Fresh off one of the worst losses of the season, the Timberwolves needed a boost.
On Wednesday night against the tanking Atlanta Hawks — who were without top scorers Kent Bazemore and Dennis Schroeder — seemed like the perfect team to jump on in order to achieve that boost. They came in losers of nine of their previous 10 games, had injury concerns and were already a bad team when healthy.
But, as evidenced as recently as Monday, the Timberwolves were not immune to another bad loss.
But between an amped — albeit bench-ridden — Jimmy Butler, a monster scoring output from Karl-Anthony Towns, some revamped play from Nemanja Bjelica and a low-key playmaking showcase for Andrew Wiggins, the Timberwolves got their boost.
They got their boost from a number of different places and players, but Towns quickly became the topic of conversation.
He scored a franchise record 56 points, grabbed 15 rebounds, hit six 3s and got to the line for 15 attempts. He’s the first player since Shaquille O’Neal to score at least 55 points and grab at least 15 rebounds, and the youngest since Rick Barry in 1965, per Basketball Reference.
But after the game, Towns kept it about the team.
“I just was trying to get to spots and just be in the flow of the offense,” Towns said. “I didn’t try to force anything, just let the game come to me.”
His shot count has commonly suggested he let the game — as he said, and says often — come to him. In many ways, that stayed true, even despite the insane output.
His 56 points — which surpassed Mo Williams, who scored 52 in 2013, for the franchise record — were scored in his always-efficient manner. He hit 6 of 8 3s, got to the line 12 times and made a number of impressive shots from inside the paint.
His teammates loved it.
“You just start passing and sitting back and watching the show,” Wiggins said of his teammate.
“I thought they searched him out,” Tom Thibodeau said after the game. “I thought he made good plays out [of the double-team]. I thought we made the extra pass. I liked the rhythm we had on the threes. Offensively it was terrific.”
Towns’ scoring output was insane, but the Hawks — specifically this iteration of the Hawks — was the team to do it against.
To be clear, a 56-point scoring output is incredibly difficult for any player — against any team — to accomplish. But the biggest guy Towns was matched up with was Dewayne Dedmon, who only saw 25 minutes on the floor — some of them were without Towns on the floor.
Towns finished with six 3-pointers, but made his mark attacking the weaker defenders and finishing with ease inside.
The performance was as exciting as any franchise record-setting scoring performance can be. It was masterful and incredible to watch.
But at some point, Towns was aware of what he was doing. When that happened, he started hunting for shots.
The Timberwolves had a chance to put the game away, up 16 points with 9:49 left. Five minutes later, the Wolves are up just six.
During that short span, Towns took and missed five shots, a couple of which were contested 2s that looked like this.
It was clear that Towns was going for statistical glory at this point, but it’s hard to blame him.
When you’re scoring at the rate Towns was, a certain level of leash to take silly shots is permitted. And when the game did start to get tight, it was — not surprising to anyone who had watched the first three quarters — Towns again to take over and close out the game.
He finished with a pair of and-one buckets at the rim that all but sealed the game — and a new record. The one that put him at 50 was especially acrobatic and impressive.
It started with a foul from 3-point land to get him back on track. From there, he was able to reassert his dominance, getting back into the play that got him in a franchise record-setting pace to begin with.
It was a masterful performance on a night when his team badly needed it. And lucky for him, he wasn’t alone in terms of overall production.
“The ball was moving everywhere,” Towns said. “Everyone was touching the ball. Just one of those nights where the last pass was just finding me in a good spot and a good situation, and my teammates trusted me with the ball.”
Wiggins only had three assists in the game, but his ability to see the floor was on a more sound display than any time in recent weeks. He’s always been an underrated passer on the drive, but it hasn’t always resulted in assists. Towns’ performance — combined with some luck coming Wiggins’ way — changed that to a small degree.
And while it was overall quiet in nature, Bjelica scoring 14 points and hitting half his 3s was big. The hesitation off the catch from the top of seems to be a thing of the past.
If that’s the case, more nights like Wednesday should be coming, even after the injured Butler — who was especially animated on the bench — returns to game action.
There were more contributions from all over the floor — Gorgui Dieng gave good minutes off the bench, a rare Teague-Tyus backcourt took place in the closing minutes and Jones himself had nine assists in just 21 minutes.
But Wednesday was the Karl-Anthony Towns show. The team needed a win — and perhaps more importantly, a lift — and Towns gave them that.
It’s likely he won’t reach that mark again this season, but his legacy is set in stone now more than ever. If that helps his team in the short term, though, Towns will be even happier.
“I’d rather end the drought here of 14 games, so we’ve got some work to do still.”
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