The Minnesota Timberwolves began an important three-game road trip on Sunday evening. But their trip to Boston didn’t go as planned as the Celtics took advantage of Karl-Anthony Towns’ foul trouble to hand Minnesota a 134-112 loss.
Things were looking good early when Towns scored 10 points in the first quarter. But foul trouble caught up with the big man, holding him to 19 points on the night.
Towns’s foul problems have become a major concern for the Timberwolves. With 241 fouls coming into Sunday’s game, Towns ranks third in the NBA in that category. When his foul issues pop up, it’s a huge burden on the Timberwolves, who looked lost without Towns on Sunday.
Minnesota couldn’t hold onto the basketball either, committing 14 turnovers against the Celtics defense. Boston was opportunistic all night long, scoring 15 points off those turnovers to build a 28-point lead toward the end of the third quarter.
Anthony Edwards scored 24 points but it wasn’t enough to counter Boston’s balanced attack. With Jason Tatum leading the way with 34 points, the Celtics cruised to their 24th win in their past 28 games.
With the Denver Nuggets idle on Sunday, Minnesota sits a game in a half behind Denver for the sixth seed and an automatic playoff berth in the Western Conference. The Timberwolves will try to get back on track when they travel to face the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night.
