The Minnesota Timberwolves have been up and down this season, but the confidence in this young group continues to build as they find ways to win games, previous versions of this team would have likely dropped.
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Against the New York Knicks on the road, trailing by one in the final minute of the game, Karl-Anthony Towns stepped up to convert a go-ahead three-point play with 29 seconds left to help seal a 112-110 win at Madison Square Garden.
CLUTCH! KAT puts the @Timberwolves up by 2 late on @NBATV! pic.twitter.com/8Rx8GX5K2w
— NBA (@NBA) January 19, 2022
"We've always found ways to lose game like these," Towns said post-game, per Dane Moore, relishing in the narrow victory.
Such is the growing pains of young teams, losing close games can become all too familiar, however, the Timberwolves are showing a new sense of poise late in games and now hold a 10-11 record in clutch games this season (.476).
Last season they were just 10-26 on the road, while in 2021-22, they've won nine games away from Target Center already, just over the halfway point of the season.
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Towns continues to blossom as the Timberwolves' vocal leader on the court and is putting together an all-time season, averaging 24.5 points, 9.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists on wildly efficient shooting percentages, connecting on 52.0 percent of his field goals, 41.3 percent of his 3-pointers and 81.1 percent at the free-throw line.
Tonight, he finished with 20 points, five rebounds and three assists on 6-of-12 shooting, icing the win for his team.
No better stage to do it than at MSG, right?
"Everyone’s going to get a chance to have their MSG moment. I felt for me tonight, that was the biggest moment I’ve had at MSG," Towns added. "Great crowd, great atmosphere, great energy and I got to silence everybody, so that made it even better."
While Towns is leading the way, he's getting plenty of help from his teammates, with Anthony Edwards, scoring 21 points on the night. Jaylen Nowell scored 11 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter, while D'Angelo Russell finished with 17 points. This season, Russell has been one of the best players late in games, ranking ninth in the NBA in clutch scoring (3.7 points).
Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards have each scored 20+ points in the same game 15 times this season, tied with Kevin Durant and James Harden for the 2nd-most by any pair of teammates.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) January 19, 2022
The only duo with more such games are DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine (23). pic.twitter.com/fkNwTuNxAu
With the win, the Timberwolves climb back to .500 (22-22) and have now won six of their past eight games to sit seventh in the Western Conference standings.
