The Minnesota Timberwolves earned a hard-fought win at Madison Square Garden on a three-point play by Karl Anthony-Towns with 29 seconds left in regulation.
The natural center from New Jersey had 20 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists in his return to the Big Apple, and the Minneapolis are placed with a 22-22 in the West thanks to obtaining six wins in the last eight days.
«I told my father that everyone is going to have the opportunity to have their moment in the Garden and that has been for me tonight. It was the greatest moment I’ve ever had at Madison Square Garden,” Towns said. ESPN. “A great audience, a great atmosphere, a great energy… And I managed to silence everyone,” he said.
Other highlights for the visitors included sophomore Anthony Edwards with 21 points, and teammate backcourt D’Angelo Russell with 17 points and 4 of 8 in triples.
In the Knickerbockers Evan Fournier was its greatest exponent with 27 points; followed by Julius Randle with 19 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists, by RJ Barrett with 17 points and 6 rebounds, although with a gray 6 of 16 shooting.
With their loss to the T-Wolves, Tom Thibodeau’s men once again fall below 50% in wins/losses (22-23) and are placed outside the positions of access to the Play-in behind the Boston Celtics who have recently staged a three-way trade with Denver and San Antonio.
Kemba’s return
Failed return of Kemba Walker to the pitch after being out for the last nine days due to discomfort in his left knee. The point guard trained at UConn stood out especially in the second half with 17 of his 19 final points and four triples converted to his credit.
“I definitely wanted to win, but we have to keep working hard. This league is tough. It’s hard to win matches in this competition,” admitted Kemba Walker.
With Kemba recovered, the Knicks have an overcrowding problem on the outside lines and moves are expected before the trade deadline (February 11). There’s the aforementioned Walker, Fournier, Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, Alec Burks, rookie Quentin Grimes and Derrick Rose when he recovers from ankle surgery.
(Cover photo: Sarah Stier/Getty Images)