MINNEAPOLIS (AP) 鈥� Karl-Anthony Towns scored 10 of his 25 points in the third quarter and Anthony Edwards added 19 points as the Minnesota Timberwolves cruised to a 129-117 win against the Houston Rockets on Saturday night.
Playing without center Rudy Gobert, , Minnesota snapped a three-game losing streak. Kyle Anderson had 16 points while starting for Gobert.
鈥淲e did a great job in the second quarter of showing what we could be when we鈥檙e all locked in,鈥� Towns said. 鈥淛ust good game, good way to win. Proud of our guys bouncing back from a tough game yesterday and playing with the intensity needed.鈥�
Minnesota closed the first half on a 20-4 run and never looked back, extending Houston鈥檚 tough start to the season.
The Rockets, who were without rookie Jabari Smith Jr. due to an illness, lost their sixth straight game. Houston is 1-9 this season and has trailed by double-digits in nine of its 10 games.
鈥淥ur defense wasn鈥檛 very good at all tonight,鈥� Rockets coach Stephen Silas said. 鈥淚t was right from the very start. One of our main things was protecting the paint and we didn鈥檛 do it, especially early. We鈥檝e been talking a lot about our ball movement and our execution, and the turnovers obviously hurt us. But it was the defensive end that I wasn鈥檛 proud of tonight.鈥�
Jalen Green had 21 points for the Rockets, hitting 4 of 11 from 3-point territory. Kevin Porter Jr. scored 13 and Alperen Sengun had 17 points for Houston, which had a season-high 23 turnovers leading to 36 points for the Timberwolves.
The young Rockets started quickly, hitting six of their first seven shots, including a 4-of-5 mark from 3, and held a lead in the first quarter.
鈥淲e start good, I think,鈥� Sengun said. 鈥淏ut second quarter, we lose our focus and then we did easy turnovers.鈥�
The shots started to miss the mark and the turnovers increased. Houston shot 11 of 16 in the first and was 7 of 11 from the 3, but the turnovers allowed Minnesota to take control.
The Rockets had 15 turnovers at half as the Wolves made their run, scoring 27 points off turnovers and finishing the half with 13 fast-break points.
鈥淵eah we talked about it, them being a high turnover team, trying to take advantage of it,鈥� Minnesota coach Chris Finch said. 鈥淚 thought it was one of our better transition games for that purpose. We still, I thought, didn鈥檛 convert that great in transition overall, but we were able to create enough opportunities to do so.鈥�
PATIENCE NEEDED
It鈥檚 been an adjustment for the Wolves this season after the offseason trade for Gobert and adding Anderson. Perhaps Minnesota can take solace in recovering from a slow start last season when they finished 47-36, making the playoffs.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a process,鈥� guard D鈥橝ngelo Russell said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 care what team is out there, it鈥檚 a process to get to where you want to be. Preseason and training camp鈥t matters. It gets you in that rhythm. So, for us, we didn鈥檛 have that. So, we鈥檙e starting from somewhere and this is a great place to start.鈥�
MAKING THE SWITCH
Silas said the high number of turnovers were due to Houston not handling Minnesota鈥檚 switching defense.
鈥淓arly in the game they weren鈥檛 switching and we were getting the ball moving,鈥� Silas said. 鈥淎nd then they started switching and that鈥檚 when the ball stopped moving quite as much. We have to do a better job of being switched.鈥�
TIP-INS
Rockets: KJ Martin started for Smith and had 17 points. 鈥� Houston continues to be without Bruno Fernando (left knee soreness), Jae鈥橲ean Tate (right ankle soreness) and TyTy Washington (left knee sprain). 鈥� The Rockets are 0-7 on the road this season. 鈥� It鈥檚 the fifth time this season Houston has allowed 124 points or more.
Timberwolves: Minnesota shot 61.3% from the field, its second-highest mark in a game this season. Its 15 made 3s were the second most this season. 鈥� The Wolves had 60 points in the paint.
UP NEXT
Rockets: Play at Orlando on Monday.
Timberwolves: Host the New York Knicks on Monday.
___
More AP NBA coverage: and
Brian Hall, The Associated Press
