Karl-Anthony Towns scored 28 points on 11-for-19 shooting and the Minnesota Timberwolves cruised to a 113-92 win over the host Orlando Magic on Tuesday night.
Rudy Gobert registered a double-double with 21 points and 12 rebounds for Minnesota, which bounced back from a loss against the Dallas Mavericks two nights earlier. Jaden McDaniels finished with 15 points, and Naz Reid posted a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Moritz Wagner scored 21 points on 6-for-9 shooting off the bench to lead Orlando. Jalen Suggs tallied 20 points, and Paolo Banchero scored 18.
The Timberwolves shot 53.8 percent (43 of 80) from the field and 40 percent (12 of 30) from beyond the arc. The Magic shot 36.2 percent (34 of 94) from the field and 31 percent (13 of 42) from 3-point range.
Minnesota established a 67-37 lead at the half.
The Timberwolves raced to a 26-11 lead in the first nine minutes. Towns opened the scoring with a 3-pointer off an assist from Anthony Edwards, and he closed the early scoring outburst with a layup and another 3-pointer to push the Timberwolves’ advantage to 15 points.
By the end of the first quarter, Minnesota led 33-16. Reid made a basket with 21.1 seconds remaining to cap off the strong start.
Orlando struggled to make effective adjustments in the second quarter. The Magic were outscored 34-21 during that period to fall behind by 30 points at the break.
The Timberwolves went on an 11-0 run late in the first half to maintain their dominance. Reid had back-to-back baskets to start the run, and Gobert tipped in a shot to finish the run and make it 62-35 with 1:28 left before intermission.
The Magic trailed 90-66 at the end of three quarters. Gobert provided a third-quarter highlight with an alley-oop dunk off a lob pass from Mike Conley.
Conley pushed the Timberwolves over the 100-point mark with 7:24 to go in the fourth quarter. He drained a 3-pointer to make it 102-78 as the rout continued.
–Field Level Media
