The Minnesota Timberwolves built a large lead against the Orlando Magic Wednesday night, and this time they held onto it to improve to 2-5.
Minnesota scored 39 points in the first quarter, their highest-scoring quarter of the young season, and had a 74-47 lead going into halftime. Their 74 first-half points tied the second-highest scoring first half in franchise history.
“We definitely looked at each other,” Karl-Anthony Towns, who had 20 points, said. “We couldn’t let that happen again. We just tied our shoes even tighter.”
Zach LaVine led the Wolves with 37 points, tying a career record, shooting 7-9 from three a night after missing a crucial shot in a loss to the Brooklyn Nets.
“If you don’t feel like you performed well, you want to go and pick it back up,” LaVine said. “Knocking down shots is always a good thing. You put a lot of work into it, so you expect to make them.”
Andrew Wiggins, who had 29 points, suggested that in some ways playing back-to-back against a rested Orlando team may have been beneficial.
“We got young legs,” Wolves forward Andrew Wiggins said. “I kind of like back-to-backs. I feel in rhythm because you just played yesterday.”
[Star Tribune, Associated Press]
