Derrick Rose’s sore ankle acted up and forced him to miss the majority of last night’s game in Los Angeles, but the bench stepped up and Karl-Anthony Towns had another big game to fuel the Wolves to a 120-105 victory over the Lakers.
Rose scored six points in 12 minutes before exiting with a sore ankle and it’s not clear if he’ll be able to play Friday night in Utah. Minnesota was already without Jeff Teague (foot soreness) and backup guard Tyus Jones (ankle), but Jerryd Bayless and Jared Terrell played well in the absence of the top three guards on the roster.
Bayless scored 16 points and Terrell added 10 to support Towns’ 27 points and 12 rebounds. Andrew Wiggins added 23 points on 9-of-23 shooting, including a terrific nine points and three assists in the fourth quarter in which the Wolves outscored the Lakers 36-23.
“It was a huge team win,” said Wiggins, via ESPN. “We have a lot of guys out, a lot of guys that (are) hurt, and people came in and stepped up.”
Jones is likely out again Friday while the statuses of Teague and Rose aren’t clear just yet.
Minnesota has won three straight and is now 5-3 under interim head coach Ryan Saunders. At 24-24, the Wolves are back to .500 for the first time since they were 13-13 on Dec. 8.
