Karl-Anthony Towns sinks 10 3-pointers on his way to a team-record 62 points against Charlotte.
Karl-Anthony Towns set a franchise record by scoring 62 points, with 44 of those points coming in the first half. However, the Charlotte Hornets were able to erase an 18-point deficit to stun the Minnesota Timberwolves with a 128-125 victory on Monday night.
Towns struggled in the fourth quarter, only managing to score four points on 2-for-10 shooting, while the Timberwolves were outscored 36-18. He expressed frustration with feeling that he was fouled on a drive to the basket in the closing seconds and missing a 3-point attempt on the final possession.
“Having a night like that on a loss doesn’t feel very good or historic,” Towns said.
Miles Bridges scored 28 points and Brandon Miller had 27 for the Hornets. Leaky Black made a crucial defensive play to preserve the Hornets’ victory.
Charlotte took the lead for good at 122-121 on P.J. Washington’s floater with 3:21 remaining. LaMelo Ball added 18 points for the Hornets, who had a tough stretch of games before the victory on Monday.
Towns finished with 62 points, making 10 of 15 3-pointers, and now holds the top three scoring outputs in the Wolves’ history. He also achieved a significant NBA record by being the first player to record 10 or more 3-pointers, 10 or more 2-pointers, and 10 or more free throws in a game.
“Luckily, (Towns) started missing at the end,” Bridges said. “There’s not too much you can do with a 7-footer that can shoot the ball as good as he does. … It’s tough for him. Obviously, he’s having a great night and you want to win that game, but at the same time, it’s a team game, so we we had to spoil his night a little bit. KAT is a great player, but it was our night.”
Towns is the third Timberwolves player to hit 10 3-pointers in a game in franchise history.
The Wolves attempted an isolation play for Towns with 12 seconds left, but Black blocked his attempt and hit a pair of free throws at the other end.
“There’s no moral victories,” Towns said. “It was cool when we were saying that when we were 15-30 (in previous seasons). “But we’re No. 1 in the West, one of the best teams in NBA; there ain’t no time for moral victories, silver linings, ‘great night, but just not a not a finish we wanted.’
“We’ve got to find a way to win. It’s about winning the game. It’s about staying No. 1 in the West. It’s about protecting our home court more, most importantly above all things.”
Charlotte, the NBA’s No. 27 team in offensive rating, shot a season-high 58.1% from the floor.
“It was an absolute disgusting performance of defense and immature basketball all through the game,” Minnesota coach Chris Finch said.
LaMelo Ball returned after a one-game absence due to a sore right ankle and had 18 points and 13 assists. He had missed 20 games before playing in four straight, then sitting out the Hornets’ 97-89 loss against Philadelphia on Saturday.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.