Karl-Anthony Towns scores 22 in return as Wolves rally past Hawks

MINNEAPOLIS(AP) — Karl-Anthony Towns scored 22 points in his long-awaitedreturn from a strained right calf and the Minnesota Timberwolvesrallied to beat the Atlanta Hawks 125-124 on Wednesday night.

Naz Reidadded 26 points off the bench and Jaden McDaniels had 25 forMinnesota, which trailed by 10 points with 7:18 remaining but useda 19-5 run to get back in the game. Atlanta led 124-123 with 50.5seconds left after a pair of free throws by Trae Young.

Towns thenhit two free throws with 3.6 seconds left to seal the win. He wasback after missing 51 games for Minnesota, which had lost three offour and slid to ninth in the Western Conference beginning thenight.

Rudy Gobertadded 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Timberwolves.

Young scored29 points and De’Andre Hunter added 16 for Atlanta, which wasplaying the second game of a back-to-back after beating Detroit129-107 Tuesday night with second-leading scorer Dejounte Murraymissing both games with a non-COVID-19 illness.

Saddiq Beyhad 16 points off the bench for the Hawks.

Atlanta, whoshot 54.2% from the field and hit 12 of 26 3-pointers, started theday eighth in the Eastern Conference. They were 2 1/2 games behindMiami and one game ahead of Toronto.

Towns hadbeen out since Nov. 28 with the injury. Minnesota had a 10-11record when he went out as the team struggled at times to adapt tohaving two big men on the court together in Towns and newcomerGobert.

Towns, athree-time All-Star, received a special pregame introduction andwas welcomed back by big applause from the home crowd. He returnedto a team that found its rhythm with Anthony Edwards carrying thescoring load with a host of veterans filling complementary roles.The Timberwolves also traded Towns’ good friend D’Angelo Russelland acquired Mike Conley at the trade deadline.

With Edwardsmissing time due to a right ankle sprain, Minnesota had dropped abit in the packed West.

TIP-INS

Hawks: Youngposted his 100th straight game with at least five assists. It’s thelongest active streak in the NBA and the ninth longest in history.... Jalen Johnson missed his fourth game in a row with lefthamstring tightness and a groin strain.

Timberwolves:Edwards was listed as questionable, but missed his third straightgame. Backup point guard Jordan McLaughlin was out with an illness.... Minnesota shot 11 of 26 from 3-point range.

UPNEXT

Hawks: Returnhome against Indiana on Saturday.

Timberwolves:Play at Golden State on Sunday.