Towns helps Timberwolves coast to 107 80 win over Jazz

. Towns buried a 3-pointer and Muhammad scored on another dunk on back-to-back possessions to key an 8-0 run that gave Minnesota a 39-30 lead. (Photo: Karl Anthony Towns/ Facebook)

SALT LAKE CITY –Karl-Anthony Towns scored 21 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 107-80 victory over the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night.

Andrew Wiggins scored 20 points and Shabazz Muhammad added 18 for the Timberwolves, who won for the fourth time in their last five games. Utah was the fourth opponent in the last seven games that Minnesota held under 90 points.

Dante Exum scored 15 points and Gordon Hayward added 13 to lead the Jazz, while Derrick Favours had 10 points and 12 rebounds. The loss snapped a five-game winning streak in the series for Utah, which has lost two straight overall.

Utah shot just 32.7 per cent from the floor in the first two quarters and led just once. The early sluggishness opened the door for Minnesota to take control early.

The Timberwolves opened up their first double-digit lead early in the second quarter. Minnesota took a 27-16 lead when Tyus Jones turned steals into baskets on consecutive possessions. Jones took the first in for a layup. He set up a dunk for Shabazz Muhammad with the second.

The Jazz strung together a 10-0 run to briefly threaten the Timberwolves before halftime. Exum created the initial spark with a 3-pointer and Joe Ingles finished the run off with another long-distance basket, cutting Minnesota’s lead to 27-26.

Utah could not erase the deficit altogether before the Timberwolves pulled away again. Towns buried a 3-pointer and Muhammad scored on another dunk on back-to-back possessions to key an 8-0 run that gave Minnesota a 39-30 lead. The Timberwolves then scored on three straight possessions – highlighted by a 3-pointer from Wiggins and a layup from Muhammad – to extend their cushion to 51-35 heading into the locker room.

Minnesota did not let the Jazz rally again after halftime. The Timberwolves led by as many as 30 points, taking a 95-65 lead on a dunk from Muhammad with 4:24 remaining.

TIP INS

Timberwolves: Towns notched his 46th double-double of the season. He also scored at least 20 points and collected at least 10 rebounds for the 33rd time this season. Both marks rank in the Top 3 in the NBA. … F Nemanja Bjelica finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds for his second straight double-double. It is just the fifth of Bjelica’s career. … Minnesota has allowed just 88.0 points per game over its last five wins.

Jazz: Hayward set a career high for scoring average in a month in February. Hayward averaged 25.5 points per game while recording 30-plus points five times. … C Rudy Gobert finished with two blocked shots. Gobert has tallied at least one block in 30 consecutive games and leads the NBA in total blocks (154).

UP NEXT

Timberwolves: At San Antonio on Saturday. Minnesota faces a tough Spurs team only a few games behind Golden State in the chase for the top seed in the Western Conference.

Jazz: Hosts Brooklyn on Friday. The Nets have lost 25 of 26 games since the start of January and dropped 16 consecutive games heading into Salt Lake City.