For Wolves, no Towns, no problem vs. Knicks

MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Timberwolves got virtually nothing from their top three scorers on Sunday night. Thanks to their depth, it wasn’t a problem.

Taj Gibson scored a season-high 25 points, Jeff Teague added 20 points and 10 assists, and the Timberwolves beat the Knicks, 103-92, despite playing without AllStar center Karl-Anthony Towns.

In all, five Timberwolves scored in double figures as they shared the scoring responsibilities in the absence of Towns, Derrick Rose and Andrew Wiggins. Towns missed the game with right knee inflammation, while Wiggins sat out with a thigh bruise.

Rose, the Wolves’ second-leading scorer, scored four points and played just eight minutes, all in the first half, as coach Ryan Saunders chose to rest the veteran against the team with the NBA’s worst record “We expect to do that because we have a good team. It may not show all the time, but we have guys capable of having big nights,” Gibson said. “It’s part of being a professional basketball player. You just have to know your role and do whatever the team needs, and if given a night that you need to step up and play an even bigger role, just be prepared.”

Rookie Keita Bates-Diop scored a careerhigh 18 points, while Tyus Jones added 13 and Dario Saric 11 for Minnesota, which has won six straight home games.

Damyean Dotson led the Knicks with 26 points on 10-for-19 shooting. Allonzo Trier added 15, Dennis Smith Jr. and Kevin Knox each scored 13 and Mitchell Robinson had eight points, 10 rebounds, and five blocks.

“We missed a lot of easy shots around the rim early on, and that really, really hurt us, especially on the road,” said Knicks coach David Fizdale. “You can’t miss those.”

The Knicks kept it close for 1 1/2 quarters, taking their last lead at 30-27 on Trier’s driving layup with 8:49 left in the half. But Minnesota answered with a quick 8-0 run that included a 3-pointer by Anthony Tolliver and Gibson’s dunk.

Teague drained a 30-footer to beat the halftime buzzer as Minnesota took a 55-45 lead into the break.

Gibson started the third quarter with a dunk and a three-point play as he once again played a key role picking up the scoring slack with Towns out of the lineup. In the three games Towns has missed, Gibson has scored 25, 20, and 19 points — his three highest-scoring games of the season.