Towns passes Laettner for Timberwolves’ rookie scoring record
Former University of Kentucky star Karl-Anthony Towns hit a 17-foot, fourth-quarter jumper off an assist from fellow ex-Cat Tayshaun Prince to pass Christian Laettner for the Minnesota Timberwolves’ rookie scoring record on Monday night in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves lost the Houston Rockets 129-105.
Towns followed that jumper with another from 15 feet to give him 12 points for the game and 1,475 for the season. Laettner scored 1,472 points as a rookie during the 1992-93 season.
“We lost by almost 30 doing it, so it doesn’t feel too well,” Towns told TwinCities.com. “I’ll wait until another day and time to actually enjoy it.”
Towns was 6-for-15 from the field and also had five rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block in 27 minutes against Houston.
Earlier Monday, Towns was named the Western Conference’s player of the week after averaging 21.3 points, 10.3 rebounds and 1.67 blocks in road wins against Golden State, Sacramento, and Portland.
Dennis Varney: 859-231-3514, @ExCats
ROCKETS 129, TIMBERWOLVES 105
Houston | MIN | FG-A | FT-A | OR-TR | A | F | Pt |
Ariza | 28:41 | 8-11 | 2-2 | 0-4 | 2 | 3 | 21 |
Motiejunas | 19:10 | 3-7 | 0-0 | 2-4 | 3 | 2 | 7 |
Howard | 26:56 | 8-11 | 3-4 | 2-8 | 3 | 2 | 19 |
Beverley | 34:39 | 3-7 | 4-6 | 1-5 | 4 | 2 | 11 |
Harden | 31:40 | 12-21 | 5-7 | 0-1 | 6 | 0 | 34 |
Terry | 23:16 | 2-6 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
JSmith | 23:21 | 3-6 | 2-2 | 0-3 | 3 | 6 | 11 |
Brewer | 14:46 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 4 | 1 | 2 |
Capela | 15:35 | 5-8 | 0-1 | 2-10 | 0 | 2 | 10 |
Goudelock | 5:29 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
TeJones | 5:29 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
Beasley | 5:29 | 1-1 | 2-3 | 0-2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
McDaniels | 5:29 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Totals | 240:00 | 48-86 | 18-26 | 8-43 | 28 | 23 | 129 |
Percentages: FG .558, FT .692. Three-Point Goals: 15-30, .500 (Harden 5-7, Ariza 3-4, J.Smith 3-6, Terry 2-5, Motiejunas 1-2, Beverley 1-3, Brewer 0-1, Goudelock 0-1, McDaniels 0-1). Team Rebounds: 9. Team Turnovers: 18 (18 PTS). Blocked Shots: 5 (Beverley 2, Brewer, Capela, Howard). Turnovers: 17 (Howard 4, Harden 3, Brewer 2, Motiejunas 2, Beasley, Capela, Goudelock, Te.Jones, McDaniels, J.Smith). Steals: 12 (Brewer 2, Motiejunas 2, J.Smith 2, Ariza, Beverley, Capela, Howard, McDaniels, Terry).
Minnesota | MIN | FG-A | FT-A | OR-TR | A | F | Pt |
Wiggins | 26:43 | 3-7 | 6-6 | 0-1 | 3 | 3 | 12 |
Dieng | 25:18 | 4-8 | 5-6 | 1-4 | 1 | 2 | 13 |
Towns | 27:29 | 6-15 | 0-0 | 0-5 | 1 | 3 | 12 |
Rubio | 22:13 | 2-6 | 0-2 | 0-2 | 5 | 1 | 4 |
LaVine | 27:10 | 8-14 | 2-2 | 1-2 | 3 | 1 | 21 |
Bjelica | 29:12 | 3-7 | 4-4 | 4-14 | 1 | 5 | 11 |
GSmith | 4:51 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
TyJones | 25:47 | 1-5 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 5 | 4 | 2 |
Prince | 12:53 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
Muhammad | 22:14 | 9-13 | 4-7 | 0-1 | 2 | 0 | 23 |
Payne | 9:10 | 2-6 | 3-6 | 2-4 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
Rudez | 7:00 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Totals | 240:00 | 38-83 | 24-33 | 10-40 | 25 | 20 | 105 |
Percentages: FG .458, FT .727. Three-Point Goals: 5-21, .238 (LaVine 3-7, Bjelica 1-3, Muhammad 1-3, Ty.Jones 0-1, Payne 0-1, Rudez 0-1, Rubio 0-2, Towns 0-3). Team Rebounds: 8. Team Turnovers: 14 (18 PTS). Blocked Shots: 3 (LaVine, Rubio, Towns). Turnovers: 13 (Wiggins 4, Bjelica 2, Ty.Jones 2, LaVine, Muhammad, Payne, Prince, Towns). Steals: 12 (Payne 3, Ty.Jones 2, Rubio 2, Dieng, LaVine, Muhammad, Towns, Wiggins).
Houston | 38 | 30 | 35 | 26 | — | 129 |
Minnesota | 21 | 26 | 27 | 31 | — | 105 |
Att.—14,983 (19,356). T—2:10.
Officials—Bill Kennedy, Karl Lane, Eric Lewis.
This story was originally published April 11, 2016 at 10:30 PM with the headline "Towns passes Laettner for Timberwolves’ rookie scoring record."