MINNEAPOLIS _ The turns have been wide and winding and the Timberwolves' course jagged this season, but they might have made a positive turn in Friday's 96-86 victory over Oklahoma City.
They finished a four-game homestand by winning their final three games while also ending the Thunder's three-game winning streak.
The Wolves did so with center Karl-Anthony Towns' 29-point, 17-rebound game leading the way on a night when their defense held Oklahoma City to 38 percent shooting.
Russell Westbrook had his 19th triple-double of the season _ a 21-point, 12-assist, 11-rebound night.
On Wednesday, the Wolves ended the Rockets' nine-game winning streak with a convincing 119-105 victory that came two nights after they beat Dallas at home.
On Friday, they finished out that homestand by winning for that third consecutive time, this time not against James Harden but rather Westbrook.
Leading by nine points in the first quarter and trailing by five points late in the second, the Wolves pushed their lead back to nine and then some, building a 14-point advantage with 4{ minutes gone in the fourth quarter.
The Thunder pulled within 92-83 on Westbrook's steal and slam with 1:46 left, but Andrew Wiggins and Towns responded with the next four points to push the Wolves lead back to 96-83 with 65 seconds left.
Towns recorded his 10th consecutive double-double and his 30th this season.
The Wolves had lost their previous two meetings with Thunder this season, both in Oklahoma City. Included was a 112-100 loss on Christmas night, the fourth game in the NBA's nationally televised quintupleheader holiday tradition.
This time, the Wolves led 20-14 and 30-21 before the end of the first quarter before the Thunder used a 15-6 run late in the second quarter to take a 48-43 lead with a minute left before halftime.
They took that five-point advantage to intermission, but watched it disappear when the Wolves started the second half on an 18-7 run of their own.
What had been a 50-45 halftime deficit now was a 63-57 Wolves lead midway through the third quarter.
They pushed that lead to 86-72 with 7{ minutes remaining.
