Karl-Anthony Towns may have scored a Minnesota Timberwolves franchise-record 62 points, but Minnesota didn’t come away with a victory.
The Timberwolves blew an 18-point lead and lost 128-125 to the Charlotte Hornets on Monday night.
Minnesota head coach Chris Finch lit into his team, focusing on the lack of defensive effort.
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“It was an absolute disgusting performance of defense and immature basketball. All the way through the game. So, it really didn’t slip away. It had been there from the jump. This is what happens when you have this type of approach,” Finch said after the game.
Towns shot just 2 of 10 from the field in the fourth quarter as Minnesota was outscored 36-18 in the final frame after entering the fourth with a 15-point lead.
“I mean, there’s lots of times when, just because you’ve scored two or three or four points in a row, or baskets in a row… you know obviously we’re going to try to feed a hot hand, look for a hot hand. But at some point, we got to get back to making the right play, we got to get back to doing the right things,” Finch said when discussing the way his team played after Towns’ hot start.
“There’s a lot of ways to be immature. There’s always a lot of ways to be immature. And there were a lot of immature performances throughout the roster. We totally disrespected the game, ourselves, and we got exactly what we deserved.”
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The Hornets got a 27-point performance from rookie Brandon Miller, with Miles Bridges adding 28 points as Charlotte shot a season-high 58.1% from the field.
Minnesota has been the best team in the Western Conference for the season and still holds a half-game edge over the Oklahoma City Thunder for the top spot in the conference.
“There’s no moral victories,” Towns said. “It was cool when we were saying that when we were 15-30 (in previous seasons).
“But we’re No. 1 in the West, one of the best teams in NBA; there ain’t no time for moral victories, silver linings, ‘great night, but just not a finish we wanted’ – we’ve got to find a way to win. It’s about winning the game. It’s about staying No. 1 in the West. It’s about protecting our home court more, most importantly above all things.”
Towns wasn’t the only big man to have a monster night, with Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid scoring 70 points Monday night against the San Antonio Spurs.
Embiid became just the ninth NBA player to score 70 points in a game.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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