Wolves rally past Raptors

MINNEAPOLIS There was no Jimmy Butler, practically no Karl-Anthony Towns in the first half, and the visiting Toronto Raptors were shooting 54 per cent.

These are the types of games the Minnesota Timberwolves of the last few years didn’t win. This season’s revamped team is showing the toughness needed to compete with the league’s top teams.

Andrew Wiggins scored 29 points, Towns had all 22 of his points in the second half and the Wolves rallied from 11 down to beat the Toronto Raptors 115-109 on Saturday night.

“We’ve got a lot of guys that know how to play,” Wiggins said. “That’s the NBA for you. Someone’s injured, the next person just steps up. We have a good team, a lot of guys that can step up and make plays.”

With Butler out with a sore knee and Towns in foul trouble, Wiggins almost singlehandedly kept the Wolves in it with 22 first-half points. In the second half, the Wolves got big minutes from Marcus Georges-Hunt (12 points), Gorgui Dieng and Tyus Jones (nine points apiece) and the seldom-used Shabazz Muhammad (seven points). The Wolves bench outscored Toronto’s 37-39.

“If you’re in this league, you’re a great player,” coach Tom Thibodeau said. “So when someone’s out, it’s an opportunity for someone else to step in. As long as we play hard, we feel like we’re going to have a chance to win every night.”

The Wolves snapped a twogame skid.

Kyle Lowry led Toronto with a season-high 40 points on 14-for-25 shooting, including 6 of 10 from behind the arc.

Towns had three early fouls and no shot attempts in eight first-half minutes, and the Raptors looked primed for their third straight win. But Towns finally got going after halftime, scoring 12 of the Timberwolves’ first 21 points, and Minnesota outscored the Raptors 33-21 in the quarter en route to snapping their two-game winning streak.