Karl-Anthony Towns waited 51 games to make his return to the Timberwolves and he made it count by sinking a pair of free throws with 3.1 seconds to play to give Minnesota a 125-124 win over the Atlanta Hawks.
Towns played 26 minutes and finished with 22 points on 8-of-18 shooting. Naz Reid scored seven of his team best 26 points in the final seven minutes of action, and Jaden McDaniels turned in another all-around performance with 25 points, six rebounds, four assists and two blocks.
The Wolves trailed 111-101 with 7 minutes to play and finished the game on a 24-13 run, fueled by Reid, McDaniels, Taurean Prince, Rudy Gobert and a huge 3-pointer by Mike Conley with 50.3 seconds remaining.
Anthony Edwards missed his third straight game with a right ankle sprain, though he does appear to be near to returning. Jordan McLaughlin also missed the game due to an illness.
The win coupled with the Warriors defeating the Mavericks moves Minnesota into 7th place in the jam-packed Western Conference. The Wolves are one game behind Golden State for the 6 seed and they two foes meet in California on Sunday.
Up next: Timberwolves at Warriors, Sunday at 7:30 p.m. CT.
