Towns, Timberwolves trample Nets
MINNEAPOLIS -- Karl-Anthony Towns had 37 points and 13 rebounds as the Minnesota Timberwolves cruised to a 129-109 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday night.
Andrew Wiggins scored 23 points, Zach LaVine added 20 points and Gorgui Dieng had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds for Minnesota, which is finding its way under first-year coach Tom Thibodeau.
The Timberwolves have won seven of their past 10 games and five of the past six at home.
Playing the second game of their eighth back-to-back this season, Brooklyn lost for the 16th time in 17 games as Brook Lopez scored 25 points and had seven rebounds.
Isaiah Whitehead had 10 points and eight assists off the bench for the Nets, who got a spark from their second unit to keep the game close until midway through the third quarter.
Reserve Sean Kilpatrick added 14 points as Brooklyn got 50 points from its bench.
Minnesota raced out to a 19-5 lead to start the game and Brooklyn had five turnovers in their first 12 possessions. Then Lopez got the Nets back in the game and they scored 11 straight points.
Lopez scored Brooklyn's first 10 points and no other starter scored until Randy Foye had a layup with 8:35 left in the second quarter.
The Nets pulled as close as two points but never led.
A Lopez layup brought Brooklyn within 74-71 before the Timberwolves closed the third quarter with an 18-7 run.
Towns and Lopez each scored 11 points. Towns finished with his 36th double-double of the season and scored at least 30 points for the second straight game and ninth of the season.
Minnesota shot 51.1 percent from the field, made 26 of 32 free throws and outrebounded the Nets 48-40.
NOTES: Nets F Rondae Hollis-Jefferson did not return for the second half after being ruled out with a sore right ankle. ... Brook Lopez, Trevor Booker and Caris LeVert returned for Brooklyn after missing Friday's game in Cleveland. Lopez and LeVert were held out for rest and Booker was dealing with an illness. Jeremy Lin (strained left hamstring) and Joe Harris (sprained left ankle) were held out. Lin was on the court shooting before the game. ... Minnesota shot 49.5 percent from the field in its previous nine games and started the day ranked 11th in the league in field-goal percentage (46.1 percent) and free-throw percentage (78.6). ... One of Brooklyn's nine wins this season was against the Timberwolves, a 119-110 victory at Barclays Center on Nov. 8. ... Entering the day, Minnesota C Karl-Anthony Towns ranked in the top 10 in points (27.9 per game), rebounds (12.8), blocks (1.78) and field-goal percentage (62.7 percent) since Jan. 9. PG Ricky Rubio led the NBA in assists during that span, averaging 12.1 per game. ... Minnesota hosts Orlando on Monday, and the Nets travel to Miami for a Monday game.