: At Portland on Saturday night.

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