MINNEAPOLIS _ Two nights after suffering their season's worst loss, the Timberwolves moved one small victory closer to their first playoff appearance since 2004 with Wednesday's 126-114 victory over Atlanta at Target Center.
They did so thanks to Karl-Anthony Towns' career scoring high that turned Wednesday night into a party, just 48 hours after he was outplayed by Memphis veteran center Marc Gasol.
This time, Towns' 56-point, 15-rebound double-double surpassed Mo Williams' franchise scoring record of 52 points.
It also ended a two-game losing streak and delivered the Wolves a victory they had to have after Monday's 101-93 home loss to a Grizzlies team that lost by 61 points last week and had won once since late January until Monday.
"I just wanted to win," Towns said afterward. "We have to find a way to win and tonight's a start."
Towns surpassed his previous scoring high _ 47 points against New York on Nov. 30, 2016 _ by making three consecutive free throws with 3:36 left in the game after he was fouled beyond the three-point line.
He reached 51 points by driving to the rim for a score, a foul and a three-point play and then disappointed the crowd when he passed up his eighth 3-point attempt so Jeff Teague could make the one that gave the Wolves a 121-108 lead.
His shot from the left wing with 1:16 left pushed him pass Williams' club record for his 52nd and 53rd points of the night and then he added free throws for his final points with 44 seconds left.
Towns made his first five 3-point shot attempts and had 39 of his points by third quarter's end.
By then, the Wolves led 98-88 and he was second in team history for scoring for the first three quarters of a game.
The only other Timberwolves player who ever scored more than Towns' 39: Wally Szczerbiak's 44 against Chicago on April 13, 2003.
The Wolves led by as many as 16 points and never trailed by more than six all night.
They led 110-96 with 6:20 remaining before the Hawks scored eight unanswered points and turned the 14-point deficit into just 110-104 with 4:22 left.
They did so after the Wolves tried to put the game away with the 3-point shot and Teague missed one and Towns missed two in that stretch after he hadn't missed one all game.
Nemanja Bjelica's first-quarter 3-pointer set the franchise record for most by a Wolves team in a single season.
It was the Wolves' 602nd this season, one more than the 601 made by last season's team.
