The Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS–Karl-Anthony Towns put the blame for an overtime loss to Philadelphia squarely on his shoulders, saying he cost his team a win.
Towns wasn’t going to let the same thing happen last night.
The seven-footer had 30 points and 14 rebounds in his league-leading 23rd double-double, and Jimmy Butler added 21 points and nine assists, as the Minnesota Timberwolves cruised to a 119-96 victory over the Sacramento Kings.
“I came to be an assassin tonight, not a basketball player,” Towns noted.
“I wanted to try to be as active as possible and just disrupt the game as much as possible, as well.”
Andrew Wiggins had 22 points for Minnesota (17-12), which now has won three of four and is off to the third-best start in franchise history after 29 games.
Zach Randolph had 15 points and nine rebounds for Sacramento.
George Hill added 16 points for the Kings, who lost rookie point guard DeAaron Fox to an injury in the first quarter.
Kosta Koufos had 11 points and eight rebounds off the bench.
“Tough night, we didn’t play with enough force,” noted Kings’ coach Dave Joerger.
“They did pretty much anything they wanted to us so it was very frustrating for us.”
Towns had 19 points and 16 rebounds in Tuesday’s loss, but 76ers’ centre Joel Embiid had 28 points, including two free throws to push the game to overtime after being fouled by Towns.
Towns took control early last night with 11 points in the first quarter and was active defensively throughout.
He added season-highs with five blocks and five assists.
Minnesota shot 64 percent in the first half and 56 percent for the game.
“It was pretty easy for them,” Joerger said.
“Our turnovers kills us,” he added. “We didn’t check out enough, and they shot 65 percent in the first half because it was easy.”
The Wolves used a 13-0 run in the third quarter, capping the stretch on a jumper by Butler for an 84-64 lead.
Minnesota led by as many as 27 and coasted to the win after a string of close games.
Their previous six games all were decided by six points or less.
“Win is a win but it’s always good to win like this, especially at home after losing a close one to Philly the other day,” Butler noted.
“I think we did all right,” he added. “We didn’t give up points in transition. We guarded.
“Still some things we can definitely do better, but I’m happy the way that we won.”
Elsewhere in the NBA, Detroit beat Atlanta 105-91, New York downed Brooklyn 111-104, Cleveland dumped the L.A. Lakers 121-112, and Golden State bounced Dallas 112-97.
