Karl-Anthony Towns scored 28 points, Rudy Gobert had a season-high 26 and cleaned up the glass with 12 rebounds, and the Minnesota Timberwolves finished strong to beat the Charlotte Hornets 123-117 on Saturday.
The Hornets led by four with just under five minutes remaining in the fourth, before the ‘Twin Towers’ of Towns and Gobert combined to score eight points in a 13-3 surge that put the Timberwolves ahead by six, 115-109 with 2:02 left. Charlotte would get no closer than three the rest of the way.
Gobert, who was listed as questionable with a hip injury, had not put up more than 17 points in a game this season.
“That’s one of the best games I’ve ever seen from a man who’s questionable,” Towns said. “It’s just amazing to see him play knowing he’s in pain and playing hurt. The way he came out today, I give a huge shout out to him.”
The Timberwolves improved the best record in the Western Conference to 15-4. Naz Reid scored 23 points and Mike Conley Jr. finished with a double-double, 14 points and 10 helpers.
The Timberwolves came out of the gate ready to go, scoring the game’s first 10 points and led by 12 in the opening quarter before the Hornets cut the lead to one, 88-87 after three.
Embed from Getty ImagesMinnesota seemed to face adversity when Towns was whistled for three fouls in a 1:48 stretch early in the second quarter. But Reid came off the bench and Minnesota did not miss a beat and clicked on all cylinders.
“Naz gave us a huge lift off the bench,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “KAT has been in foul trouble a little bit here and there, but he’s done a good job of being focused and playing a clean game when he goes back in.”
The Hornets had a balanced scoring attack. Terry Rozier scored 23 points and Miles Bridges had 22 for the Hornets. P.J. Washington added 18, Gordon Hayward had 17 and rookie Brandon Miller 14.
Hornets coach Steve Clifford was not helped by the officials while trying to battle the 7-foot, 240-pound Towns and 7-1, 265-pound Gobert.
“They shot 30 free throws — and they’re fouls,” Clifford said. “I would take that crew (of Gediminas Petraitis, JB DeRosa and Marut Kogut) every night, but I’ll be honest, we did not get a good whistle and I don’t usually say that.
“The 50-50 calls all went against us, to me, in the second half. I told one of the officials that after the game. I respect all three of them and I think they’re good together; we got the short end of the stick tonight. That happens. But that’s not why we lost. We lost because we’re not physical enough, we get outworked on the glass, we foul.”
Timberwolves: Host Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday.
Hornets: Travel to the ‘Windy City’, Chicago to face DeMar DeRozan and the Bulls on Wednesday.
