On Thursday, the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers, as Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins and Ricky Rubio put on an offensive clinic. Rubio tabbed a new career-high with 33 points, along with 10 assists, two steals and five rebounds. Wiggins finished with 27 points and Towns added 3 points and nine rebounds.
The Lakers trailed by double digits in the first quarter but managed to close the gap and even led briefly early in the second stanza. By halftime, the Timberwolves led 67-60, as defense was not an emphasis for either team on this particular night.
In the third quarter, which has been particularly problematic for the Lakers all season long, the Timberwolves ballooned their advantage to 14 points. By the end of three quarters, Minnesota had already scored 96 points.
In the fourth quarter, the home team did not exactly blow the roof off the building, but the Lakers failed to take advantage of a low scoring quarter from Tom Thibodeau's men.
Ultimately, though the Lakers did cut the game to a single digit deficit, the Lakers failed to get within touching distance of the Timberwolves in the fourth quarter. Minnesota eventually won by a final score of 119-104.
With the loss, the Lakers fell to 21-54 on the season and remained in last place in the Western Conference.
On the night, Jordan Clarkson finished with 18 points to lead the Lakers, and the combo-guard also recorded seven assists but his four turnovers didn't help the Lakers' cause. As a team, LA committed 16 turnovers compared to Minnesota's 10, with D'Angelo Russell the biggest offender. Russell scored 14 points and dished six assists, but his five turnovers overshadowed the 21-year-old's positive contributions.
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LA was also struck an early blow when starting rookie center Ivica Zubac rolled his ankle and left the game after only a couple minutes on the court. Tarik Black came in for the injured rookie, and Black finished with 15 points and nine rebounds in 23 minutes, which included the bulky center hitting his first six shots and finishing 7-8 from the field.
Thomas Robinson also got a bit of run in for the Lakers, and Robinson finished with 12 points in 14 minutes on 6-9 shooting. Over all, seven different Lakers finished scoring in double figures, including every starter save for Zubac.
Next the Lakers play against the LA Clippers as a road team on Saturday.
