Karl-Anthony Towns celebrates after making a buzzer-beating shot that gave Minnesota the win. | AP photo
MINNEAPOLIS — Karl-Anthony Towns scored all 16 of his points after halftime, including a buzzer-beating desperation shot in overtime to lift the Minnesota Timberwolves over the Memphis Grizzlies 99-97 on Wednesday night.
Memphis led twice during overtime, but Towns helped Minnesota closed it out. On the final possession, Andrew Wiggins ran the clock down to six seconds before shooting a pull-up 3. The rebound fell to the right side, where Towns grabbed it, dribbled once and floated up a shot as he faded toward the corner. The ball went in, and Towns tossed up his hands before getting mobbed by teammates.
Towns dealt with foul trouble through the first three quarters but was in the right position for Minnesota to win it’s fourth in a row. He added 10 rebounds in just 27 minutes.
Jerryd Bayless had 19 points and a career-high 12 assists for the Timberwolves on a frigid night with an announced crowd of 13,615 in Minnesota. Many fewer actually showed up for the game between two teams with losing records.
Mike Conley had 26 points and eight assists for Memphis, which lost for the 12th time in 13 road games. Marc Gasol had 19 points, and Ivan Rabb had 10 points and 10 rebounds off the bench for the Grizzlies.
Towns tied it at 93 with 33.6 seconds left in regulation, and neither team could convert to avoid overtime.
Trying to recover after blowing a 25-point lead in a loss to Denver on Monday, the Grizzlies fell behind early against Minnesota.
Memphis started the game 1 of 6 from the field with five turnovers less than five minutes into the game and scored just 16 points in the first quarter.
Bayless hit a jump shot to end a 7-0 run for the Wolves to start the second quarter and open up a 15-point advantage. The Grizzlies countered with a 26-9 spurt of their own, and neither team was able to pull away in the second half.