ATLANTA — Karl-Anthony Towns had 28 points and 13 rebounds, Andrew Wiggins added 25 points and the Minnesota Timberwolves rode three big offensive quarters to rally past the Atlanta Hawks, 125-113 on Monday night.
Trae Young scored 37 points for the Hawks, who outscored the Timberwolves 34-16 in the second quarter. But Minnesota had 38 points in the first quarter, 39 in the third and 32 in the fourth against one of the NBA’s weakest defensive teams and snapped a two-game skid.
The Timberwolves got 46 points from their bench, with Keita Bates-Diop and Gorgui Dieng each scoring 13.
Jabari Parker pitched in 22 points for the Hawks and rookie center Bruno Fernando scored a career-high 13.
The Timberwolves shot 63.6% in the first quarter and opened a 40-30 lead early in the second, but missed 15-of-19 shots over the rest of the period.
Young scored 14 points in the quarter while Hawks attacked the basket frequently and had 21 points and seven assists — several on alley-oop lob passes — by halftime, leading Atlanta to a 64-54 lead.
Towns heated up after halftime to pull the Timberwolves back into the game. In the third quarter alone, he had 15 points, eight rebounds and three assists to help Minnesota take a 93-90 lead to the fourth quarter.
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