In the latest, most important game of the year – and playing without Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns – the Minnesota Timberwolves survived a 57-point effort from Julius Randle and left Madison Square Garden with a 140-134 win over the New York Knicks on Monday night.
Taurean Prince scored 35 points and hit all eight of hits 3-point attempts for a heroic effort in a spot start in a game the Timberwolves needed to win. Had Minnesota lost, they would’ve dropped out of the top 10 in the Western Conference playoff race. Instead, they won and moved another day closer to the returns of Edwards and Towns.
Edwards missed his second game in a row with a sprained right ankle and Towns was out for a 52nd consecutive game due to a right calf strain. Their respective returns appear imminent, with Edwards out of a walking boot and head coach Chris Finch saying Towns is “really, really close.”
Randle scored 57 points. He had 52 after three quarters, fueled by a 26-point third quarter that set a Knicks franchise record for points in a quarter by a player. It’s the third-most points in a single game in Knicks history, trailing Carmelo Anthony (62 points in 2014) and Bernard King (60 points in 1984).
Minnesota hit 10 straight shots to start the game, had 79 points at the half and still found a way to blow a 17-point lead. They were trailing 129-124 with under 4 minutes, 30 seconds left in the game and they wound up closing with an 11-5 run.
Mike Conley had 24 points and 11 assists while Jaden McDaniels (18), Rudy Gobert (16), Jaylen Nowell (14), Naz Reid (12) and Kyle Anderson (10) all scored in double figures.
Up next: Timberwolves vs. Hawks, Wednesday at 7 p.m
