NEW YORK _ For the first time in the last four seasons, the Timberwolves had to play a game without Karl-Anthony Towns on the floor.
But the scheduling gods had sympathy on the Wolves, as they gave them the Knicks, the Eastern Conference doormat that doesn't have much interest in winning games this season.
With Towns in the NBA's concussion protocol after he was involved in a car accident Thursday, the Wolves defeated the Knicks, 115-104 at Madison Square Garden.
Towns cheered his teammates on from the bench as the Wolves veterans made sure they staved off the embarrassment of losing to the Knicks. A few of them even posted season highs, like Taj Gibson, who had 19, and Anthony Tolliver, who had 16, including 4 of 5 shooting from 3-point range. Derrick Rose also helped pick up the slack offensively with Towns out as he finished with 20 points while Andrew Wiggins had 17 on 5-of-16 shooting.
With Gibson filling in for Towns as the starting center, the Wolves fell behind early as Knicks guard Damyean Dotson couldn't miss from the outside. Dotson hit 5 of 7 3-pointers on his way to 18 first-quarter points, but the Wolves prevented Dotson and the Knicks from burying them early and they led just 33-29. Wiggins played the entire first quarter and had eight points.
The second quarter went much better for the Wolves. They started the quarter with a unit that included Rose, Tolliver, Luol Deng, Keita Bates-Diop and Tyus Jones. Bates-Diop was seeing some of his most meaningful minutes of the season while Jones made his return after a 13-game absence because of a left ankle injury.
That unit reclaimed the lead as Rose was able to slash his way to the hoop for 13 first-half points and Tolliver was an efficient 3 of 3 from 3-point range for 11. A 9-2 run put the Wolves in front 39-38 with 9:59 to play, and they remained there for most of the quarter.
Deng was a plus-17 off the bench in the first half even though he scored only four points while the Wolves were able to shut down Dotson _ he had just two points in the second quarter as the Wolves led 66-58 at the half.
The Wolves maintained that lead in double digits most of the third quarter as they got contributions up and down the lineup. Gibson and Dario Saric each had five points in the quarter.
It led to a relatively breezy fourth quarter as the Wolves won their third consecutive game dating back to the All-Star break. Jones finished with four points in 17 minutes in his return to the rotation.
The Wolves just had too much veteran talent on the floor for the overmatched Knicks, even without Towns in the lineup. Friday might just prove to be a warmup for the Wolves without Towns, who is day-to-day as he works through the concussion protocol, according to coach Ryan Saunders.
After Friday's game the Wolves were set to board a flight and head to Milwaukee. They will go from playing the Eastern Conference doormat to the best team in the East, possibly without Towns.
