Timberwolves dump Lakers; concern after KAT exits in 4th
One-third of the season is in the books and the Minnesota Timberwolves are the only team in the NBA that has yet to lose consecutive games.
After falling in Philadelphia Wednesday, the Timberwolves returned home and traded blows with the Lakers for three quarters before delivering the knockout punch in the fourth quarter on their way to a 118-111 win.
At 21-6, Minnesota is tied with Boston for the best record in the NBA. But there is some concern after Karl-Anthony Towns went to the locker room with about five minutes left in the fourth quarter after he slammed into the basket stanchion.
Head coach Chris Finch didn't have an update on Towns after the game, only saying he was hopeful that it's not serious.
Chris Finch does not have an update on Karl-Anthony Towns other than saying, "hopefully it's not too serious."
— Jack Borman (@jrborman13) December 22, 2023
Towns had 21 points, six rebounds and four assists before exiting.
Anthony Edwards led Minnesota with 27 points while adding seven rebounds, five assists and three steals. He and Towns fueled a balanced effort as all five Minnesota starters scored in double figures and seven players had at least nine points.
- Rudy Gobert: 15 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks
- Mike Conley: 16 points, 8 assists, 2 steals
- Jaden McDaniels: 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting
- Kyle Anderson: 9 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists
- Naz Reid: 9 points, 5 rebounds
The loss is the fifth straight for the Lakers, who played without LeBron James due to ankle tendinitis.
Anthony Davis led the Lakers with 31 points and ex-Timberwolves guard D'Angelo Russell finished with 17 points on 7-of-19 shooting while dishing out eight assists.
Up next: Timberwolves at Sacramento, Saturday at 9 p.m. CT.
Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen. His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011. Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play. Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers. Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.