MINNEAPOLIS—Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns are the bright future of the Minnesota Timberwolves and their various talents were on display at the Target Center on Wednesday night, much to the chagrin of the Toronto Raptors.
Wiggins from the outside with stealth and quickness, Towns all power to the rim and varied offensive skills, and the Timberwolves 112-109 winners over the Raptors to halt a two-game Toronto winning streak.
Wiggins had a key basket in the last minute and then an assist on the game-winning basket, part of a 31-point evening for the product of Vaughan, Ont.
And Towns, last year’s NBA rookie of the year, had 21 of his 29 points in the second half.
DeMar DeRozan finished with 30 points — his second game of at least 30 since coming back from an ankle injury — and Kyle Lowry had 20 for the Raptors.
Wiggins made a jump shot with 47.6 seconds left to give Minnesota a one-point lead, making it over Norm Powell, who had replaced DeMarre Carroll guarding Wiggins down the stretch.
Lowry had a three-pointer go in and out on the ensuing possession, then Shabazz Muhammad made one of two free throws for a two-point Minnesota lead with 33.4 seconds left.
DeRozan tied it before backup point guard Tyus Jones took a perfect feed out of traffic from Wiggins to hit a three-pointer with 19.5 seconds left.
Another DeRozan basket was answered by two Wiggins free throws, before a Lowry three-pointer at the buzzer missed.
To the surprise of no one. Wiggins led the Timberwolves. He’s now had more than 25 points in his last five games against the Raptors, his best streak against any team in the league.
“Wiggins kind of gets his dander up a little bit when he plays against the Raptors, it being his home country, and believe me, that’s what he should do,” Toronto coach Dwane Casey said Wednesday morning. “Wiggins’ pick-and-roll offence has improved tremendously.”
With nearly the whole team at his disposal — Patrick Patterson was out for the third straight game with a left knee bruise — Casey was able to massage his rotations to meet the demands of the game.
He went to rookie Jakob Poeltl early to combat Minnesota’s front-court athleticism, and said early in the day he relishes the chance to make game-to-game adjustments at the end of the rotation.
The top eight now are set — five starters, Cory Joseph, Terrence Ross and Lucas Nogueira — but finding that ninth or 10th player will be decided based on nightly needs.
“It’s going to be fluid with how that goes,” Casey said. “Sometimes (it’ll be) according to matchups, who can do a good job on who, who has the foot speed to guard a certain player, who has an offensive advantage.
“It’s going to be a lot of factors going in each night.”
Poeltl was effective in about 18 minutes against a big Timberwolves front line, and Casey used Jared Sullinger in the second half when Toronto needed some bulk.
“It’s fluid,” Casey said of the back end of the rotation.
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