Karl-Anthony Towns scored a franchise-record 62 points, including 44 in the first half, but the Charlotte Hornets erased an 18-point deficit and stunned the Minnesota Timberwolves 128-125 on Monday night.
Towns managed just four points on 2-for-10 shooting in the fourth quarter, when the Timberwolves were outscored 36-18. He thought he was fouled on a drive to the basket in the closing seconds and Minnesota trailing by one, then was short on a 3-point attempt on the final possession.
“Having a night like that on a loss doesn’t feel very good or historic,” Towns said.
Charlotte went ahead for good at 122-121 on P.J. Washington’s floater with 3:21 remaining. LaMelo Ball added 18 points for the Hornets, who had lost seven of their past eight games and had the Eastern Conference’s third-worst mark entering Monday.
Towns finished 21 for 35 from the floor, including 10 for 15 from 3-point range, and now owns the top three scoring outputs in the Wolves’ 35-year history.
“Luckily, (Towns) started missing at the end,” Bridges said. “There’s not too much you can do with a 7-footer that can shoot the ball as good as he does. … It’s tough for him. Obviously, he’s having a great night and you want to win that game, but at the same time, it’s a team game, so we we had to spoil his night a little bit. KAT is a great player, but it was our night.”
The Wolves ran an isolation look for Towns with 12 seconds left, but Black blocked his driving layup attempt, then hit a pair of free throws at the other end.
Towns’ desperation 3 inside the final second ensured the 21st time in NBA history a player has scored 60 or more points in a loss.
“There’s no moral victories,” Towns said. “It was cool when we were saying that when we were 15-30 (in previous seasons).
“But we’re No. 1 in the West, one of the best teams in NBA; there ain’t no time for moral victories, silver linings, ‘great night, but just not a not a finish we wanted’ — we’ve got to find a way to win. It’s about winning the game. It’s about staying No. 1 in the West. It’s about protecting our home court more, most importantly above all things.”
Charlotte, the NBA’s No. 27 team in offensive rating, shot a season-high 58.1% from the floor.
“It was an absolute disgusting performance of defense and immature basketball all through the game,” Minnesota coach Chris Finch said.
LaMelo Ball returned after a one-game absence due to a sore right ankle and had 18 points and 13 assists. He had missed 20 games before playing in four straight, then sitting out the Hornets’ 97-89 loss against Philadelphia on Saturday.
The short-handed Hornets again deployed an undersized front court, with 6-foot-7 center Washington starting for the injured Nick Richards (right ankle sprain). Center Mark Williams and forward Gordon Hayward continue to recover from a lower back injury and left calf strain, respectively.
Forward Cody Martin also missed Monday’s game with a right knee contusion.
UP NEXT
Hornets: Visit Detroit on Wednesday.
Timberwolves: Visit Washington on Wednesday.
Credit: AP
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