After a slow star, the center scored 13 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter to hold off Brooklyn.
MINNEAPOLIS — Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns' 13 fourth-quarter points repelled James Harden, Kyrie Irving and a Brooklyn Nets team missing superstar Kevin Durant 136-125 Sunday night at Target Center.
Until that fourth quarter, Towns was 0-for-4 on threes and 2-for-11 from the field.
In the final quarter alone, he made both of his night's three-pointers and scored from both long and short range on a night when teammates Anthony Edwards scored 25 and D'Angelo Russell 23.
Just before the end of the game, however, Edwards needed to be helped to the locker room with an undetermined injury.
Irving led the Nets with 30.
Consecutive three-pointers made by Towns and bench reserve Taurean Prince midway through the fourth quarter pushed away the Nets one more time.
Both shots pushed the Wolves back into a double-digit lead and onto a 17-point, fourth quarter lead — their biggest of the night.
Harden scored 13 on 4-for-13 shooting in a game as uncommon for him as Towns' night was until that fourth quarter.
Wolves coach Chris Finch coached super scorer Harden when both were together in Houston and has applied what he can from the experience when now coaching Edwards.
"I've referenced James a lot when I talk to Ant about how he sees defenses," Finch said. "The process of learning to attack different defenses takes time and everybody grasps it at their own space. Understand that you can't fight the game, You're not going to be able to take them on. Having watched James go through that learning curve, there's a lot of things I can help Ant anticipate."
Edwards' second of four-three pointers made Sunday pushed him past 300 career threes made.
That made him at 20 years and 171 days the youngest player in NBA history to reach 300 threes made. He passed Dallas' Luka Doncic, who made his 300th career three at age 20, 358 days in February 2020.
The Wolves played on without starting guard Patrick Beverley, who sprained his ankle in the first half of Wednesday's loss at Atlanta and couldn't play on it Sunday night.
Durant missed his fourth consecutive game because of a knee MCL sprain that could sideline him for a month or more.
Without Beverley, forward Jared McDaniels moved into the Wolves' three-guard starting lineup and delivered a 14-point performance.
Without Durant, Harden, Irving and the Nets carried on as well.
They entered the game 18-4 the last two seasons – 2-1 this season – when Harden and Irving played together without Durant in the lineup.
They'd also won 17 of their last 19 games with just those two together. Harden started the game 0-for-6 from the field and was 1-for-8 by halftime but had scored five of his seven points in the second quarter's final two minutes.
The Wolves led 18-12 early and 37-36 after the first quarter before they used a 26-12 second-quarter run to build a 69-55 lead late in the first half.
The Nets with Harden providing the fuel pulled within 72-62 by halftime before the Wolves pushed their lead to 15 points, at 89-74 midway through the third quarter.
The Wolves led 100-92 in the third quarter's final minute when Aldridge was called for an offensive foul after he used his off left elbow to whack Towns away.Officials video reviewed the play and upgraded the foul to a flagrant 1 that either way was Aldridge's fifth foul of the game with a quarter still yet to play.'
Aldridge fouled out when an offensive foul with seven minutes left was his sixth foul of the night. A player who scored 16, 27 and 13 points his last three games was gone for the night with his team trailing by six points.
