Julius Randle scored 12 of the final 13 points for the New York Knicks, who squandered most of a 22-point third-quarter lead Monday afternoon before holding off the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves, 112-106.
Randle finished with 39 points — two shy of his season high — and nine rebounds for the Knicks, who snapped a three-game losing streak in OG Anunoby’s team debut.
Anunoby, who was acquired from the Toronto Raptors on Saturday along with Precious Achiuwa and Malachi Flynn in exchange for RJ Barrett and reserve guard Immanuel Quickley, had 17 points and six rebounds before fouling out in the fourth quarter.
Jalen Brunson scored 16 points and collected a career-high 14 assists for the Knicks while Donte DiVincenzo had 15 points and Quentin Grimes added 10 points off the bench.
Anthony Edwards scored 35 points while Karl-Anthony Towns had 29 points for the Western Conference-leading Timberwolves, who had a two-game winning streak snapped. Rudy Gobert (10 points, 15 rebounds) posted a double-double.
The Timberwolves led by as many as 11 in the first quarter before the Knicks took control by outscoring the visitors 38-17 in the second to take a 61-49 halftime lead.
Anunoby’s 3-pointer with 4:58 left in the third gave New York its biggest lead at 83-61.
Jordan McLaughlin’s layup with two seconds left in the quarter began a 19-5 run for Minnesota, which pulled within 99-95 on Towns’ 3-pointer with 6:40 left. The teams combined for four straight empty trips before Randle scored on consecutive possessions to extend the Knicks’ lead to 103-95.
Edwards hit a pair of free throws with 4:32 left, after which the teams went scoreless on their next eight possessions before Randle hit a second-chance 20-footer with 2:09 remaining.
Towns’ 3-pointer cut the Knicks’ lead to 107-102 with 1:14 left and DiVincenzo missed a 3-pointer 23 seconds later, but Towns missed a fallaway shot with 41 seconds to go and Randle followed by converting an old-fashioned three-point play.
DiVincenzo’s free throw with 13 seconds left provided the Knicks’ only point not scored by Randle over the final six minutes.
–Field Level Media