New York Knicks @ Minnesota Timberwolves
Monday, November 20, 2023 at 8:00 PM ET
Target Center, Minneapolis, MN | Game ID: 22300221
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
MIN 31 27 35 24 117NYK 28 28 19 25 100
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Timberwolves stay atop West, undefeated at home as Edwards, Towns shine in 117-100 win over Knicks
MINNEAPOLIS -- — Anthony Edwards had 23 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, Karl-Anthony Towns scored 20 points, and the Western Conference-leading Minnesota Timberwolves beat the New York Knicks 117-100 on Monday night.
Minnesota (10-3) is 6-0 at home — tying a franchise record to start a season — and has won nine of its past 10 games. That stretch included seven straight wins, the franchise's longest streak since 2004 — which was the last year the Wolves made it past the first round of the playoffs.
“I think everyone in the locker room comes together and understands not only that we want to do something special and have a successful season,” Towns said, "but I think all of us understand what it takes to have that kind of season.
“We all have the will that’s needed to win on a daily basis, because we’ve seen how when you don’t have the will how seasons turn out. We also, at the end of the day, understand that Minnesota has lacked one word, and it's execution. If we can execute at a high level, we can see our fortunes change here.”
Jalen Brunson scored 25 points and Julius Randle had 21 for New York, which shot 34.8% (32 of 92) to Minnesota's 51.3%.
The Knicks (8-6) came in allowing a league-low 104.9 points per game.
“We missed some bunnies inside, and then we also missed some wide-open 3s,” said New York coach Tom Thibodeau, whose team saw a three-game win streak snapped. “You've got to make some shots.”
After a quiet first half, Edwards scored nine points during a 16-5 Wolves run to open the third quarter. Mike Conley 's third 3-pointer of the night gave them a 76-61 lead with 7:53 remaining in the period.
They never trailed by less than 11 the rest of the way.
Rudy Gobert scored 16 points for the Wolves. Minnesota forward Jaden McDaniels left with a sprained right ankle in the first quarter and didn't return. That opened up extended minutes for Nickeil Alexander-Walker , who finished with 11 points, three rebounds and three assists.
“I think we’re finding a cohesiveness together,” Alexander-Walker said. “I can’t speak on how big this group has been in terms of chemistry on and off the court, and I think it’s just helping us ... on the court playing for each other, cutting, moving, defending, rebounding, trying to do the small little things to be a good team.”
Naz Reid added 10 points as the Wolves' bench outscored New York's reserves 43-30.
“We have a deep team; we have a lot of guys who can come in and guard,” Minnesota coach Chris Finch said. “Everyone kind of stepped up.”
Quentin Grimes started for the Knicks after missing their previous two games with a sprained left wrist.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
NYKDD D. DiVincenzo
DJ D. Jeffries
IH I. Hartenstein
IQ I. Quickley
JB J. Brunson
JH J. Hart
JR J. Randle
JS J. Sims
MR M. Robinson
QG Q. Grimes
RA R. Arcidiacono
RB R. Barrett
MINAE A. Edwards
JM J. McDaniels
JM J. Minott
KA K. Anderson
KT K. Towns
MC M. Conley
NA N. Alexander-Walker
NR N. Reid
RG R. Gobert
SM S. Milton
TB T. Brown Jr.
NYK/MIN the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur