The Minnesota Timberwolves have had their ups and downs this season, but confidence in this young group continues to rise as they find ways to win games previous versions of this team probably would have shrunk.
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Against the New York Knicks on the road, trailing by one in the game’s final minute, Karl-Anthony Towns stepped up to convert a three-point go-ahead play with 29 seconds remaining to help seal a 112-110 victory. in Madison. Square garden.
CLUTCH! KAT puts the @Timberwolves got up at 2 pm @NBATV! pic.twitter.com/8Rx8GX5K2w
— NBA (@NBA) January 19, 2023
“We’ve always found ways to lose the game like this,” Towns said after the game, according to Dane Mooresavoring the narrow victory.
Such are the growing pains of young teams, losing close games can become all too familiar, however the Timberwolves are showing a newfound sense of poise late in games and are now 10-11 in key games this season. (.476).
Last season they were just 10-26 away from home, while in 2023-22 they have already won nine games away from the Target Center, just over half the season.
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Towns continues to flourish as the Timberwolves’ vocal leader on the floor and is putting together an all-time season, averaging 24.5 points, 9.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists on wildly efficient shooting percentages, making 52.0 percent of his shots from the field. 41.3 percent of his 3-pointers and 81.1 percent at the free throw line.
Tonight, he finished with 20 points, five rebounds and three assists on 6 of 12 shots, finishing off the victory for his team.
There is no better setting to do it than in MSG, right?
“Everyone will get a chance to have their MSG moment. I felt sorry for myself tonight, that was the biggest moment I’ve ever had at MSG.” Added towns. “Great crowd, great atmosphere, great energy and I was able to silence everyone so that made it even better.”
While Towns leads the way, he gets a lot of help from his teammates, with Anthony Edwards scoring 21 points on the night. Jaylen Nowell scored 11 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter, while D’Angelo Russell finished with 17 points. This season, Russell has been one of the best players late in games, ranking ninth in the NBA in clutch scoring (3.7 points).
Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards have each scored 20-plus points in the same game 15 times this season, tied with Kevin Durant and James Harden for the second-most of any pair of teammates.
The only duo with the most such games are DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine (23). pic.twitter.com/fkNwTuNxAu
— Statistics and information from ESPN (@ESPNStatsInfo) January 19, 2023
With the win, the Timberwolves are back up to .500 (22-22) and have now won six of their last eight games to sit in seventh place in the Western Conference standings.