MINNEAPOLIS _ Monday night at Target Center the Wolves hosted one of the hottest teams in the NBA. Still, the Wolves might have had the Washington Wizards right where they wanted them.
Namely, at the end of a very long, arduous road trip.
Ricky Rubio got the Wolves off to a blistering start. But old-fashioned grit _ and perhaps a little fatigue on the part of the Wizards _ made sure that the lead held up in a 119-104 victory.
Rubio had 22 points and a franchise-record 19 assists. Nine of those points and 10 of those assists came in the first quarter, when the Wolves built a lead as large as 21 points.
That lead was down to five _ 102-97 _ with 4:22 left in the game after John Wall made one of two free throws.
But Karl-Anthony Towns hit a 3-pointer, then two free throws and the lead was back to 10 with 3 minutes left. Moments later, Towns 3-pointer with 2:27 left iced the game.
Towns had his 21st straight 20-point game, finishing with 39 points and 13 rebounds. Nemanja Bjelica had 16 points and 10 rebounds. All five Wolves starters were in double figures.
Wall had 27 for Washington. Bradley Beal had 20.
The Wolves (28-38) won for the third time in four games. Washington (41-25) entered the game with five straight wins, the last four on the road. But Washington had gone into overtime in its last two wins and was playing for the seventh time in 10 nights.
Still, the Wolves' recent spurt has come against some of the best teams in the league, with victories against the Los Angeles Clippers, Golden State Warriors and Washington.
With Rubio on fire in just about every way imaginable, the Wolves led by as many as 21 points in the first quarter, which ended with the Wolves up 41-23. It was a season-high for first-quarter points.
Rubio had nine points on 3-for-5 shooting and 10 assists _ tying a franchise record for most assists in a quarter, one he already had a share of _ that led to another 23 points. That means Rubio was responsible for 32 of the team's 41 points.
With Towns on the bench with two early fouls, Rubio's corner 3-pointer started an 11-0 run that put Minnesota up 29-12. After Smith scored for the Wizards, Rubio had three straight assists in a 6-0 run, including a nice bounce pass on the break past two Wizards defenders to Bjelica for a layup and a 21-point lead. Bjelica had eight points off the bench in the quarter and Rush was 3-for-4 on 3-pointers.
But, as has happened so many times this season, the Wolves spent the second quarter giving much of that lead back.
Washington started the second quarter on a 17-11 run to pull within 12 on two Wall free throws mid-way through the quarter. Then, down 13 late in the half Beal had six points in a 7-2 run to the half that pulled Washington within 64-56 on Wall's driving layup.
The Wolves were able to maintain that lead throughout a back-and-fourth third quarter, despite six turnovers. Rubio had five points and three assists and Towns had eight points in the quarter. Despite a combined 16 points by Beal and Wall, the Wolves were up 12 late in the third and still led by nine entering the fourth.
