Towns, Timberwolves too much for young Hawks

ATLANTA — Karl-Anthony Towns had 28 points and 13 rebounds, Andrew Wiggins added 25 points and the Minnesota Timberwolves rode three big offensive quarters to rally past the Atlanta Hawks, 125-113 on Monday night.

Trae Young scored 37 points for the Hawks, who outscored the Timberwolves 34-16 in the second quarter. But Minnesota had 38 points in the first quarter, 39 in the third and 32 in the fourth against one of the NBA’s weakest defensive teams and snapped a two-game skid.

The Timberwolves got 46 points from their bench, with Keita Bates-Diop and Gorgui Dieng each scoring 13.

Jabari Parker pitched in 22 points for the Hawks and rookie center Bruno Fernando scored a career-high 13.

The Timberwolves shot 63.6% in the first quarter and opened a 40-30 lead early in the second, but missed 15-of-19 shots over the rest of the period.

Young scored 14 points in the quarter while Hawks attacked the basket frequently and had 21 points and seven assists — several on alley-oop lob passes — by halftime, leading Atlanta to a 64-54 lead.

Towns heated up after halftime to pull the Timberwolves back into the game. In the third quarter alone, he had 15 points, eight rebounds and three assists to help Minnesota take a 93-90 lead to the fourth quarter.

TIP-INS

TIMBERWOLVES: Rookie Jarrett Culver started at guard rather than former Hawk Jeff Teague. They played together at times. … Frequent starter Noah Vonleh did play, and was not listed on the pregame injury report. … Guard Shabazz Napier (hamstring) and forward Jake Layman (toe sprain) remain sidelined.

HAWKS: Guard Cam Reddish returned after missing two games with a sprained left wrist and started to bump DeAndre’ Bembry back to the bench. They’ve been tag-teaming in place of Kevin Huerter, who remains sidelined with a sprained rotator cuff in his left shoulder. The rookie from Duke continues to struggle to find his shot. Reddish scored seven points on 2-of-10 shooting, one of them a fast-break alley-oop dunk off a pass from Young. … Parker has scored at least 10 points in 16-of-17 games. His minutes have risen with the absence of John Collins, who is suspended. … Atlanta Braves shortstop Dansby Swanson sat courtside.

UP NEXT

TIMBERWOLVES: Play at San Antonio Wednesday.

HAWKS: Play at Milwaukee Wednesday.