Karl-Anthony Towns led the Minnesota Timberwolves to an easy win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday night, breaking a five-game losing streak.
The Minnesota Timberwolves entered Memphis on a five-game losing streak overall and a nine-game road losing streak dating back to the first game after the All-Star break — a span of more than a month.
But Karl-Anthony Towns dominated proceedings to the tune of 33 points and 23 rebounds and the Grizzlies struggled to find any offensive rhythm, shooting 30.3 percent from beyond the arc and 37.5 percent from the field overall.
The Grizzlies led for much of the first quarter before the Wolves went on an 8-0 run with Towns on the bench, knotting the game at 25 at the end of the frame.;
The second quarter was much of the same, with the Grizzlies pulling back in front and Minnesota getting to within one by halftime.
But the Wolves dominated the third quarter, with aggression from Andrew Wiggins and Josh Okogie punctuating another outstanding game from Towns, who had his way in the paint. The Wolves outscored Memphis by a 35-18 margin in the third quarter, all but putting the game away.
As the game wore on, the Grizzlies were more than content to “ICE” the high pick-and-roll continuously, which left Towns wide-open to launch uncontested 3-pointers from the top of the key — his favorite shot, and an inexplicable choice by the Grizzlies.
Towns ultimately shot 4-of-7 from 3-point range — remember, he’s shooting 51 percent on threes since Feb. 1, while shooting 5.1 attempts a game during that span — and hit a couple of huge threes to seal the game late in the fourth quarter after Memphis threatened to pull within double digits.
The rest of the players
Jerryd Bayless had played 16 minutes but only attempted one shot and had a final line of zero points, three rebounds, one steal, one block, and one assist.
Cameron Reynolds played only three minutes and was 0-for-1 from the floor. He didn’t record any other statistics as his playing time continues to shrink.
What’s Next?
The Timberwolves are off until Tuesday when they host the Los Angeles Clippers at Target Center at 7 p.m.